Rumination: Definition, Causes, & 10 Tips to Stop

What Is Rumination?

Ruminating is a pattern of thinking that becomes deeply ingrained in the brain, creating repetitive neural pathways and perpetually activating them.¹ Rumination can become problematic because excessive negative self-talk can affect mental health and behaviors. Rumination can involve a focus on uncertainty in the future, anticipatory anxiety about a problem or threat, or someone could ruminate about past or present events.^2,3 Whatever the subject, rumination negatively impacts well-being.

The specific content of the negative thoughts is highly personal and varied. Negative thinking becomes rumination when specific thoughts become intrusive, overriding other thoughts and magnifying reflections, causing people to dwell on a particular difficulty or situation.^3,4,5 When we ruminate, we think about a problem for an extensive period of time, and the thoughts dominate our attention and cause emotional distress.²

Rumination Examples

Common phrases that someone might ruminate over include:

• I can’t believe I said that.
• Their name is Sarah, not Sandy.
• Two plus two is not seven.
• I have to do better.
• I need to quit wearing dumb clothes.
• Why did I just stand there instead of doing something?
• I can’t believe I let her talk to me that way.

Temporary Rumination

Temporary rumination is a common practice of overthinking about a future situation. The ruminations may involve working through the event and planning for endless contingencies in order to feel prepared. Instead, they usually result in people feeling anxious and frustrated.

Examples of common situations that can trigger temporary rumination include:

• Having a presentation at school or work
• Anxiety before a job interview
• Preparing for a date or asking someone out
• Athletic games, matches, or events
• Test anxiety
• Starting a home improvement project

Signs of Ruminating

Of course, the biggest sign of rumination is the repeated thought that you can’t stop thinking about. However, other signs could include changes in normal behaviors, like eating or sleeping, or reliving painful memories.

Here are several signs that you might be ruminating:

• Mood swings
• Discussing painful memories
• Discussing painful topics or emotions
• Even tangential things remind you of the recurrent thoughts
• Lack of energy or interest in activities
• Low self esteem
• Changes in sleeping and eating

Rumination Vs. Emotional Processing

While rumination involves repetitive thoughts about a problem or situation, emotional processing is a way of trying to understand and deal with feelings. When it is focused on increasing awareness of emotions and needs and regulating emotional reactions to strong emotions, emotional processing can be healthy.

Like rumination, though, emotional processing can be maladaptive. Maladaptive emotional processing happens when someone hyper focuses on negative emotions. Emotional processing involves judging feelings negatively and trying to inhibit them. Brooding rumination and maladaptive emotional processing keep us stuck in negative thoughts and feelings.

Rumination Vs. Worry

Worry and rumination share some similarities, in the sense that everyone experiences them to some extent. However, worry has more to do with negative, uncontrollable thoughts about the future, which is often associated with anxiety. Rumination, on the other hand, often has to do with obsessing over actions or situations that already occurred. Research shows rumination—more than worry—underlies depression.⁶

Why Do I Ruminate?

At its core, rumination is an unhealthy coping mechanism. It’s a way of responding to stress by repeatedly focusing on the source of distress.² One theory states that people tend to engage in repetitive thinking about the nature of their difficulties. Unwanted emotional states, such as sadness, can cause people to think excessively about their emotions.⁷

What Is Rumination a Symptom Of?

Rumination can be a symptom of a mental health condition like OCD, anxiety, depression, or a phobia. While rumination is not always a sign of a deeper mental health problem, if it doesn’t go away it may be related to a diagnosable condition. If you feel you’re stuck in a pattern of rumination, you should consult your doctor or a licensed therapist and talk more about the symptoms you’re experiencing.

Rumination & OCD

Ruminations and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are linked due to the role of obsessional thoughts and intrusive thoughts rooted in the diagnosis. Obsessions and intrusive thoughts are different from ruminations, but some items that people ruminate about can shift into obsessions in time. In some situations, the mental act of ruminating could be considered an OCD compulsion.

Rumination & Anxiety

Worry is a cornerstone of so many anxious disorders. Whether the person has generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or a phobia, there will be intense worry about when the next anxiety trigger will present. These can shift from typical worry to anxious ruminations about what is likely to come in the future.

Rumination & Depression

Where anxious rumination is largely focused on what is coming, depressive ruminations may involve a significant amount of recounting past events. This form of negative self-talk will recall memories that were painful, depressing, or embarrassing and build ruminations around them.

Negative Childhood Experiences

Sometimes, someone’s personal background contributes to the tendency to ruminate. Negative experiences like abuse and trauma during childhood or adolescence can make coping difficult and keep people stuck in their thoughts about these damaging experiences.

Personality Traits Like Neuroticism & Perfectionism

It appears that personality traits may also play a role in rumination. Ruminating thoughts are associated with neuroticism.^8,9 Furthermore, having persistent repetitive thoughts is a component of perfectionism.^4,10,11

Chronic Stress

Rumination is strongly associated with chronic stress.⁵ While chronic stress itself isn’t a disorder, it contributes to many mental health disorders and physical illnesses. Regardless of the cause, you can take steps to decrease rumination and reclaim greater inner peace and well-being.

