Healthy Mind, Healthy Life: Breaking the Rumination Habit

“Oh my goodness…I have that big test coming up. I only have 2 weeks left to study. I hope I study the right material! Oh no! What if I have been studying the wrong material?? I better look at the outline again. That test is going to be really hard. How hard could it be? Joey passed it last term. Couldn’t be that hard. I can probably do it. Can I? I’d better look at the outline again. The outline will tell me what to study. Won’t it? What if there’s something that they assume I SHOULD know and it isn’t on the outline but I don’t know it? And I don’t know that I don’t know it so I can’t study it! Man, I need to pass this test so badly. What will everyone think if I don’t pass? It will mean I have to take the course again. I have to pass! What if I don’t have time to look at all the material? So hard to focus on studying this…”

Does this type of internal conversation sound familiar? Do you ever find yourself just thinking about the same thing or things over and over again? Even when a situation has already passed or been resolved? Do you find it hard to interrupt these thoughts once they have started? This is called RUMINATION.

Rumination is really a learned habit, and it can have a harmful effect on our mental health!

What types of things do people ruminate about?

Rumination can include:

• Thinking about ways to solve a problem or to mitigate uncertainty

• Repeatedly thinking about events in your past

• Constantly having the same ‘argument’ in your head with a particular individual

• Dwelling on difficulties and things that distress you

• Being preoccupied with something and not being able to get it out of your mind

What causes rumination?

• holding the belief that by ruminating you’ll gain more insight into the problem

• sometimes a history of emotional or physical trauma

• facing ongoing stressors or triggers that can’t be controlled by you (or sometimes anyone)

• often if you are a perfectionist or overly focused on your relationships with others

Does everyone ruminate or is it just me?

Everyone ruminates to some degree over difficulties or uncertainties - especially when we are surrounded by something like a global pandemic! Thinking about our challenges and experiencing a low level of “stress” can actually be quite good for us: we come up with solutions to try or a plan of action, which makes us feel better about them, and can actually lead to optimal performance.

Consider an Olympic athlete who is likely carrying some level of stress and is working out multiple problems while they are in training. The drive to overcome the challenge, and the pressure of having to perform often allow an athlete to become super focused and block out all distractions so that they can do their best.

However, there is a point where the focus can become too intent on the problem rather than solutions and can create a level of stress that interferes with performance instead. The athlete may “crack” under the pressure.

While most of us are not Olympic athletes, the analogy still applies to our considerably more mundane lives. Rumination can be helpful IF it drives us to take actions to resolve our difficulties and uncertainties, and IF it is limited to just getting to that solution and then we let the thoughts go.

Not all ruminating is stressful or negative. For instance, we could ruminate over

what special dinner we want to make for our partner. This could be an enjoyable experience full of love and anticipation. Or we could ruminate over the vacation we might be planning for next year - this almost can be a fantasizing session that brings us much joy and even some relaxation!

On the other hand, we could also ruminate over how our sibling constantly manipulates

our parents. This could be a frustrating and exhausting experience. Essentially, dwelling

on an issue can take two different paths, leading to two different outcomes (see diagram below). Although rumination is normal, excessive rumination can become problematic, especially when it is focused on sad or dark thoughts.

When we ruminate too much, we can go into ‘Overuse’. Just like alcohol and chocolate, just because something in small doses might bring us great benefit, using them too much too frequently has the opposite effect. When we ruminate constantly about stressful or negative things, we can inadvertently and subconsciously “train our brains” to use this technique for everything and we might rarely stop using it. As we solve smaller problems and even bigger problems through rumination, we are ‘rewarded’ with a sense of satisfaction and a shot of dopamine in our brain. Our brain enjoys this feeling and thinks, ‘I will put forth more thoughts of challenges to solve because that is what I like to do!’ Then, the cycle continues. Our brains will continually fire and build neurons in the area of our brain where we compulsively think. This is when we may develop an awareness that we can’t control our thoughts, or escape the stress or negative feelings that come with those thoughts. Some of us may seek the help of a counsellor or therapist at this point.

