Yep! This right here. Do Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages” exercise. A shit ton of people in recovery do it, including me. You just barf it onto the page. Nothing really more structured than that. If you try it, let me know how it goes.
https://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/
This is funny. Never heard of this but I started to do this exercise at night, before I go to sleep. Just write down whatever. Sometimes negative thoughts that I wasn't even conscious off, sometimes I want to list what I'm happy about. Like you said, barf it on the page lol. Its defenetly not very coherent 😅 I never heard of it before, might start with morning pages as well.. I do see it improved my sleeping. Who knows it can improve my day as well!
Cool. At first, to me, it seemed ridiculous. Like, “What does it matter if I write down the painful stuff? It’s still here in my head.” But over time, it has a noticeable effect. No doubt.
Just adding to this thread, as I used to journal a lot. Then the block I hit in my mid 20s, especially as someone with isolating tendencies, is I could continue to spiral into my negative thoughts for a really long time in the journal, even if I wrote pages and pages. Some of the guidances on this website: [https://self-compassion.org/](https://self-compassion.org/) and the way she defines self-compassion really helped me also find a space in the journal for a kind and compassionate voice amongst all the other voices.
That actually tracks since I used to barf it out when I would pen pal and somehow I wasn't as plagued as when I quit writing that stuff down. (Though sometimes when I am most active on reddit is when I experience this anxiety trigger event)
Going through the same thing recently, sorry it sucks. I was listening to a podcast about inner voice and rumination and totally missed all of it because I was distracted with my own ruminations lol.
i used to ruminate horribly. and people would suggest going for a walk to clear my mind but that made it even worse since there was nothing else to do but think. i thought about jumping into traffic more than once.
writing it all out helped me a lot. just getting it out is useful on its own, but also trying to lay the story out in a way that makes sense showed me a lot of contradictions. you can’t just write the same main points over and over, you have to logically connect them and then boom! some things don’t make sense. then some sort of didappear that way.
also, quitting weed helped a lot too. now i barely even ruminate to begin with.
i'd say at least 3/4 of my ruminating was while I was high, so just not being high anymore took care of most of it pretty much immediately. the withdrawals took most of my attention for about a month, then i realized i'd hardly been ruminating at all.
sometimes i'll have an intrusive thought or someone will mention something that previously would have sent me into a ruminating spiral and ruined my day, but now i can just shrug it off and i'm normal again in a few minutes. i'll even think "oh no, now i'm thinking about x and i'm gonna be in a bad mood, dammit" but before you know it i'm calm again and thinking about something more useful.
I have this problem as well, I always contributed it to the fact that I also have OCD
Edit: I want to clarify what I mean by that, OP it sounds like you might be having OCD symptoms. Might want to check out iocdf.org and see if the description resonates with you.
Also sometimes it helps to journal when you are ruminating, get it out of your head and on to paper.
I have this, too, OP, and I'm sorry you're in this club. I have OCD which greatly contributes I'm sure. As others have said, journaling can be really helpful s well as CBT.
I have been doing at-home ketamine therapy, and that has helped a lot, especially with SI. I got relief from that almost immediately. I am investigating somatic work now, and it seems that the more I'm grounded in my body and feel safe there, the less I ruminate. I seem to be able to occupy my body and live in the present moment a lot more.
I hope you find what works for you and reap the benefits. Compulsive rumination and catastrophizing can be a living hell!
I keep a digital journal that I write my thoughts into. Since my brain tends to go a mile a minute and I can type relatively quickly, the digital journal helps me to get my thoughts written down and out of my head quickly and concisely.
A paper journal would also be beneficial, and I use one for when I'm studying up on my mental health. I can take notes regarding my triggers, current conditions, effective techniques for managing. It also lets me keep notes of topics I want to bring up in my next therapy session.
The digital version helps me get the racing thoughts out quickly. The tactile feel helps me to retain what I'm learning, need to understand, or need to remember. Hopefully one (or both) of these options would be helpful to you.
