How to stop rumination?

[AnnonyBox]

I've noticed that I get stuck in the 'rumination' phase a lot, and it tends to be one of the biggest aggregators of my mental state on a daily basis. Would anyone have any advice on how to break myself out of such thought processes?

 

[Mr2005]

I wish I knew. I've had the same thing going round in my head every day for the last ten years. Literally forgetting it ever happened seems the only way to make it stop. I'm a severe case of PTSD though

 

[porfin1234]

Doing something physical helps me. Even if I still have the thoughts in the background. Something that helps ground you physically. Maybe focus on your senses: sight, smell, taste, etc... dancing is my outlet. When thoughts get so bad I'll literally spin til I'm just dizzy.

 

[Final Escape]

Get a pet if u can. Cat or dog. They force u to focus your attention outside of yourself. Doesn't completely fix all of it but the difference is noticeable after I got cat. If not than try not to be alone any way u can.

 

[LittleJem]

For rumination you could look at taking inositol which is OTC and over the counter.


For PTSD, MDMA is helpful. It is going to be available soon on prescription and some cases online of people helping themselves with it. Also Ketamine

 

[ctbUniquectb]

oops, wrong board

edit: nothing

 

[littlelady774]

I have obsessive rumination about a past event. I go over and over and over it again.
Somebody told me it's a form of OCD, I take fluoxetine for it.
It doesn't help much. :(
Distractions help, but only temporarily.
It's like putting a bandaid on an infected wound

 

[Reallyreallyreally]

For me, daily mindfulness meditation helps a lot. Whenever thought pop into my head, I say inside my head, "That's just a thought. Come back to the breath," then I consciously focus on the breath. Then I wander, then I redirect, back and forth. Doing it once in a while only helps the tiniest bit but when it's daily it means my brain "muscle" is "in shape" enough to control its "motion" a little bit.

 

[Reallyreallyreally]

For PTSD, MDMA is helpful. It is going to be available soon on prescription

Which country are you in? I'd be willing to try this.

 

[SneekUponIt]

I've had moderate success with mindfullness yoga and zen meditation in the past. The meditation sessions can get intense as you essentially have to imagine any negative thoughts and emotions that enter your mind, and try and sit with them, until they dissipate. I was using creative visualization as an adjunct to create the internal image of a 'thought chamber' where I could observe painful memories and the attached emotions while feeling detached slightly by the thought of some kind of thick glass barrier separating me from the incoming slew of negative ruminations. I didn't keep it up because my flashbacks still eventually get me rattled enough to stop meditating daily.
I used to get upticks of spiritual inspiration where I could sit with my trauma a bit and let it pass...I've lost the patience nowadays though

Other things that are less healthy that I've tried that worked was Kratom, occasional usage of benzos, and propranolol. The latter doesn't stop the mental ruminations, but it blocks most of the flight-fight-freeze response involved in PTSD. It trains the mind that when flashbacks occur, there not really life threatening situations, because the physical component isn't tied to the traumatic memories and ruminations anymore. I still feel anxious mentally and even wonder sometimes if the beta blocker is just tricking me to believe I'm safe, but it stops me from entering into a full episode where I lose time and act out of character responding to stimuli that isn't even threatening in reality

...If you suffer PTSD you know what I mean. All your senses seem to meld together and your surroundings seem to exist in an altered state of perception, usually of a hellish nature. Then the world starts spinning wildly as people who you were having a conversation or listening to moments earlier become enemies who suddenly possess sinister intentions. Then the need to get my head back to a less scrambled state and quarantine myself for everyone's safety becomes urgent.

 

[BlackDragonof1989]

Magnesium sometimes helps or I get a bit high with DXM and DPH and vitamin C but that's still hit and miss, my right side of body goes numb now when I'm on it but vitamin C seems pretty safe and watch your carbs and sugar and protein but I know I don't awuhrrr <3 Oh and sometimes high dose niacin but it's all hit and miss like 500 mg gives you a heat rash take twice the vitamin C with it but again I feel like it's only treating the symptoms <3

 

[GinaIsReady]

I've noticed that I get stuck in the 'rumination' phase a lot, and it tends to be one of the biggest aggregators of my mental state on a daily basis. Would anyone have any advice on how to break myself out of such thought processes?

The only thing that makes me stop ruminating is to start asking myself questions, challenging myself. "Did you expect that life would not mean taking care of others?" I learned this from a DBT therapist.