Written by: Daniel Van der Pluym, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I remember the day my mental spiral began. I was sitting in my therapist's office, and she asked me to describe my week. As I recited the mundane details of my days, it suddenly hit me: I had been stuck in a mental loop for months, replaying the same conversations and situations over and over again. What my therapist revealed to me was that I was experiencing rumination, or the act of obsessively thinking about something without taking action. My therapist also revealed that at some point this detailed type of thinking would have allowed me to function in the world. It all made sense to me, I had worked in jobs that required a detailed level of analysis and ongoing mental vigilance to ensure that there were no errors in my work. Operating this way throughout most of my life was a strength in some way, but it had become difficult to switch it off and a major inconvenience - particularly as I lay awake at 3 AM, knowing I had to be up and going by 7 am. As I worked through these struggles with my therapist, there became an obvious solution and a way through this pattern of distressed thinking – Welcome to Mindfulness! Through therapy, I learnt the practices and tools which helped me move from living a reactive life of ongoing rumination, to being in the present moment, focused on what is, instead of what could be.
This is a common narrative for someone who experiences mental rumination. Mental rumination initially starts as the mind's way of protecting us against things that could go wrong and includes a high level of detailed thinking about a particular topic. While rumination is a common and normal experience, it can become problematic when it starts to impact our daily lives. When we get caught up in mental loops, we can miss out on important aspects of our lives and relationships.
What exactly is Mental Rumination?
Rumination is the mental repetition of negative thoughts, and it can be very harmful to our mental health. Often the repetitive thinking does not lead to any productive outcome. Rumination can lead to a number of negative outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and stress. It can also cause us to become stuck in negative thought loops, which can be very damaging to our mental health. In addition, rumination can prevent us from achieving our goals and living our lives in a meaningful way.
Peer-reviewed evidence suggests that rumination has a number of negative consequences for our mental health. Rumination has been linked with depression, anxiety, and stress, and it can prevent us from achieving our goals and living our lives in a meaningful way. In addition, rumination can cause us to become stuck in negative thought loops, which can be very damaging to our mental health.
What causes mental rumination?
There are a number of factors that can contribute to mental rumination. Some of the most common causes include:
Stressful life events can create a general fear of negative consequences which leads to an overactive mind and repetitive thoughts.
Traumatic experiences create distressing mental and emotional patterns which may manifest as mental rumination.
Lack of control over situations can lead to thoughts of helplessness and a sense that we are not in control of our lives, which can trigger rumination.
Perfectionism can lead to an excessive focus on details and a need for everything to be perfect, which can cause rumination.
Feeling lonely or unsupported can increase our vulnerability to rumination.
The impacts of rumination on our overall wellbeing
Rumination can be very harmful to our mental health. Rumination can lead to a number of negative outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and stress. It can also cause us to become stuck in negative thought loops, which can be very damaging to our mental health. In addition, rumination can prevent us from achieving our goals and living our lives in a meaningful way. When rumination gets in the way of living a meaningful life, we become unfulfilled and are more prone to mental and emotional difficulties.
If you have experienced the mental health impacts of rumination, it can be a difficult and challenging climb to get out of. Thankfully there are some practices and tools you can utilise to support you through the journey. Mindfulness is a particular practice that has gained increased attention over the past two decades, to help with anxiety and mental difficulties.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the practice of being aware in the present moment. It has been shown to have a number of benefits, including helping with emotion regulation and distress tolerance. Mindfulness practice requires certain qualities such as openness, curiosity, and non-judgmental acceptance. These qualities are not only related to the external world but also how we relate to our internal experiences. Mindfulness can also be described as a state of being rather than doing. Mindfulness is not about suppressing negative emotions but instead accepting them with open awareness and cultivating a non-reactive mind that is free from judgement or attachment to particular experiences.
