People who ruminate will often report that they do not realize they are doing so until a considerable amount of time has passed, and they are uncomfortably far down the rabbit’s hole. Despite it’s design to solve a problem, ultimately, rumination becomes a problem to be solved in its own right, since extracting oneself from a compulsion can be very challenging. This is helpful information when it comes to treating rumination and ultimately reducing it. In addition, sometimes the rumination feels out of control, like it is just occurring, but, by definition, it is a behavior or action that is being done by the person ruminating. Both are compulsions that start as a response to an intrusive thought and serve as a means to try to “solve” the problem presented by that intrusive thought. Conversely, if someone has OCD with existential themes and has an intrusive thought about life being meaningless, their compulsion might be rumination and would sound like “how do I find more meaning if nothing has any purpose? If nothing is meaningful, then why do anything at all? Why are we even really alive?” (Unobservable internal process). So for example, if someone has contamination OCD, and they have an intrusive thought that something is dirty, their compulsion might be to wash their hands repeatedly (an observable action). Rumination, on the other hand is a mental compulsion, and it is unobservable to others since it is entirely an internal process. Rumination is often misunderstood and evades being identified as a compulsion because people erroneously think that compulsions need to be actions or behaviors that are observable, such as washing hands or retracing steps. Compulsions may help reduce distress in the short-term, but often serve to maintain the OCD in the long-term. A compulsion, by definition, is intended to reduce the distress caused by an unwanted, intrusive thought or obsession.
In the context of OCD, rumination is a compulsion. When rumination has a more anxiety-based theme, people tend to get stuck because the thoughts encourage the pursuit of answers to unanswerable questions and truths to unknowable truths. When people are depressed, the themes of rumination are typically about being inadequate or worthless. It is often a primary symptom in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Rumination is one of the co-occurring symptoms found both in anxiety disorders and depression. Because the act of rumination tends to consume a lot of time and emotional energy, it can have serious consequences for one’s mental health. Sometimes it’s just turning the same thought in circles without much variation. It can look like worrying about a future event, replaying a past scenario or trying to predict how something will play out. The pattern can be distressing, difficult to stop, and unusually involves repeating a negative thought or trying to solve an evasive problem. Rumination is defined as engaging in a repetitive negative thought process that loops continuously in the mind without end or completion. When it’s a thought, particularly a distressing negative one, it’s a far less pleasant experience called rumination. When it’s a song, we call it an ear worm, and for the most part it’s a pleasant experience.
Most people can relate to something getting stuck in their head and thinking about it for longer than they’d like a thought, a song, an idea….
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