Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsRumination CycleEmotional Processing EffectsLinked ConditionsAre You Ruminating?Stopping Rumination
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Rumination Cycle
Emotional Processing Effects
Linked Conditions
Are You Ruminating?
Stopping Rumination
Rumination is an unhealthy thought pattern that can interfere with your ability to live your life; the rumination cycle means the more you ruminate, the harder it is to stop.
Anyone can experience ruminations, but people with anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can experience ruminative thinking. Rumination can contribute to the development or worsening of mental health conditions.
doidam10 / Getty Images
The Rumination Cycle: Examples in Effect
Rumination causes you to dwell on negative feelings or experiences.Oftentimes, this gets to the point where it impacts your daily life and your ability to do day-to-day activities.In many people, rumination creates a cycle. The more you ruminate, the more you’re likely to continue.
Someone who is ruminating feels bad now, and is more likely to feel bad about their past. That makes them feel more despondent about their future, and thus more likely to ruminate.
Stressors like grief, loss, physical illness, past relationships, social engagements, and other concerns can all trigger rumination, although the process of ruminating is largely involuntary.The four types of rumination are:
All of them are linked to negative health impacts.
How Rumination Changes Emotional Processing
Healthy individuals can exhibit resiliency and understand that bad experiences don’t define them. This is healthy emotional processing, also known as emotional regulation. However, people who ruminate become stuck in a cycle of negative thinking and are unable to process emotions healthily. Because of this, rumination can cause or contribute to mental illnesses or make existing conditions worse.
Rumination can also impact physical health (which, in turn, can impact mental health). Studies have shown that heavy rumination can lead to inflammation.
Rumination also activates the sympathetic nervous system, the body’s fight-or-flight response that can contribute toemotional dysregulation(having intense emotional reactions to events that do not match the event’s severity). Ruminating can also lead to insomnia, which can make it hard to regulate emotions.
Conditions Linked to Rumination
Anyone can find themselves ruminating occasionally. However, repetitive thoughts that interfere with your ability to function are closely related to mental health conditions, including:
How to Tell If You’re Ruminating
You may be ruminating if:
Rumination becomes most harmful when it interferes with your ability to live your daily life. If you’re finding yourself ruminating when you should be working, doing things around the house, or sleeping, it’s time to talk with a professional.
Ruminating With OthersCo-rumination is when you ruminate with close friends or family. This can be a way to process trauma or negative events, but it can easily become unhealthy. If you have certain friends or family who make your rumination worse, talk with them about the pattern and work together to break the cycle.
Ruminating With Others
Co-rumination is when you ruminate with close friends or family. This can be a way to process trauma or negative events, but it can easily become unhealthy. If you have certain friends or family who make your rumination worse, talk with them about the pattern and work together to break the cycle.
Steps to Shift Out of Rumination
Once you recognize that you’re ruminating, you can takesteps to stop rumination. These steps may help:
Summary
Rumination is a pattern of negative thoughts. It often becomes a cycle of negative thinking and can contribute to mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and OCD. People can ruminate over anything, from an embarrassing moment to the loss of a loved one to a breakup.
However, once you realize that you’re ruminating it’s important to take steps to break the cycle of rumination, including disproving your rumination or distracting yourself. That’s not always easy, however, so working with a mental health professional can help.
7 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Psychiatric Association.Rumination: A cycle of negative thinking.
Merriam-Webster.Rumination.
García FE, Duque A, Cova F.The four faces of rumination to stressful events: A psychometric analysis. Psychol Trauma. 2017. doi: 10.1037/tra0000289.
Yvette Z. Szabo, Christina M. Burns, Crystal Lantrip.Understanding associations between rumination and inflammation: A scoping review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2022. doi.org: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104523.
Stone LB, Lewis GM, Bylsma LM.The autonomic correlates of dysphoric rumination and post-rumination savoring. Physiol Behav. 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.113027.
Carlucci L, D’Ambrosio I, Innamorati M, Saggino A, Balsamo M.Co-rumination, anxiety, and maladaptive cognitive schemas: When friendship can hurt.Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2018;11:133-144. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S144907
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