Schizophrenia

There is not significant research examining the relationship between rumination symptoms and schizophrenia. However, one small study found that negative symptoms of depression, including emotional withdrawal and stereotyped thinking, were associated with an increased chance of rumination among people with schizophrenia.¹²

Negative Effects of Rumination

When we ruminate, the same thoughts are constantly on our mind, making them grow ever bigger and taking them way out of proportion.³ When they become our focus in this way, it can be hard to escape the rut to find solutions, and problem-solving becomes difficult.

Rumination is a negative spiral that can cause other problems, leading to:^1,2,5

• Intensified sadness and depression
• Exacerbated anxiety
• Mood swings
• Irritability
• Sleep difficulties
• Disrupted appetite
• Fatigue
• Loss of interest and motivation
• Feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, or worthlessness
• Strained relationships
• Increased blood pressure
• Decreased memory capacity
• Stress and chronic stress reactions in the body
• Poorer outcomes in people with chronic pain or other health conditions

Reflective Rumination

While rumination can be harmful to both physical and mental health, not all rumination is bad. Reflective rumination, thinking the same positive thoughts repetitively, can have positive effects when it is limited, concrete, specific, and solution-focused.² Reflective rumination that is used intentionally to solve a problem can help people think clearly and move forward. The negative effects occur when either type of rumination becomes chronic and dominates one’s thoughts.

When Does Ruminating Become a Problem?

To some degree, rumination is a normal and expected response to certain situations. Like other coping skills, though, too much can become a problem.

If any of the following are true for you, you might have a problem with rumination:

• You find it hard to quiet the ruminations
• You ruminate for a majority of the day
• It’s hard to stay focused on the present
• Ruminating makes it hard to maintain your daily routines and responsibilities
• You’re too afraid to complete new actions because they could result in additional ruminations
• The ruminations make you feel more depressed or more anxious
• People in your life notice that you are always distracted or distant

13 Tips for How to Deal With Rumination

Our thoughts quite literally fall into a rut and become our default way of thinking when we ruminate. The brain, though, is capable of learning and changing, and with deliberate steps, you can gradually stop ruminating and free your thoughts to explore other ideas.

Try these 13 tips to stop ruminating:

1. Create & Uphold Boundaries

Having clear separation between different aspects of your life, such as work and relaxation or in your relationships, can prevent stress and problems from one area seeping into other areas. According to research, people who maintain boundaries (such as between work and home life) create a protective buffer that reduces stress and rumination.¹³

To help you keep ruminations about work from bogging down your downtime or that stressful conversation you had with a friend from dominating your time with your partner, create a clear distinction between one situation and the next. Give yourself time to transition your thoughts and emotions by carving out a few minutes of private time to breathe deeply and mentally reset. Remind yourself that you’re leaving one situation and are now going to think about and pay attention to the next one.

2. Identify Any Themes Among Your Thoughts to Get to the Source of the Problem

It can sometimes be helpful to discern whether your rumination follows a certain pattern. For example, you might frequently ruminate about making mistakes. This may speak to a deeper issue with perfectionism or fears of letting go of control. You might benefit from really working through some of these core beliefs and trying to untangle yourself from certain automatic responses. This will likely be done best with the help of a licensed therapist.

3. Challenge & Replace Your Thoughts

Challenging your thoughts can be very helpful in breaking the pattern of ruminations.⁵ The truth about our thoughts is that they are not absolute facts, and just because we think something, it doesn’t mean it’s true.¹⁴ Many of our thoughts are distorted, and not only that, they are negatively skewed because the brain is hard-wired to look for problems.¹⁵ Rather than automatically accepting your ruminative thoughts, begin to approach them with curiosity, questioning their validity and intentionally looking for concrete evidence to debunk them.

4. Focus on Solutions Instead of Problems

Because ruminations can be overwhelming, it can be helpful to create a list of the problems spinning in your mind and then separate them into distinct challenges so you can approach them one at a time. Then, go deeper. Don’t simply challenge them but instead replace them with more helpful, solution-oriented thoughts.

When you catch yourself in a repetitive, negative thought cycle about a difficult situation, intentionally shift your thoughts away from the problem and begin to think about potential solutions.⁵ Brainstorm potential fixes by writing down any idea that comes to mind, no matter how outlandish. The idea isn’t to find a realistic, workable solution in an instant, but to shift your thoughts away from ruminations about the problem and toward solutions.

5. Practice Mindfulness & Meditation

Mindfulness involves deliberately paying attention to what is going on right now, in this present moment, to redirect your thoughts and focus. It can be a powerful strategy to stop rumination.² By using your senses to notice what is happening around you, your thought pathways in your brain are redirected away from bothersome thoughts, disrupting the cycle of rumination. Living mindfully, one moment at a time, gives you a steady supply of new thoughts and ideas to take the place of the outworn ruminations.³

A key component of mindfulness is awareness. Oftentimes, we’re unaware that we’re lost in thought, ruminating over challenges and negativity.⁵ When you catch yourself ruminating but you’re aware of your thoughts, you can become curious about them, gleaning useful bits of information that you can then use to focus on solutions and problem-solving. Take a mindful approach to your search for solutions by focusing on one specific problem and action steps to solve it. This helps prevent runaway thoughts and a return to ruminating.

