Rumination

Self help

Fortunately, we can do a lot to reduce our tendency to ruminate and to stop it in its tracks when it happens. Self-supportive tools include:

Adopt a growth-mindset: Do you tend to obsess about mistakes and errors? Research from Carol Dweck, a Stanford University psychologist identifies that we tend to have a preference to either be fixed or growth in our mindset. Those with a growth mindset see mistakes as setbacks and will view them as opportunities to learn and improve performance. A fixed mindset individual will be devastated by mistakes, will ruminate endlessly and takes no action to improve their behaviour.

Awareness: Become aware of your triggers for over-thinking (does it tend to happen when you lose a case for example or when someone makes a harsh comment to you?). Once you know what typically starts your habit of over-thinking, you can implement techniques to tackle it.

Control: Identify the things you can control in relation to your obsessive thoughts. Let go of the things over which you realise you have little or no influence actively list small steps (goals) you can conquer which will bring about a sense of ownership and control.

Disengage: A deceptively simple technique which involves acute awareness of our thoughts and actively stopping our engagement in them. Saying to ourselves (or aloud if alone) ‘Stop! This is unhelpful thinking. There is no useful purpose to this’. As with all habits it takes repetition and conviction to embed.

Distract: Healthy distractions are an excellent way to stop rumination in its tracks. As soon as you notice thinking has become unhelpful or obsessive, find something else to occupy your cognitive processes. Movement is a great choice as it engages different brain function. It could involve taking a walk around the block or moving to a different area of the office and chatting to a colleague. If you are at home you might try taking the dog for a walk or indulging in your love of running, swimming, yoga or other physical activity.

Do something attention grabbing: This could involve an activity that engages you in ‘flow’ (a completely absorbing task) such as puzzles, crosswords, planning for that holiday you’ve promised your family or reading something technical (but not related to the case you might be ruminating about!).

Forgiveness: Is your over-thinking related to another person? Paul Gilbert researches the powerful impact that forgiveness can have. You may even have witnessed this in cases where victims have forgiven their attackers. Practically for some people, forgiveness can be a simple decision. For many of us it takes courage and considerable effort. A first step can be writing a ‘letter of forgiveness’ to the person who we perceive has wronged us. This letter does not have to be sent, and the act of expressive writing may be all that is needed to start a process of letting go. James Pennebaker has researched the positive impact of expressive writing for over 20 years. It is a proven technique that supports post traumatic growth following adversity.

Schedule time to over-think: Some people accept they have the tendency to over-think and will schedule time in their day (or week) to indulge in rumination. There is some evidence that this can be useful provided time limits are adhered to (for example, no more than 10 minutes a day). When rumination takes hold remind yourself that you have a slot in your diary to think, but it is not now.