The bottom line is that we humans are good at thinking, and thinking and rethinking can help us to solve problems or remove uncertainty, allowing us to relieve some stress we might be feeling. However, if we don’t allow ourselves to STOP thinking once our problems have been solved and instead, we allow ourselves to think and rethink about every little obstacle we encounter, we develop a LEARNED HABIT and we overuse it. The brain will keep levelling up the uncertainty which makes it harder for you to solve, until it gives you something you can’t solve. That could cause you to get stuck in a pattern of thinking, with continuous arguments floating in your head, with no solution or conclusion - and inescapable stress.

So what do we do about it?

The best way to deal with anything that is having a negative effect on how we think or feel is to deal with it early on! If you feel that your cycling or repeated thoughts ARE causing you to feel stressed, overwhelmed, helpless, depressed or if you feel you simply cannot interrupt the cycle when it starts, you may want to try some of these suggestions:

1. Try to distract yourself to interrupt the thoughts - call a friend to chat, take the dog for a walk, read a book or watch a movie;

2. Plan to take action - you’ve been thinking about how to solve the problem, so pick a strategy and write it down - COMMIT to it, outline each step if you need to; it will disrupt the rumination and because it is written down and the decision is made, you can let it go more easily and move forward;

3. Take action - you’ve got the plan, so try to act immediately! Take one small step, the FIRST step to address the issue, and then keep doing that;

4. Question your thoughts - our ruminations often center on our own mistakes or when something traumatic has happened we feel responsible for. Try to put that thought into perspective: in the grand scheme of life, how important is this right now? Is it even accurate? We always think we are the center of the universe, so consider what you would tell a friend if they came to you with the problem - that it’s probably not that big of a deal, that no one really noticed or cares about the mistake, that you are still a good person and everyone makes mistakes - and then TELL YOURSELF THAT! Shift your mindset;

5. Readjust your goals - perfectionism and unrealistic goals can lead to rumination; when you haven’t reached your goals (especially if they are unrealistic) you may focus your thoughts on why you haven’t reached the goal or what you should have done to reach it. Setting more realistic goals that you CAN achieve can reduce the risk of overthinking your own actions;

6. Work on enhancing your self-esteem - according to the Healthline article, “10 Tips to Help You Stop Ruminating” (2019), many people who experience problems as a result of ruminating also report difficulties with self-esteem. It is also linked with increased risk of depression. Improving your self-esteem may involve working with a therapist or a counselor, but the feelings of confidence that you build can help with controlling rumination.

7. Try meditation - meditation involves clearing your mind to arrive at an emotionally calm state, so if you find yourself with a repeating series of thoughts, simply get comfortable, breathe deeply and focus on nothing but your breath for a few minutes;

8. Understand you triggers - try to become an observer when you discover you are ruminating. What were you doing? What thoughts came up for you? How did those thoughts make you feel? Why? What does this reveal about your beliefs about yourself? Try to notice time of day, people around…developing ways to avoid or manage the triggers may allow you to manage rumination;

9. Talk to a friend - often ruminating can feel stressful and isolating because you are too much “In your own head” and hyper focused on your problems. Maybe discussing your problem with a friend can help you decide on a plan of action to relieve the worry, or maybe listening to someone else’s problems will also help you to achieve some perspective about your own! Either way, talking to a friend can help to break the cycle;

10. Try therapy - this may be especially helpful if you feel your ruminations are taking over your life! A therapist can help you identify why you are ruminating and how to address the problems at their core.

Further to these suggestions, using strategies such as being proactive in addressing issues when they come up, step by step, working on developing a focus on the things that are going well in our lives and engaging a strong support system of friends and family to help you on a tough day can also be helpful in managing rumination habits. Tell folks you are trying to break the habit so they’ll know what to do or say when you call!

It is absolutely possible to stop ruminating. It is a habit that needs to be broken if it is creating more harm than good in your life. It is always best to curb a habit before it becomes too strong, so anything you can do NOW to prevent yourself from ruminating will be a successful coping technique.

With awareness of your tendency to ruminate, an understanding of how it helps or harms you and some lifestyle changes, you can absolutely take control of your thoughts again!

Sources:

Cirino, Erica, “Healthline”, 10 Tips to Help You Stop Ruminating, (April 18, 2019) accessed at https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-stop-ruminating, January 12, 2021, 10 am)

BCPVPA, “ReCharge”, Round and Round, (January 2021 Issu