I ruminated too much this morning and got distressing mental images (and confirmation) which sent me spiraling again. How do I stop thinking about this and how do I get back to myself? I feel destroyed.
Here is the best advice I can give. Go do something. Go for a walk. Watch a movie. Read a book. Play a game. Run an errand. Clean something. Literally anything. Your mind will make up 100 reasons to not do those things, but ignore them. Tell it you can think about that stuff later (that's a lie, but it might help to trick your mind) and then go do something. Don't try and fight the thoughts. Don't analyze them. Don't do anything about them. They are there. They are just thoughts. Let them be there. They'll go away eventually. But you've got things to do. Go do them. Do not stay still. Do not research or post or scroll or think about it. Right now, you should act.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had to navigate this at the start of your day. I wish I could say I also had the answer to help stop the thoughts and make sure they never come back. But unfortunately I don’t. What I will say is that you will have to get to a place where the discomfort no longer overwhelms and that’s incredibly difficult because it takes time. You have to learn to sit with the discomfort and be okay with the uncertainty. If you’re not already in the process of connecting with a therapist about ERP, then I highly highly recommend it. There will be days ahead where it’s harder than others and there will be days where the distressing images will be fleeting thoughts. A prevention rip I’ve learned alongside my NOCD therapist is “Discomfort is not danger.” It get better,it truly does
I don’t know either. It feels like all I do all day is ruminate, and I have no idea how to stop because I’ve been doing it my whole life.
I should,,,,it’s hard. I’ve torn my thoughts apart and it feels like I’ve torn myself apart
I have really started to take control of my compulsions and im starting to string together better days! Still not great days or even good, but they are better!!! I have controlled my outward compulsions (googling, research, reassurance, checking) the past couple of days and felt the positive impact of that. But unfortunately, I am realizing that the rumination is still constant. My sexuality and relationship are the only two things constantly on my brain, and if they aren’t I freak out and wonder why im not thinking about them! Anyone have any advice on how to deal with the rumination. Sometimes I don’t even notice im doing it, but it’s taking up 90% of my day. Once I start to tackle this I think I may make some real big progress! Hope everyone is fighting today! ❤️
I've been doing well the past month in cutting down on compulsions and have been feeling better however, last night I had a set back that carried on into today. I had gotten very poor sleep (4ish hours) and then something triggered my memory. I think with the sudden anxiety spike and lack of sleep I didn't have the strength to ignore my compulsions. Last night and today I've realised I've gone back into rumination and mentally reviewing the event excessively again and comparing my situation to other people's, but most of the times that I start going down these rabbit holes I don't even realise I'm doing it? Also been fixating a bit on the fear that I've ruined my progress and that I will fall back into the deep end of it all again, that I have done so much work getting myself out of, although trying my best to not be too discouraged. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with rumination more specifically?
I struggle with ruminating on things I did that I deem “cringey” or I feel others may judge me for. For example, we had a very fun and friendly work “Olympics” that I got roped into organizing. The planning process itself was stressful because I am very organized and the ladies I worked to plan it with are organized it their own different ways. That aside, the day came together very nicely. Everyone had fun, nothing went wrong, we had to time everything perfectly (we have people who flew in from out of town and had to leave at a very specific time) and there was only one game that had to be reworked to fit. Objectively it was a very good day and came together very well. However, my brain seems to want to focus on and play on a loop the one singular game I played that I completely fudged. After telling everyone not to hold the child sized bow and arrow a certain way, I of course, held it that way and proceeded to mess up, not once, but four times. A lot - but not all - of the participants were watching and my hands began to shake and I feel it was noticeable. I was the only one to struggle with it so my brain tells me everyone saw it and they were talking about it behind my back and judging me for not being able to do the thing I said not to do. Then I spiral and think of the other slightly cringey moments that I didn’t even necessarily mess up I just had a lot of anxiety during, and a lot of yes on me, and felt it was noticeable. How do you stop the rumination ? I can distract myself with a show or a book or something but it only lasts so long and then BAM the memory pops up in my brain like one of my Inside Out Emotions hit the wrong button. This is a very mild case of ruminating for me, yet I still physically cringe anytime the thought occurs. Any tips would be appreciated.
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