What is rumination and how to stop all analysis
A Life / / December 19, 2019
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What is rumination
We all sometimes endlessly ponder something: for a long time past the presentation of the working draft, yesterday's quarrel with the second half, toast, who agreed to speak at the wedding of friends. Yes, and the quarterly report on the nose. We moved to the head, it was necessary to say, or try to plan everything down to the smallest detail.
In most cases it is relatively safe and does not bring more stress than entrenched in the head annoying song. But there are people who just can not stop thinking about everything. And this creates even greater experience.
This irresistible habit all rethink is called rumination, or mental chewing gum. Repeated experiences when a person scrolls endlessly the same situation in my head, reminiscent of the process of chewing grass cows.
They chew, swallow and then regurgitate and re-chew. For them it is a normal process. But we humans are constantly "chew" their alarming thoughts. And there is nothing good.
Rumination does not bring any benefit, but only steals time and energy. It is so exhausting that makes a person more vulnerable to anxiety and depression, as well as being a symptom of these conditions.
Regardless of whether we can change what happened or to predict something, our brain sometimes fixate on trying to control the uncontrollable. And as a result of the depressed person thinks about the losses and mistakes of the past and anxious rumination hostage drowned in matters of "what if?", Always drawing in his imagination a negative outcome.
As a rule, most complex problems solved by careful consideration and weighing. But rumination - it is simply a repetition of thought (mostly negative) without trying to look at the problem from a different point of view.
Guy Winch, a psychologist and author of books on psychology, TED speakerRumination makes it impossible to get a different idea or understanding of the problem. It just turns you as a hamster stuck in the wheel of emotional anguish.
What harm brings obsessions
Bias towards pessimism
Usually you are thinking for a long time about the good things, and to dwell on the bad. Do not remember how you were able to correct situation at the last moment or successfully make a joke, but the long and hard to get over in my head negative.
And thoughts are intrusive. They constantly pop up in your mind, they are very difficult to get rid of. Especially when thinking about something really sorrowful and troubled.
Provoke the development of serious diseases
Guy Winch in his book Emotional First Aid: Healing Rejection, Guilt, Failure, and Other Everyday Hurts states: return to the disturbing reflections - it's like to constantly pick emotional wounds, without giving they heal. Every time, when we have that same thought, it is a concern, and in the body in large numbers are allocated stress hormones.
We can for several hours or days to languish in his sad meditations and thus introduce themselves in a state of physical and emotional stress. As a result of the habit of constant reflection significantly increases the risk of clinical depression, Impaired decision-making, eating disorders, substance abuse and even cardiovascular diseases.
Negatively affect the brain
Margaret Wehrenberg, a psychologist and author of books on the fight against anxiety and depression, States that the continuous repetitive thoughts lead to a change in the system of neural connections in the brain.
"Rumination actually changes its structure, just as the footpath is first converted into the roadway, and then - in a broad highway with a lot of conventions. And it becomes easier and easier each time immersed in thought. "
Do not allow to escape
At some point, rumination becomes habitual way of thinking. And eventually switch to something else obtained with difficulty. The one who says: "If I'm just going to think about it long enough, I'll take care of everything" - is making a mistake. After all, the more accustomed to the idea, the more difficult to get rid of it.
How to stop thinking about everything
Practice mindfulness
As with many issues related to mental health, awareness always helps. The first thing you need to determine which of your thoughts are intrusive and mentally label them as dangerous.
According to Winch, when thought is often repeated - or begins to do this - you need to catch hold of it and turn it into a task that will help solve the problem.
For example, the phrase "I can not believe that it happened," convert to "What can I do to prevent this from happening again?". "I have no close friends!" - in the "What are the steps taken to strengthen the relationship with friends and find new ones?".
Suppress bad thoughts at the beginning of
Prepare a stock of positive affirmations. For example, "I'm trying my best," or "I will support, if need be."
According to Wehrenberg, in order to prevent repetitive thoughts return to the usual way, you need to be "wiped off the trail" that is, to plan what to think instead.
Sounds simple, but it's one of those things that are easy to understand and difficult to do.
Distracted, to break the vicious circle
Winch advises to redirect their attention to something that requires concentration. Take a break for 2-3 minutes: posobirayte puzzle, perform the task in memory. Any occupation for which you need concentrationWill be enough to get rid of an irresistible urge to obsessive thoughts.
If you get distracted every time there is such an idea, the frequency and intensity with which it pops up in the mind, will decrease.
Keep a journal, which will be always focused their experiences
It may seem strange proposal to give intrusive thoughts more and more attention. But to write them useful. Especially those who often can not sleep because of the reflection.
In this case, place a pad and pen by the bed and write that does not give you peace of mind. Then tell yourself that if these thoughts are now on paper, you're sure they will not forget. And now it is possible for some time to rest from them.
Ask for help
Mindfulness meditation and cognitive techniques often help people take control of their own thinking. But there are times when a person still fails to cope with the problem alone.
If you feel that the obsessive thoughts seriously interfere with life, should turn to a professional.
see also🧐
- Why can not deal with depression alone
- How to fall asleep quickly 15 science-based methods
- Scientists have identified a mechanism that suppresses intrusive thoughts