6. Distract Yourself Purposefully

To break the pattern of repetitive negative thinking, intentionally distract yourself with something different and engaging as soon as you catch yourself ruminating.^2,5 Shifting your attention to a distraction activates different, more positive neural networks and gradually trains your brain to think differently.

Choose to switch gears and engage in a different activity such as a quick, brisk walk, listening (and even dancing) to music, looking at pictures that make you happy, or preparing and eating a healthy snack. It can be especially powerful to distract yourself with thoughts of times when things have gone well for you despite problems you were facing. Whatever you distract yourself with, pay attention to it mindfully, and when you catch yourself returning to your thoughts, just make a note of it and return your attention to your distraction.

7. Spend Time in Nature

Stepping outside among green or blue spaces provides an extremely effective distraction and opportunity to mindfully turn your attention away from your negative thoughts. Being in nature has been shown to be therapeutic and help reduce ruminations.⁵ Research shows that spending as little as 90 minutes in nature can decrease rumination.¹⁶ You don’t have to walk for an hour and a half in order to reap the benefits of nature. Enjoying fresh air and natural elements in regular, short bursts can be equally helpful.¹⁷

8. Exercise

Exercise can help reduce rumination.⁵ While regular exercise does provide long-term mental and physical health benefits, just a single session of moderately intense activity can boost mood and reduce rumination.¹⁸ When you find yourself overthinking difficult situations, engaging in physical activity that you enjoy can help.

9. Limit Your Social Media Use

Social media use is problematic for two reasons:

• First, you may use social media as a distraction from your ruminations. The problem is that when you put down your phone, the ruminations come rushing back.
• Second, people may begin ruminating about issues or events they see on social media. The additional sources of rumination become overwhelming.

Be sure to use social media in moderation and take frequent social media breaks to limit the damage.

10. Plan a Structured “Worry Time”

Although it may sound paradoxical, some people find that it’s helpful to plan their rumination via structured activity scheduling. For example, you might designate 10 minutes each day to permit yourself to worry about a particular situation (or whatever comes to mind). When you note rumination coming up outside of that time frame, remind yourself that it can wait.

11. Work On Your Self-Esteem

Enhancing your self-esteem can help reduce the intensity and frequency of your rumination. Self-compassion is one of the most important steps for building healthier self-esteem. Try to think of small ways you can be kinder to yourself. Practice being gentle when you make mistakes and, when you’re tempted to be hard on yourself, consider how you treat your good friends when they’re having a hard time.

12. Surround Yourself With People Who Support You

Other people cannot make your ruminations go away, but they can offer support and understanding for your situation. Let them know what you are experiencing and seek their feedback for helpful options.

13. Work With a Therapist

Therapy can go a long way in helping you stop ruminating.⁵ Talking with a licensed mental health professional can help you process thoughts and emotions and determine how to take positive action to make desired improvements in your life. This empowering process can help you break free from negative thoughts that are keeping you stuck.

Will Rumination Go Away On Its Own?

Sometimes rumination ebbs and flows based on life circumstances. Some people find that staying busy or getting involved with a new relationship or job temporarily distracts them from rumination. Other times, transitions heighten rumination. In most cases, however, rumination doesn’t fully disappear. Instead, people can learn how to be more aware of the role rumination plays in their life and learn to manage it adaptively.

When to Consider Professional Treatment for Rumination

When your negative thoughts seem to be dominating your life, occupying your mind during the day or keeping you up at night, you might consider working with a mental health professional for help and positive change. Rumination can rob you of life’s joys and prevent you from participating in your own life. It can even make it difficult to recover from stress and other challenges.¹⁹ It can be difficult to deal with rumination and its negative effects on your own, so if you are facing this challenge, know that therapy can be extremely helpful.

Therapy for Ruminating Thoughts

Therapy can help reduce the distress and shame surrounding ruminating thoughts. Rumination-focused CBT specifically targets negative rumination that coincides with depression. This treatment views rumination as a learned behavior, and it helps individuals establish new ways of coping with stress or other uncomfortable emotions. Other helpful therapies may include acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and psychodynamic therapy.

Potential Medication Options

Rumination can sometimes be a sign of a deeper issue, such as depression or another mental illness. If that’s the case, medication may be an important part of your treatment plan. Medication can help stabilize acute psychiatric symptoms, and it can work well with other treatment measures, like therapy and lifestyle changes. Depending on the issue, most psychiatrists and medical doctors start with an antidepressant, such as an SSRI or SNRI.

How to Get Help for Rumination

To find the right therapist for you, check with your doctor for a recommendation or referral, ask trusted friends or family members who may be familiar with therapy, contact local mental health organizations for information about local providers, or use an online therapist directory.

When choosing a therapist, feeling a positive connection with your therapist and believing they are trustworthy and respectful of you is important. When you are comfortable with your professional therapist, you can make great strides in overcoming obstacles such as rumination so you can live your life more fully.