constant rumination help please

[desiredkarma]

hello i am new to this web site and hoping some one could help me with this problem i have. For the past 2 years now i have been dealing with what i thought was ocd...but i guess from doing so much research i realized that its rumination and it is come to the point it takes up my whole day and i do not know how to get rid of this..i feel embarrassed to even talk about this because i constantly worry about the most dumbest stuff that even i know should not even matter but i can't help my self can some one please tell me there stories and what they have done thank you.

[jessed03]

Try the simple four step cure:

1. Recognize that you're doing it. Keep an awareness about you at all times.
2. Decide that the habit is useless, energy draining and unproductive. Decide you neither want nor need to do it any more.
3. Whenever you catch yourself ruminating, STOP. Label what you're doing as rumination. Remind yourself that it's just a bad habit.
4. Direct your attention to something else. Play a game, look out the window, focus on your footsteps as you walk. This won't stop it as such, but will be a deciding factor in training your brain not to put energy into the wrong places.

Do this over and over and over until the habit has been formed. Once you make it a habit not to ruminate, you won't ruminate, friend.

Your username suggests you may meditate. If you don't, start! It'll make the process of letting go of a chain of thought so much easier.

[DrOnline]

I tried to handle my rumination. I tried catching it when I started, as jessed03 says, label it as a bad habit, even make a physical note of it in a small booklet: for later... To sort of store it for later, when I was rational.

But I couldn't. I've been doing it for 10-15 years, I thought it was how everybody's minds worked. Made me depressed and anxious and took over my life completely. Unable to maintain mood, unable to perform at work. Shut me down. Terrible stuff.

So I got on SSRI's (Escitalopram (Lexapro)) two weeks ago, and I feel much, much better. I'm sure my psychatrist will recommend weaning me off it at some point when I am still level, and then trying to implement the methods my therapist taught me. If it doesn't work, perhaps I will be on SSRI for the rest of my life. I don't mind. I can live with the side-effects. It's given me my life back. Three cheers for psychopharmacology!

Might be something for you, OP. But give it a SERIOUS attempt to handle it yourself, or through therapy, because SSRI should be like a final measure. Perhaps you could manage it, even though I could not.

Know that lots of people struggle with this, that a lot of people have gotten over it and gotten better, through the stuff like jessed03 mentioned and recognize that it is a very unhealthy psychological activity. So try to stop it, because rumination won't give you any useful answers, I'm sure you've figured that out rationally by now. Good luck with it, and keep SSRI's at the back of your head.

[Im-Suffering]

I tried to handle my rumination. I tried catching it when I started, as jessed03 says, label it as a bad habit, even make a physical note of it in a small booklet: for later... To sort of store it for later, when I was rational.

But I couldn't. I've been doing it for 10-15 years, I thought it was how everybody's minds worked. Made me depressed and anxious and took over my life completely. Unable to maintain mood, unable to perform at work. Shut me down. Terrible stuff.

So I got on SSRI's (Escitalopram (Lexapro)) two weeks ago, and I feel much, much better. I'm sure my psychatrist will recommend weaning me off it at some point when I am still level, and then trying to implement the methods my therapist taught me. If it doesn't work, perhaps I will be on SSRI for the rest of my life. I don't mind. I can live with the side-effects. It's given me my life back. Three cheers for psychopharmacology!

Might be something for you, OP. But give it a SERIOUS attempt to handle it yourself, or through therapy, because SSRI should be like a final measure. Perhaps you could manage it, even though I could not.

Know that lots of people struggle with this, that a lot of people have gotten over it and gotten better, through the stuff like jessed03 mentioned and recognize that it is a very unhealthy psychological activity. So try to stop it, because rumination won't give you any useful answers, I'm sure you've figured that out rationally by now. Good luck with it, and keep SSRI's at the back of your head.

Understand, life is about solutions. Your ability to resolve conflict is paramount in both mental and physical health. Illness of any sort is always the individuals inability to resolve mental (psychological) problems in a clear fashion. I know that is a fascinating statement and some would disagree, however it changes the truth not one iota.

If your going to ruminate, another words, ruminate on solutions to everyday problems (and deeper issues, long standing). It was those same problems that backed up over the years to seemingly insurmountable proportions, leaving the self powerless and afraid. Thus one ruminates over cause and effects endlessly as he is unable (in his own mind) he feels incapable rather of resolving. Ruminating or pondering solutions however would return the desired results since the mind is no more than a copy machine.

Using our analogy of backed up pipes, where the drugs are pipe cleaner (temporary) should you learn nothing from your experience and continue to flush hair and paper down the drain, relying on chemicals to unclog you. If ever the chemicals stop, even for a moment, you would be in need of a plumber. Beliefs clog the system, pick them out like waste, and replace them with beliefs that reinforce strength in who you are, and who you want to be.

Let the drugs help you in the sense you are freed up to an extent, to learn how to think correctly. Then one day should you choose to end the drugs, you will be anew. Read this post very carefully and with a keen eye. Before you move on with your day. To think correctly means to discern and examine the contents of your mind, realizing your childhood conditioning and the false beliefs about who you are, are just that, false. And creating the overall condition by how you think.... beliefs/emotions. Self healing through examination is the only meaningful endeavor, and the reason you are here, your purpose. The outcome of correct thinking will always be self love. Within the space of self love, there is no room for negative suggestions, and thus the purpose is to free the soul, period.

For your edification today (anyone reading) I do hope you listen. If not you have lost nothing, and will continue as you are.

[danielhermanson]

I am sorry to hear about your problems, but be assured there is a cure for each one of us, we just need to find the right one. Meanwhile, lets look over these effective tips on how to stop ruminating:

- Identify the thought or fear. What is your biggest fear?
- Think about the worst-case scenario. This may sound like an awful suggestion, but we can often handle the worst-case scenario, which takes away the power of the original thought
- Let go of what you can’t control. Ask yourself “what can I change, if anything?”
- Look at mistakes as learning opportunities
- Schedule a worry break. Schedule 20 to 30 minutes a day to worry and make the most of it
- Mindfulness. We spend so much time thinking about past mistakes or worrying about future events, that we spend very little time in the here and now
- Exercise. Go for a walk. A change of scenery can disrupt our thoughts and give us new perspective
- Try therapy. If ruminative thoughts are interfering with living the life you want to live, consider reaching out

These steps can help you go on your track, and these are a starting point to overcoming rumination.

I hope this helps! Take care!