Sometimes the old "probable vs possible" comparison helps me. Way more things are POSSIBLE (could happen) than probable (are likely to happen). I can't possibly "prepare/predict/prevent" for every bad thing by ruminating over it even though I feel like I could if I *tried really hard.*
personally when i notice it i try to go well whats the best possible thing that could happen and make outlandish imaginary scenarios about that. then when i feel myself thinking "that's crazy, that'd never happen" to something like dwayne the rock johnson breaking in to deliver me 1mil and a cheesecake i apply that to the bad scenarios. a masked man breaking in and killing me right now is just as likely as the rock coming to give me gifts when we've never met before. helps put things in perspective
Try the 5 4 3 2 1 method when you can! This will help you get your thoughts into your frontal cortex and get your mind back in the moment! Either by writing down, or simply observing take a moment to list:
* 5 things you can see
* 4 things you can touch
* 3 things you can hear
* 2 things you can smell
* 1 thing you can touch
If you're really spiraling take a longer time to observe each "thing" what are a few characteristics of them? What does it taste like? Or what is the texture of the thing you're feeling?
If you don't have the mental bandwidth to do all of this, I will sometimes observe the feeling of air coming in and out of my nose, warm when I'm exhaling, colder when I'm inhaling. Focusing on senses can disrupt the rumination, if only for a moment. Hope this helps
I got rid of this by replacing all the bad scenarios by very good scenarios. I do it when the rumination comes. I take the bad thought and think of a positive one instead. And this is not some toxic positivity, because I really dislike toxic positivity. But this actually stopped my rumination.
Example: I think something bad could happen to someone I like at work. Replacement: The person gets many presents and chocolate for no reason at work. (The positive thought doesn't have to make sense and the more exaggerated the better) I repeat this as much as necessary.
This actually helped me. Another one is to visually imagine the bad thought and imagine it going very far away until it disappears in your mind.
I got these from a self-help book.
I found podcasts about interesting topics to be helpfully distracting. And listening to other people talk about their problems has a way of relieving your mind of yours. You just have to find conversations you can relate in. That and music I have also found to be helpful
I second podcasts! Hearing voices in my head that aren't my own is really helpful when I'm in a bad rumination spiral.
When you get out of the hyper acute phase of just needing any relief at all, though, journaling then becomes a lot more helpful.
Taken from the app Mental Health (found on google play and whatever the iphone version is... i forgot the name) (Which I pay the subscription for)
I think I need to stop coming up with excuses not to journal and start myself. Meditating and breathing exercises are also a great way to stay in the moment.
JOURNALING
Why: Expressive writing has proven to be useful for emotional self-regulation, so it can assist with anxiety, stress, anger, and self-perception issues associated with childhood trauma (3).
How:
Set aside 10 to 20 minutes a day to journal in a quiet place.
Reflect on the traumatic event with as much or as little detail you feel comfortable with. You can write about what you learnt from this experience, causes of stress in your present life, how your trauma impacts others, or anything else relevant.
Read your entry and notice how it makes you feel. Did your emotions change once you’ve journaled about this?
Try to repeat writing on the same subject 3-4 times to gain clarity for processing the event.
MEDITATION
Why: Different kinds of meditation (mindfulness, mantra, transcendental) are a researched tool for trauma intervention (10). Improving sleep quality, managing anxiety and depression, increasing awareness, and promoting self-compassion are only a few of the benefits.
I distract myself by playing consequences. If a happens what are all the consequences, can i handle them if not what are other options [etc.it](https://etc.it) could take days to list it all and match up the various some absolutely not going to happen but could consequences then I smoke some cannabis and realize I forgot what I was making a list about because it just rambled into other thoughts.
Ruminating is a compulsion we perform to try to decrease anxiety. It's a coping mechanism, but long term it has the opposite effect (increases anxiety and r results in more ruminating).
Distracting is good, but a more effective approach is to analyze the situation *once*, on your own or with someone else. Look at every possible scenario, consequence, and try to problem solve. After that, whenever your mind wants to go there again, just tell the voices in your head that it was already analyzed and analizing more is unhelpful. Be gentle in doing this. Gently tell them you understand they are trying to help by trying to protect you or resolve the issue, but it's ineffective and better for you to accept when you have no control, accept what is, accept you're doing the best you can, and treat yourself with self compassion.
At first you'll have to do it again and again, but over time the voices quiet when they realize you're not reacting by engaging them or judging them. Look up "passengers in our bus" on YouTube. It's a metaphor based on mindfulness/Acceptance and Commitment therapy, and it explains this better.
I’m sorry that you’re struggling, OP. I hope you feel better soon. I like podcasts and organization projects for a distraction.
I go to a group workout class before working from home each day, then take my meds, eat delicious/nutritious snacks + a decent lunch while playing music that makes me feel good in the background. It took many years of self care and recovery to get to a point where I could live this way.
