May 28, 2024
Rumination drives unnecessary stress, so eliminating it is a great way to help prevent burnout. Here's an overview of what rumination is, why it can be harmful, and how to start removing those ruts your brain can get stuck in.
What's rumination?
Rumination is very similar to worry, in that it tends to occupy our conscious brains with recurring thoughts about the same person, situation or event, without progressing to an action or other resolution. Where worry pertains to the future, rumination is about the past. Rumination often causes us to re-live painful past events, when we felt embarrassed, ashamed or wronged.
Why rumination drives stress
Our brains don't differentiate well between real and imagined events, which is why simply imagining a quiet dinner with a loved one can produce a similar physical effect to the real thing. The downside is that when we recall painful events in detail, our brains reproduce the emotions and physical reactions of those events as though they were really happening. The stress of events that happened weeks, months or years ago can carry itself into the present, continuing to do harm.
How to stop ruminating
Like any habit, persistent rumination can be hard to disrupt, but there are some reliable approaches. Start by simply noticing when it's happening, and switching your focus to something more productive (or at least less stressful). Daydreaming about your next holiday or remembering a particularly good one from the past will both be an improvement over ruminating. Finding a good podcast or other high-quality distraction can also help.
If the habit proves hard to break, work out how rumination is rewarding you. This may sound counter-intuitive, but any habit that's very hard to break will have some hidden or not-so-hidden positive that's holding it in place. What need is your rumination helping you to meet? If you're playing out alternative scenarios, it may be a need for control; if you're practising witty comebacks that eluded you at the time, it may be a need for status or security. Once you've worked out what need is at the heart of the rumination, look for better ways to meet it. You can also draw your conscious attention to the downsides of rumination - the time that you could have spent on something more enjoyable, or the fatigue it can produce, for example.
Switching out of rumination and into another focus for your attention can eliminate wasted stress, and make your day more enjoyable into the bargain.