Mindfulness meditation has been shown to increase access to the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for cognitive control, and decrease activity in the amygdala, which is associated with fear. There is a large body of research that suggests mindfulness has a number of benefits. Mindfulness has been shown to help with emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and improving mental well-being. Mindfulness has also been shown to increase attentional focus and cognitive flexibility. Mindfulness helps us observe our thoughts rather than judge them or react to them by resisting or suppressing them.
How does mindfulness help with rumination?
Mindfulness has also been shown to reduce rumination. Mindfulness can help us to overcome rumination by teaching us how to be more aware of our thoughts and feelings. Mindfulness can also help us to manage our emotions in a healthier way. By learning to be more present in the moment, we can break the cycle of negative thinking and begin to live our lives more fully.
When we resist unpleasant experiences, we are strengthening negative patterns of thinking that can lead to rumination. When we learn to accept those experiences, and also spend some time curiously observing our thought patterns from more of a non-judgmental place, we gain the opportunity to create a healthy dialogue with our thoughts and feelings.
Mindfulness and the Anxious Brain
Often, rumination is a symptom of unresolved problems. When the mind is in an anxious state due to unresolved problems, rumination becomes harder to break. If you find yourself in a difficult circumstance, it can be helpful to take a step back and observe your thoughts and feelings from a more objective perspective. This can be done by practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness allows us to see our thoughts and feelings as they are, without judgement. It is important to remember that thoughts are not facts. They are simply our biases or a mental representation of the circumstances we experience. Much research has found that mindfulness allows us to create a new perspective by changing the physiology of our brain states, thus creating new mental patterns which can help us towards reaching a breakthrough. By reaching these breakthroughs, we remediate the circumstances which contribute towards mental rumination.
Mindfulness and wellbeing for anxiety
Mindful activities like meditation, yoga, or even taking a long walk away from your desk can help take your mind off of whatever is bothering you. Mindfulness can also help you to be more present in the moment and connect with your surroundings. Mindfulness can help to shift our focus from the past or future to the present, which can be helpful in reducing anxiety.
Mindfulness and absorbing positive experiences
Mindfully paying attention and absorbing the richness of our present environment can helps us to rewire our brains and create different thought patterns. A number of peer reviewed studies supports this. By focusing on and absorbing simple and enjoyable experiences, there is an opportunity to reprogram the mind, transforming the anxious brain into more helpful thought patterns and healthy mental representations of circumstances.
Mindfulness and goal directed thinking
One important application of mindfulness is in goal directed thinking. Mindfulness can help us to maintain focus on our goals and stay motivated. Mindfulness can also help us to notice when we are drifting off course, and make the necessary corrections. By allowing our thoughts to be more goal-directed, we are able to develop the solutions to the challenges which create rumination.
Seeing a mindfulness coach
A mindfulness coach can help you overcome rumination by teaching you how to be more aware of your thoughts and feelings, and manage them in a healthy way. Mindfulness coaches can also help you to set and achieve goals, develop new strategies for overcoming difficult circumstances, and connect with your surroundings. If rumination is proving to be a difficult problem to overcome on your own, working with a mindfulness coach may help you. Deeper Potential offers mindfulness coaching to assist clients to shift anxious thoughts and feelings.
Conclusion
Rumination is a common and difficult experience that can lead to a variety of negative outcomes. As identified, some of the common causes of rumination include anxiety, unresolved problems, and negative thinking styles. This article highlights the importance of managing rumination. Mindfulness has been shown to be an effective tool for reducing rumination. Mindfulness helps us to become more aware of our thoughts and feelings, and to manage them in a healthier way. Mindfulness also helps us to focus on our goals and stay motivated.
Daniel Van der Pluym, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Daniel Van der Pluym is the founder of Deeper Potential Coaching and part founder of ADHD Ambition. He is a psychotherapist, certified Life Coach and mindfulness teacher. Through his work, he focuses on helping people overcome their life challenges to create a new story of meaning and fulfilment. His work as a psychotherapist coach and part developer of ADHD Ambition is geared towards helping people overcome uncertainty and rumination, so they can reach live with more clarity and fulfillment.