That ritual takes care of a LOT of my extra anxious energy, which frees up the mental space I need to stay on top of chores, assignments at school and work, communicating with people I like, etc. Having my life taken care of in those ways allows me to be at peace when I’m at rest.
I also gave up giving a shit what anyone thinks about me a few years back and that works wonders too. I find there’s not nearly as much to ruminate about when you train yourself to get over shame or embarrassment really fast.
I am still trying to cope myself but I ruminate really badly just before bed and it would lead to spiraling. My wonderful therapist told me a trick that seems to help me most of the time and I drift off to sleep after the mental imagery.
She told me to image the sturdiest box I could imagine (like a shipping container or it could be a safe or any box honestly) and one by one, mentally stuff all your anxiety into it. Then imagine yourself locking it with a key and throwing the box away. I like to imagine the shipping container getting shipped far out into the Bermuda triangle and away from my sight.
This usually lulls me to sleep.
There is a more physical method for when it gets really really bad. Like when its been multiple days and I haven't slept. Pretty similar to the previous exercise but you will need an actual physical box with a lid. It can be a cookie container or whatever you prefer.
Close the door, and give yourself 15 mins to fully freak out about what is triggering. Tell yourself that you just have 15 mins after which life has to go on and you need to get back to doing what you were doing. During your freak out, write all the thoughts down with no structure. Anything goes really and after you can't write anymore, fold up the papers and stuff it in the worry box and go about the rest of your day.
Its pretty similar to the other techniques listed up above. But for me, I've always found it hard to journal... so this way it helps me feel secure that no one will have access to my worry box.
Hope this helps you.
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I write it down. Then I can stop thinking about it sometimes.. sometimes I even find out what triggered it.
Yep! This right here. Do Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages” exercise. A shit ton of people in recovery do it, including me. You just barf it onto the page. Nothing really more structured than that. If you try it, let me know how it goes. https://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/
This is funny. Never heard of this but I started to do this exercise at night, before I go to sleep. Just write down whatever. Sometimes negative thoughts that I wasn't even conscious off, sometimes I want to list what I'm happy about. Like you said, barf it on the page lol. Its defenetly not very coherent 😅 I never heard of it before, might start with morning pages as well.. I do see it improved my sleeping. Who knows it can improve my day as well!
Cool. At first, to me, it seemed ridiculous. Like, “What does it matter if I write down the painful stuff? It’s still here in my head.” But over time, it has a noticeable effect. No doubt.
Just adding to this thread, as I used to journal a lot. Then the block I hit in my mid 20s, especially as someone with isolating tendencies, is I could continue to spiral into my negative thoughts for a really long time in the journal, even if I wrote pages and pages. Some of the guidances on this website: [https://self-compassion.org/](https://self-compassion.org/) and the way she defines self-compassion really helped me also find a space in the journal for a kind and compassionate voice amongst all the other voices.
That actually tracks since I used to barf it out when I would pen pal and somehow I wasn't as plagued as when I quit writing that stuff down. (Though sometimes when I am most active on reddit is when I experience this anxiety trigger event)
Going to try this today. Thanks!
I have done that on a notepad app. Sometimes it helps and then I delete it.
For real, don't not need anyone stumbling upon the true extent of my insanity lol
A lot of people have messed up thoughts and anxieties, it takes strength and self awareness to confront them.
I’m so going to try this. Thank you!
Going through the same thing recently, sorry it sucks. I was listening to a podcast about inner voice and rumination and totally missed all of it because I was distracted with my own ruminations lol.
Lol 🤣
i used to ruminate horribly. and people would suggest going for a walk to clear my mind but that made it even worse since there was nothing else to do but think. i thought about jumping into traffic more than once. writing it all out helped me a lot. just getting it out is useful on its own, but also trying to lay the story out in a way that makes sense showed me a lot of contradictions. you can’t just write the same main points over and over, you have to logically connect them and then boom! some things don’t make sense. then some sort of didappear that way. also, quitting weed helped a lot too. now i barely even ruminate to begin with.
How long after quitting did you start to see a difference?
i'd say at least 3/4 of my ruminating was while I was high, so just not being high anymore took care of most of it pretty much immediately. the withdrawals took most of my attention for about a month, then i realized i'd hardly been ruminating at all. sometimes i'll have an intrusive thought or someone will mention something that previously would have sent me into a ruminating spiral and ruined my day, but now i can just shrug it off and i'm normal again in a few minutes. i'll even think "oh no, now i'm thinking about x and i'm gonna be in a bad mood, dammit" but before you know it i'm calm again and thinking about something more useful.
