Repetitive Thoughts Emotional Processing or Rumination

Repetitive Thoughts Emotional Processing or Rumination Stress Management Effects on Health Print How Rumination Differs From Emotional Processing By Elizabeth Scott, MS twitter Elizabeth Scott, MS, is a wellness coach specializing in stress management and quality of life, and the author of 8 Keys to Stress Management. Learn about our editorial policy Elizabeth Scott, MS Updated on December 08, 2019 How Stress Impacts Your Health Overview Signs of Burnout Stress and Weight Gain Benefits of Exercise Stress Reduction Tips Self-Care Practices Mindful Living Creative RM / Tara Moore / Getty Images Rumination is such a stress-magnifier, and many people are prone to it at one time or another. Rumination â€" the habit of obsessing over negative events that happened in the past â€" is associated with many negative effects, both on the mind and the body. Rumination, however, is an easy mode to slip into when we’re stressed, because it begins with the simple desire to solve the problems that are plaguing us. (Solving the problem, we reason with ourselves, will relieve our stress. How can this be a bad idea?) Those who do not examine, make sense of, and learn from the difficulties in their lives are destined to repeat them, we reason, so it becomes more difficult to let go of our ruminative tendencies. What’s a serenity-seeker to do? How Rumination Works Most people don’t set out to ruminate over their problems. Most of us want to be happy and want to focus on thoughts that make us happy. The problem comes in when something really frustrating, threatening, or insulting happens to us â€" something that is difficult to accept â€" and we can’t let it go. We may be trying to make sense of it in our mind, making an attempt to learn from it, or we may just be seeking validation that this should not have happened. Whatever the reason, though, we can’t stop thinking about it, and when we think about it, we become upset. The defining aspect of rumination that differentiates it from regular problem-solving is the unproductively negative focus it takes. Rumination may involve going over the details of a situation in one’s head or talking to friends about it. How Does Rumination Differ From Emotional Processing? If we don’t think about our problems, how can we hope to solve them or learn from the process? Should we just focus only on the positive? Don’t we sacrifice growth and solutions if we don’t focus on unpleasant situations from time to time? This is an important question; knowing the happy midpoint between ignoring problems and engaging in rumination can save us a lot of stress! Basically, rumination involves negative thought patterns that are immersive or repetitive. Many people slip into rumination when they are trying to process their emotions, but they become “stuck” in negative patterns of replaying past hurts without moving toward solutions or feelings of resolution. What distinguishes rumination or “dwelling on problems” from productive emotional processing or searching for solutions is that rumination doesn’t generate new ways of thinking, new behaviors, or new possibilities. Ruminative thinkers go over the same information repeatedly without change and stay in a negative mindset. Rumination can even be contagious in a way; it is possible for two people to engage in “co-rumination” and keep a negative situation alive between them with little movement toward the positive. Recognizing Rumination in Yourself What does rumination look like, and how is it different from productive emotional processing? Rumination and emotional processing both tend to focus on problems and usually on emotions surrounding these problems. Rumination, however, tends to have a more negative bent â€" often including thought patterns that involve pessimism and cognitive distortions and focusing mainly on the negative aspects of a situation. Emotional processing, by contrast, may start out this way, but leads to acceptance and release of negative emotions, while rumination keeps you stuck. As a general rule, if you find yourself focusing on a problem for more than a few idle minutes, feeling worse than you started out feeling, with no movement toward accepting and moving on, and no closer to a viable solution, you have probably fallen into the trap of rumination. Likewise with a conversation with a friend, if you both end up feeling worse afterward, youve likely just engaged in co-rumination. What to Do About Rumination Rumination can be really difficult to give up, especially if you dont recognize it as rumination, or you dont know how to stop. Letting go of stress and anger can help with ruminative thinking. Properly dealing with negative emotions can also help with rumination and the feelings of stress that come with it.