In a previous blog, I described and discussed different types of repetitive thinking patterns that can increase our stress. I focused on rumination, worry, and obsessive thoughts. In this blog, I will discuss some ways to address these thinking patterns, with rumination as an example.
Sometime ago, I found myself getting stuck in a pattern of rumination. Thoughts about a particular stressful experience and the implications of it kept coming back to my mind repeatedly. This would occur often whenever I had some downtime and was not too active, but the thoughts even crept in during some of my favourite activities, including my morning run in the woods. This was a real bummer!
As a starting point, I found it helpful to label this thinking as “rumination”. This helped me get a clearer sense of what I was dealing with. The problem I was ruminating about wasn’t going to be solved anytime soon. So, my brain was just spinning its wheels. I found it helpful to remind myself of that.
Another helpful strategy was to practice accepting that I was ruminating. Many of us have probably gotten the impression that ruminating and overthinking about things is probably a bad thing – something to avoid. I noticed, however, that when I tried to stop myself from ruminating or approached this experience as if I was doing something wrong or ineffective, I just felt worse.
Instead, I decided to tell myself, “I accept that I am ruminating. Maybe that’s just what my brain thinks it needs to do right now. I will probably ruminate for a while, and then it will subside like it usually does. It’s stressful and I don’t like it, but maybe it’s OK to just let it be.” In doing so, I also found it easier to get in touch with the emotions that were probably fueling the rumination. In this case, those emotions were sadness and anxiety.
Knowing which emotions you’re experiencing when you’re engaging in repetitive thinking can be very useful. Sometimes, if you take steps to manage those emotions, the repetitive thinking subsides. Once I acknowledged the sadness, let myself experience it for a period of time, and used strategies to effectively manage the anxiety, I noticed that my brain calmed down a bit. The rumination didn’t go away completely, but it was more tolerable. After a couple of days, it did go away. I’m sure it’ll creep back in again when I have something to ruminate about, but for now, I appreciate being at least temporarily in the clear!
In summary, to address repetitive thinking patterns like rumination, label the thinking, practice accepting it, and identify the underlying emotions. Managing these emotions can help reduce the intensity of the repetitive thinking and make it more bearable, even if it doesn’t go away. ~Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R.Psych.