What is a rumination thinking pattern and why and how to stop it

IWill expert

Rumination thinking patterns are largely those thinking patterns where you overanalyze what went wrong over and over again, to the point of draining yourself and never going to an action stage because of this thought pattern...

Whenever a person faces a setback in life, a failure, a trauma, abuse, or any other difficult event or series of events, ruminating thought pattern can emerge which can ultimately lead a person to chronic self-doubt, lack of happiness, lack of action, self-pity, dullness, and even depression.

 

Ruminating thoughts look like

I can't do things right. What else could have I done?

I did those mistakes. Why did I do them? Why did the time move away?

Why am I such a loser?

Why do things don't work out for me?

Why the hell only I was born this unlucky?

 

As you can see, these thoughts have been blamed on self, and will lead to pain, frustration, difficult emotions! And this can lead to depression!

So how does one overcome a ruminating thinking pattern? Here are the 5 things you can do for this

 

1. Be Mindful

As soon as you start moving into ruminating thoughts, recognize that you are doing this. Recognize that no matter how true it looks to you, in reality, it's just your perception created by events. And these perceptions can be changed. Being mindful of the problematic thought patterns is the first step in setting them separate from reality and weakening their eventual impact

2. Accept 

For some of the incidents that happened, you need to accept them and learn to move on. Yes, bad things do happen, may have happened but in reality, they are events that can't be changed. What can change however or get better is your future. Hence try as much as possible to accept rather than be in denial, pain for too long...

3. Distract 

Whenever you get counterproductive thoughts, and since you are now aware of them, practice distraction techniques like reading, speaking to someone else, watching something relevant, doing a simple but involving task. This will allow you to get away from the endless cycle of rumination in that moment.

4. Set a Time

Yes sometimes pain is too overwhelming and you feel the need and urge to process it. That's fine but set a time limit to it. How many minutes (20/30 mins) and for how many days and weeks will you think and process about this. Set strict boundaries and follow them through! This will help in managing the compulsions that ruminating thoughts cause or lead to.

5. Start Therapy 

The best way to overcome negative thinking patterns or ruminating thoughts is under the guidance of a trained professional. Often, the extent of your problem and resulting thoughts is beyond your ability to stop or be controlled on your own. A psychotherapist or counselor trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, also known as CBT can help you overcome these painful thoughts by breaking the assumptions, generalizations, beliefs you hold supporting and holding these. This therapy uses mental exercises and thinking techniques to help you change your thought patterns. It is a popular therapy tool because it can help people successfully overcome disruptive or harmful thought processes. 

IWILL THERAPY is a completely CBT-driven therapy space. So don't hesitate to seek therapy today and overcome these self-defeating painful patterns!