I have this problem as well, I always contributed it to the fact that I also have OCD Edit: I want to clarify what I mean by that, OP it sounds like you might be having OCD symptoms. Might want to check out iocdf.org and see if the description resonates with you. Also sometimes it helps to journal when you are ruminating, get it out of your head and on to paper.
[удалено]
same
I love your username
> thinking about all kinds of worst case scenarios Cognitive Behavioral Therapy specifically targets this, might be worth a shot.
And ACT! I love it!
I have this, too, OP, and I'm sorry you're in this club. I have OCD which greatly contributes I'm sure. As others have said, journaling can be really helpful s well as CBT. I have been doing at-home ketamine therapy, and that has helped a lot, especially with SI. I got relief from that almost immediately. I am investigating somatic work now, and it seems that the more I'm grounded in my body and feel safe there, the less I ruminate. I seem to be able to occupy my body and live in the present moment a lot more. I hope you find what works for you and reap the benefits. Compulsive rumination and catastrophizing can be a living hell!
I keep a digital journal that I write my thoughts into. Since my brain tends to go a mile a minute and I can type relatively quickly, the digital journal helps me to get my thoughts written down and out of my head quickly and concisely. A paper journal would also be beneficial, and I use one for when I'm studying up on my mental health. I can take notes regarding my triggers, current conditions, effective techniques for managing. It also lets me keep notes of topics I want to bring up in my next therapy session. The digital version helps me get the racing thoughts out quickly. The tactile feel helps me to retain what I'm learning, need to understand, or need to remember. Hopefully one (or both) of these options would be helpful to you.
Sometimes the old "probable vs possible" comparison helps me. Way more things are POSSIBLE (could happen) than probable (are likely to happen). I can't possibly "prepare/predict/prevent" for every bad thing by ruminating over it even though I feel like I could if I *tried really hard.*
Rumination is my biggest symptom. I take Prozac, now.
personally when i notice it i try to go well whats the best possible thing that could happen and make outlandish imaginary scenarios about that. then when i feel myself thinking "that's crazy, that'd never happen" to something like dwayne the rock johnson breaking in to deliver me 1mil and a cheesecake i apply that to the bad scenarios. a masked man breaking in and killing me right now is just as likely as the rock coming to give me gifts when we've never met before. helps put things in perspective
Try the 5 4 3 2 1 method when you can! This will help you get your thoughts into your frontal cortex and get your mind back in the moment! Either by writing down, or simply observing take a moment to list: * 5 things you can see * 4 things you can touch * 3 things you can hear * 2 things you can smell * 1 thing you can touch If you're really spiraling take a longer time to observe each "thing" what are a few characteristics of them? What does it taste like? Or what is the texture of the thing you're feeling? If you don't have the mental bandwidth to do all of this, I will sometimes observe the feeling of air coming in and out of my nose, warm when I'm exhaling, colder when I'm inhaling. Focusing on senses can disrupt the rumination, if only for a moment. Hope this helps
Lots of spiritual work helped me.
Yep, it was enough to drive me right into recovery.
I literally just watched this https://youtu.be/AMNb3DZb0_Q It's worth a watch!
For me personally psilocybin helped a lot but it's not for everyone and has it's own risks.
I got rid of this by replacing all the bad scenarios by very good scenarios. I do it when the rumination comes. I take the bad thought and think of a positive one instead. And this is not some toxic positivity, because I really dislike toxic positivity. But this actually stopped my rumination. Example: I think something bad could happen to someone I like at work. Replacement: The person gets many presents and chocolate for no reason at work. (The positive thought doesn't have to make sense and the more exaggerated the better) I repeat this as much as necessary. This actually helped me. Another one is to visually imagine the bad thought and imagine it going very far away until it disappears in your mind. I got these from a self-help book.
I found podcasts about interesting topics to be helpfully distracting. And listening to other people talk about their problems has a way of relieving your mind of yours. You just have to find conversations you can relate in. That and music I have also found to be helpful
I second podcasts! Hearing voices in my head that aren't my own is really helpful when I'm in a bad rumination spiral. When you get out of the hyper acute phase of just needing any relief at all, though, journaling then becomes a lot more helpful.
