It can feel comforting in its familiarity. So why on earth would we ruminate? Because it’s seductive. And it’s associated with numerous mental health conditions, including depression, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), alcohol misuse, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-harming behaviors, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and eating disorders. Instead of helping us grow, it tends to reinforce our negative feelings and wear us out. It might be useful to contrast this kind of ruminating with what it’s not. ” It’s passive and repetitive thinking that serves no purpose. In the mental health world, brooding rumination is defined as a type of thinking without function, also known as “ perseverative cognition. You don’t need to get out of your feelings altogether, but you may need to train your brain to be less in their sway. If you can relate, then keep reading to explore evidence-based tips for breaking the rumination cycle. If you can’t relate to this phenomenon, that’s awesome. Brooding rumination can serve as a mental lockdown that prevents you from overcoming your emotional distress. They’re not moving you toward a solution to a problem. Essentially, your thoughts aren’t helping you. It’s not the content of your thoughts that can hurt you it’s your contracted cognitive process. And in this blog, rumination refers to being too much in your feelings. In the psychiatric field, brooding rumination refers to getting stuck experiencing the same negative emotions again and again in an unproductive loop. what if we let them wash over us? What if we said “Hey” to our old buddy the black hole and then looked for light elsewhere? If we turned off the pipeline that brought us the dark stuff, we might also stop the flow of joy and love and all the other fine words we see on decorative pillowcases.īut here’s the hitch: There’s a big difference between simply feeling your feelings and ruminating on them. What if we didn’t try to suppress unpleasant feelings? Sadness, anger, disappointment, worry…. Emotional responses, both positive and negative, are rich and meaningful and a big part of our humanity. So if negative emotions are inevitable, what can we do in the here and now to make friends with our feelings instead of trying to wish them away? Because ups and downs can be useful companions. They will continue to draw us in, no matter how many self-improvement blogs we inhale when we’re desperate for relief. Because feelings are particular, not general, and because feelings–especially negative ones–are powerful magnets for our attention. And so we hear the same mantras over and over again: mindfulness, exercise, social support, etc.īut no matter how much we read–or write!–on the web about mental health issues, we still get caught up in our feelings sometimes. We’re meant to manage our negative feelings in healthier ways. We’re supposed to become more resilient in the face of adversity.
We’re encouraged to learn coping skills and strategies for dealing with stress. Mental health advice on the Internet often boils down to a few general teachings about emotional regulation.
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