It is fitting that we use the same word to express our human tendency to delve into our problems. Researchers are still working out exactly what rumination involves. It generally means excessive and repetitive thinking about personal problems, which often leads to emotional distress and is linked to many mental health problems, especially depression.
Positive rumination, on the other hand, involves focusing on positive situations and thoughts, and this can improve our health and well-being, explains Dane McCarrick, a postgraduate researcher at the University of Leeds who studies rumination.
“Overall, we need to know more about the different types of rumination and how they respond to different types of treatment, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach,” says McCarrick.
This article will focus on negative rumination, which can also hinder problem-solving and remove necessary social support, along with tools that researchers have confirmed are helpful in mitigating it. Rumination can get us stuck in a routine, but with some help, we can break out of it.
What is negative rumination?
Rumination involves thinking a lot about causes and consequences rather than solutions. The authors of a 2012 paper explain that negative rumination involves “a repetitive, negative focus on distress, as well as its possible causes and consequences.” It often involves an overemphasis on negative, defeatist thoughts. In their paper, they write that this can lead to thinking too much about causes and consequences rather than solutions.
Scientists also showed in a study published in March 2022 that the metacognition process related to rumination strongly affects chronic depression. Becoming aware means thinking about the intellectual process, and these thoughts and beliefs can be positive or negative.
In this case, the positive cognitive process related to rumination could be: “Thinking about the past helps me avoid failure in the future.” In contrast, the negative cognitive process could be the belief that “Thinking about my problems is uncontrollable.”
In the end, the study confirms that although both can contribute to depression, the negative perception process is probably the best predictor of depression. Some scientists believe that rumination can be divided into two factors: overthinking and introspection. Meditation leads to problem-solving strategies, while overthinking involves negatively balancing the current situation with a desired one, which is often unattainable.
Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair is a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the first author of a study that specifically looked at how overthinking, a component of rumination, affects rates of rumination among adolescents. While we all ruminate on our thoughts, the problem grows when the mechanisms of controlling thoughts do not work. That is failure to suppress it and divert attention from it.
The solution to rumination, Kinnear says, is "to understand that it's something we're doing, but it's not working and we shouldn't start or stop if we've already started it." Unfortunately, it's very difficult because of the nature of rumination.
How to stop ruminating?
1. Treatment
Studies have found that some types of therapy can help stop rumination. Because rumination is linked to several mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and because it can be difficult to manage your thoughts on your own, therapy can be a helpful option for people whose ruminating thoughts are causing them harm.
But different therapies take their own approach to rumination. Some experts argue that one of the best ways to treat rumination is to address the underlying mental health problems associated with it. For example, CBT that focuses on rumination typically involves modifying how one thinks rather than the content of what one is thinking. It is the focus of usual CBT.
Kinnear and colleagues make arguments in favor of cognitive therapy in their paper, suggesting that it "may be an effective intervention for depressive symptoms."
This type of therapy focuses on modifying the perceptual beliefs that lead to states of anxiety, rumination, and focusing attention. In the past decade, there has been increasing evidence that this type of therapy can be beneficial for rumination.
Kinnear explains that mindfulness therapy teaches individuals how to increase "cognitive flexibility of cognition" and reduce the belief that rumination may be uncontrollable or beneficial.
2. Mindfulness
Mindfulness involves being aware of your thoughts and feelings. Several studies have found that mindfulness reduces rumination, thus reducing depression and anxiety. When you practice mindfulness, you use present-moment awareness to manage your thoughts and feelings without judgment.
Rumination researcher McCarrick explains, "There is some evidence that mindfulness-based techniques can help relieve unwanted thoughts and feelings as a result of shifting focus to the present moment."
3. Nature
Being in nature can combat negative rumination. Scientists have found that spending time in nature can also reduce rumination. Study participants who took a 90-minute walk in a natural environment reported lower levels of rumination than those who walked indoors city.
These participants also showed a decrease in neural activity in the hypothalamic prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that shows increased activity when feeling sad or when engaging in negative self-reflection.
It is a process associated with rumination, and "these findings support the view that natural environments may confer psychological benefits to humans," the study authors write. These participants also showed a decrease in neural activity in the hypothalamic prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that shows increased activity when feeling sad or when engaging in negative self-reflection.
It is a process associated with rumination, and "these findings support the view that natural environments may confer psychological benefits to humans," the study authors write.
4. Set boundaries between personal life and professional life
Being away from work-related technology can also relieve feelings of work-related rumination. A recent study found that text messages and post-work email notifications can cause rumination and persistence of negative thoughts about work, as well as poor mood and insomnia.
Work-related rumination contributes to recurring thoughts about work problems, whether it is tension resulting from interaction or fear of too much work to be done in poor physical and mental health.
However, the team behind this study found that turning off smartphone alerts and letting others know they were unavailable to respond to work-related messages after work hours significantly reduced work-related rumination.
In conclusion
These findings are reminiscent of "psychological detachment," which McCarrick explains "involves the individual's experience of mentally distancing themselves from stimuli that cause anxiety or rumination."
"It's about stopping overthinking, and we often see this kind of action in the workplace when researchers aim to reduce the time they spend thinking about work-related issues," says McCarrick.
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