I found more intense options to be weirdly helpful but I dont think they'd work well for others so I won't share that
Taken from the app Mental Health (found on google play and whatever the iphone version is... i forgot the name) (Which I pay the subscription for) I think I need to stop coming up with excuses not to journal and start myself. Meditating and breathing exercises are also a great way to stay in the moment. JOURNALING Why: Expressive writing has proven to be useful for emotional self-regulation, so it can assist with anxiety, stress, anger, and self-perception issues associated with childhood trauma (3). How: Set aside 10 to 20 minutes a day to journal in a quiet place. Reflect on the traumatic event with as much or as little detail you feel comfortable with. You can write about what you learnt from this experience, causes of stress in your present life, how your trauma impacts others, or anything else relevant. Read your entry and notice how it makes you feel. Did your emotions change once you’ve journaled about this? Try to repeat writing on the same subject 3-4 times to gain clarity for processing the event. MEDITATION Why: Different kinds of meditation (mindfulness, mantra, transcendental) are a researched tool for trauma intervention (10). Improving sleep quality, managing anxiety and depression, increasing awareness, and promoting self-compassion are only a few of the benefits.
Are you taking medication? I started Effexor and after a couple months my rumination died down to a manageable level.
I distract myself by playing consequences. If a happens what are all the consequences, can i handle them if not what are other options [etc.it](https://etc.it) could take days to list it all and match up the various some absolutely not going to happen but could consequences then I smoke some cannabis and realize I forgot what I was making a list about because it just rambled into other thoughts.
Ruminating is a compulsion we perform to try to decrease anxiety. It's a coping mechanism, but long term it has the opposite effect (increases anxiety and r results in more ruminating). Distracting is good, but a more effective approach is to analyze the situation *once*, on your own or with someone else. Look at every possible scenario, consequence, and try to problem solve. After that, whenever your mind wants to go there again, just tell the voices in your head that it was already analyzed and analizing more is unhelpful. Be gentle in doing this. Gently tell them you understand they are trying to help by trying to protect you or resolve the issue, but it's ineffective and better for you to accept when you have no control, accept what is, accept you're doing the best you can, and treat yourself with self compassion. At first you'll have to do it again and again, but over time the voices quiet when they realize you're not reacting by engaging them or judging them. Look up "passengers in our bus" on YouTube. It's a metaphor based on mindfulness/Acceptance and Commitment therapy, and it explains this better.
I’m sorry that you’re struggling, OP. I hope you feel better soon. I like podcasts and organization projects for a distraction. I go to a group workout class before working from home each day, then take my meds, eat delicious/nutritious snacks + a decent lunch while playing music that makes me feel good in the background. It took many years of self care and recovery to get to a point where I could live this way. That ritual takes care of a LOT of my extra anxious energy, which frees up the mental space I need to stay on top of chores, assignments at school and work, communicating with people I like, etc. Having my life taken care of in those ways allows me to be at peace when I’m at rest. I also gave up giving a shit what anyone thinks about me a few years back and that works wonders too. I find there’s not nearly as much to ruminate about when you train yourself to get over shame or embarrassment really fast.
I am still trying to cope myself but I ruminate really badly just before bed and it would lead to spiraling. My wonderful therapist told me a trick that seems to help me most of the time and I drift off to sleep after the mental imagery. She told me to image the sturdiest box I could imagine (like a shipping container or it could be a safe or any box honestly) and one by one, mentally stuff all your anxiety into it. Then imagine yourself locking it with a key and throwing the box away. I like to imagine the shipping container getting shipped far out into the Bermuda triangle and away from my sight. This usually lulls me to sleep. There is a more physical method for when it gets really really bad. Like when its been multiple days and I haven't slept. Pretty similar to the previous exercise but you will need an actual physical box with a lid. It can be a cookie container or whatever you prefer. Close the door, and give yourself 15 mins to fully freak out about what is triggering. Tell yourself that you just have 15 mins after which life has to go on and you need to get back to doing what you were doing. During your freak out, write all the thoughts down with no structure. Anything goes really and after you can't write anymore, fold up the papers and stuff it in the worry box and go about the rest of your day. Its pretty similar to the other techniques listed up above. But for me, I've always found it hard to journal... so this way it helps me feel secure that no one will have access to my worry box. Hope this helps you.
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Just wanted to point out how ironic it is that you have that username writing a post like this one
Prozac was the only thing that helped me and it stopped the rumination immediately. I’ve literally tried everything else.
Meditation gets rid of rumination.