Community discussion: Stopping thought spirals 🌀

My rumination usually stems from past mistakes and wondering what I could’ve done differently. To curb this, I confront the rumination head on and remind myself that this is OCD trying to problem solve and protect me. I give myself a few minutes to just sit with whatever feelings come up as a result of the rumination and remind myself that there’s nothing to figure out. We’re all human, we all make mistakes, and we can accept that there isn’t always going to be a solution. AND THAT’S OKAY. 👍🏻 ❤️

I'm still trying to figure it out myself.

Acknowledge that the original thought is a pattern of OCD. And then confront the thought with “this thought can be here, but it does not mean anything nor do I have to interact with it.” Then I move to a different activity

Get my body moving

Doing a crossword puzzle!

Bringing awareness to the rumination and then trying to do a meditation instead.

Watching a good movie

I told my therapist that when I get overwhelmed in a thought or a ritual I just wanna scream. So she said do it, just scream, sometimes that’s a good way to break away from the cycle.

Put the screens away and hang out with other people. Connecting socially makes me entirely forget what was making me so stressed out about

i recently learned the 5 4 3 2 1 method, it’s good to try! it doesn’t always work for me every time but definitely helps. i also learned to just leave the room i was in. like if im sitting on the couch and cant stop ruminating then i am taught to change my environment, get up and get a glass of water or something.

Labeling the thoughts as OCD thoughts and trying my best to let them be there without trying to solve them

Mindfulness- using my 5 senses to notice the present moment around me

Recognize the ruminating/compulsive behavior, then do my best to step away. Show myself kindness by saying something like: it’s okay, it’s just a misstep, we will try again.

Mine is about the future usually and I try to acknowledge it and just move on

write it down !

A yoga , meditation session along with some cardio . Also listening to podcasts

When I’m caught in a OCD thought spiral I just stop momentarily and remind myself that I’m in the here and now and then look at my surroundings and take note of how my vitals feel. Everything ALWAYS checks out and tells me that OCD is a liar.

Doing a cross word puzzle is a good one , I’m thinking that anything to exercise the brain’s cognitive, logic and reasoning can be very helpful -

Letting myself feel the anxiety without diving in deeper!

Telling it to shut up and what ever I think isn’t going to happen or call it a name ,I named mine bingnut😁

Reminding myself every experience is unique and there is no rule that allows one to predict the future

Putting on music I love and moving my body to it even just in my chair while working. Gets me out of my head better than most things.

Getting up and moving! It can be hard, but I’ll take my dog for a walk, go work out, or continue wedding planning. Sometimes I plan a future trip to get my mind to calm down.

Calling it out "hey I've already gone over this. I'm going to focus on xyz"

When I catch myself ruminating I simply say to myself - your thinking again, and that can interrupt it. I then have to move toward and activity, like watching a show, taking a walk, working, listening to a Podcast, etc. It can be so easy to get wrapped up in those stories, but they are never helpful.

What helps me to stop ruminating is journaling. It helps me to understand things better and to get focused on positive things.

Pattern interruption works for me; when I am ruminating I am usually also pacing incessantly. Going to the grocery store or somewhere out of the house helps. It seems that I am pattern interrupting a LOT though.

Anything with arts and crafts can get me out of a thought spiral!

Sometimes I tell myself, “well, maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t” to help me accept uncertainty about future events, or remind myself that I can’t know what I can’t know or can’t control what’s out of my hands when it comes to other things

Depends on the thought because certain ones give me a huge amount of anxiety which causes them to stay longer and be more consistant but what does help is trying to be busy as possible and telling myself its my ocd not real

Still working on it, but exercise

Window shop on line and do any kind of activity to keep my mind from spiraling

Drawing or reading.

Love, if is something that enjoy or I love, I'm just focus in love, and no matter what trying to enjoy the memont and reminder myself I'm strong ✨🥹🙏🏻

Saying my conclusion really powerfully in my head 3 times shaking my head and snapping out of it. And if it tries to pop back up for another merry go round I just say heck no and like blink. The blinking sounds weird but there is power in movement. But by shaking my head and blinking when it pops up I’m able to distract myself just enough to put it aside and move on before the full thought finishes and leads to more rumination.

If I have a harm thought episode, rather than ruminating over it I say to myself, "Am I doing it now? Am I plotting to do it? Do I have a choice?" This helps a great deal.

Grounding exercises

I sit on the floor and breathe. Sometimes physical touch helps me ground if I'm in a deep loop. I find peace. I can feel my heart rate drop. I can do this alone, but sometimes if I'm really fragile from lack of sleep, food, water, connection, any self care, I need that hand. If there is no physical hand, I call a loved one or get on here at chat with this community.

I like to breathe - meditate