Over the last decade, the world and particularly younger generations have increasingly embraced the task of improving our mental wellbeing, whether that comes in the form of meditation, breathing exercises or therapy. As such developments spread and trends rise and fall, there are communicators (like us) that seek to educate as many people as possible on methods or teachings they have either employed in practice, in the case of therapists, or learned, as patients or students. Yet, there can come a point where too much information without guidance becomes detrimental and analysing your thoughts too much can make your mood, stress and overall health worse.
“Rumination” has for a long time been associated with “worry” as symptoms of generalised anxiety disorders. However, over the past 20 years, a clinical distinction has arisen, and it has become clear that rumination is pervasive across not just mental health disorders, but more generally in the wider population. Rumination is the act of “repetitive, prolonged, and recurrent negative thinking about one's self, feelings, personal concerns and upsetting experiences” (Watkins, 2008). Naturally then, as we collectively become more aware of our thoughts, emotions and reactions, we can become more critical of them and fall into the trap of ruminating on them.
Where rumination becomes a problem is in its propensity to be negative and it is this emotional aspect that leads to making our thoughts and feelings worse. Let’s say you are feeling a little down or dejected on a particular day; it is a good thing to be aware of your own emotional state and have healthy coping mechanisms that you can turn to that help you to regulate your emotions. However, too much time and mental energy spent thinking about the symptoms of your low mood, or the causes, circumstances, outcomes or future consequences creates a snowballing effect that magnifies and extends the duration of your low mood; this is rumination at work.
A big review of the literature on rumination published in 2020 identified 4 key consequences of rumination:
As our quarterly theme is all about stress, I won’t go into all the points listed here, but if you’re curious, the paper and a video on the topic do a good job of highlighting the mechanisms and consequences of each point. Nevertheless, the effects on stress and low mood are fascinating and extend beyond clinical disorders, such as PTSD, into the everyday peaks and troughs that we all experience.
In studies on the physical and psychological effects of rumination on stress, it has generally been found (though not in all studies depending on how stress was measured) that rumination increases cortisol response in high-stress situations above their usual peak, and furthermore, even on less stressful days, prolonged rumination reduces the rate at which cortisol levels come back down. Furthermore, rumination contributes to ongoing stress by interfering with our ability to adapt; the negative tone of rumination leads to a more pessimistic outlook, hence why the authors concluded that rumination interferes with problem solving and the ability to notice contextual changes. Such increased pessimism makes people less likely to seek out friends, which helps to destress, or to constructively approach problems and see alternative solutions, which leads to ongoing chronic stress, as the problems become magnified and appear overwhelming.
Notably, most of the studies conducted on rumination feature self-reporting, as researchers must ask people to evaluate their thoughts and feelings, aspects that cannot be objectively measured. It is through self-reporting that it becomes clear that many of the people that ruminate believe it is a helpful trait, which improves their mood and helps with problem solving, despite what the evidence shows. Rumination as an act of reflection on oneself and actions cannot be all bad and so a distinction was proposed in a 2012 paper between positive and negative types of rumination. The first, called “reflective pondering”, refers to one’s ability to think about ways of improving their mood; the second, “depressive brooding”, is the aforementioned negative recurring thoughts defined by Watkins.
Given this distinction, how can one move from depressive brooding to reflective pondering? Since the negative emotions of rumination are the key component of depressive brooding, employing strategies to healthily regulate those emotions is the first step. Breathing exercises, meditation, creative or sporting hobbies, and anything that allows you to process your emotions or be entirely involved in the actions you are taking. By reducing the negativity of ruminative thoughts, and just observing them as “thoughts” in a neutral sense, it becomes easier to see changes in your circumstances and think creatively to solve problems, all of which alleviate stress and increase your confidence in your own ability. Altogether, this creates a positive feedback loop and you’ll get better at managing your stress and emotions, becoming a healthier you.
Author: Thomas von Rein
