Patterns of rumination involve repetitive, negative thinking about past mistakes, current problems, or future worries, getting stuck in cycles of "what if" or "why me," dwelling on causes and consequences without finding solutions, and replaying negative events like arguments or criticisms, which often worsens mood and hinders problem-solving, creating a loop of distress. Key patterns include dwelling on perceived failures ("I'm an idiot") or negative traits ("There's something wrong with me"), replaying conversations, and focusing on symptoms of distress.
Rumination involves repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences. The repetitive, negative aspect of rumination can contribute to the development of depression or anxiety and can worsen existing conditions.
There are various types of rumination, including brooding, reflection, intrusive rumination, and deliberate rumination.
Try the two-minute rule. “There's one treatment in particular that talks about the two minute rumination rule – it's this idea of giving yourself time to think about a situation and then stop and ask yourself: is this way of thinking promoting more questions that I can't answer?” Moulds explains.
Importantly, however, rumination is not only related to depression, but is involved in the development and/or maintenance of a broad range of disorders, including post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, insomnia, eating disorders, somatic symptom disorder, and substance use disorders2, 3.
This is known as rumination, which consists of the regurgitation of feed, rechewing, resalivation, and reswallowing.
The exact cause of rumination syndrome isn't clear. But it appears to be caused by an increase in abdominal pressure. Rumination syndrome is often confused with bulimia nervosa, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and gastroparesis. Some people have rumination syndrome linked to a rectal evacuation disorder.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a highly effective approach in treating anxiety disorders, as it addresses rumination by challenging irrational thoughts, teaching relaxation techniques, and promoting exposure to feared situations, all of which can help individuals manage and reduce their anxiety symptoms.
Existing evidence indicates that rumination in general is associated with structural and functional differences in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC).
An endless repetition of a negative thought or theme that spirals downward, tanking your mood, rumination often involves replaying a past scenario or conversation in your head or trying to solve a maddening problem.
Rumination is a transdiagnostic process evident in individuals with PTSD. Our review identified six sub-groups of studies, cross-sectional and longitudinal. Across studies, rumination was correlated with and predicted PTSD symptoms.
Rumination can involve many cognitive distortions including mental filtering, overgeneralization, and emotional reasoning. It can also co-occur with anxiety, depression, substance abuse and eating disorders. Some other negative health consequences include insomnia, high blood pressure and other mental health disorders.
How to break the negative thinking loop
Objective: To increase the knowledge of rumination and its associations with stressful events, we explored the relationships between 4 types of rumination (brooding, reflection, intrusive, and deliberate rumination) in a sample of 750 adult participants who experienced a highly stressful event.
Rumination is a complex process involving regurgitation, remastication, insalivation, and deglutition. It is initiated by the “rumination area,” located close to the gastric center in the medulla oblongata.
Repeated regurgitation of food for a period of at least one month is a sign. Regurgitated food may be re-chewed, re-swallowed, or spat out.
Mood Stabilizers and Antipsychotics
(Seroquel), or aripiprazole (Abilify) can stabilize thoughts and reduce rumination.
Common to individuals living with ADHD, ruminating is when you get locked in a spiral of persistent, self-defeating thoughts.