Rumination - in psychology, this means the process of so-called mental chewing gum. If rumination in animals or children means the return of already chewed food to the oral cavity. In psychology, rumination is a thought that spins in a circle without completion. It does not lead to any productive decisions, does not lead to action. It just spins in a circle, coming back again and again, hooking on other equally useless thoughts. Thus, it takes away a lot of our strength and negatively affects our psychological state.
Where and why rumination occurs and how to stop it, we will look at today in this article.
How to get rid of mental gum with awareness?
In this section we will talk about getting rid of mental gum. If you cannot escape some disturbing thought, then this section is for you.
Here are the main 4 pillars on which the entire fight against this disease is based:
- Awareness.
- Concentration of attention.
- Adoption.
Step #1
Understand how much do you think? Imagine that you have decided to try one of the diets. By prohibiting yourself from eating a lot of foods at once, you will only do harm and will also blame yourself for the failures you have had. In this regard, you need to initially rewrite what you eat during the week. And remove some products from this list.
To defeat mental chewing gum (mental), first of all, find it in yourself. Write down thoughts related to the situations that generate them. For example, if you were scolded at work, then the thought may arise that you are worthless, that you are not good for anything. In general, during the week, write down the situations and thoughts that they cause. Then look at everything with a healthy eye. In the end, it will come to you whether you like this arrangement of things or not.
Step #2
Now try to train your attention without a pen and a piece of paper. Find a flow of thoughts in your head. Record, realize what prompted you to this particular mental chewing gum. Understand what you are thinking . If you realize that you are thinking and focused on this, and not on the fact that it seems to you that you are a failure, then this is already good. The mental cud will gradually begin to melt away. In this step, simply notice what you are thinking. To help, you can tell yourself: “Stop, breathe and notice.”
Step #3
Through the above steps you can change your mental digestion. Beginners may not be able to turn off the mental flow quickly, but over time you will be able to do it. Everything needs training. In the third step, learn to switch your attention with the help of crosswords, math problems, listing movie titles, knitting. In short, keep your brain busy with computational processes. Scientists' data suggests that only 2 minutes are enough to get away from thoughts of self-flagellation.
Step #4
It will take time to get the effect. Try to do what is given in the above steps regularly. If you have been living with your mental gum for a long time, it will take a long time to eliminate it. Train, this is the only way you will build up your muscles of awareness and attention. Here, just like in sports, each time it becomes easier to overcome the next obstacle.
In this fourth step you must know " acceptance ."
It takes self-compassion and real curiosity about your inner self. This is the best thing for your self-esteem. Understand that you love yourself, which means you can be loved. Accept yourself for who you really are!
What is “mental gum” and how to get rid of it?
Modern psychologists are increasingly faced with the problem of “mental chewing gum.”
Already from the name itself it is clear that we are talking about sticky, viscous, addictive thoughts. The so-called obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) includes the presence of obsessive thoughts, obsessive states, and obsessive internal dialogue. Thus, this problem is an obsessive-compulsive disorder. This mental illness causes the constant occurrence of the same information in a person’s head, which can cause behavior and actions that are uncharacteristic for a person.
To get rid of obsessive thoughts, some people come up with a certain ritual for themselves, for example, solving mathematical problems, remembering car license plates, counting the number of windows, and saying special stop phrases. Everyone may have their own methods of dealing with “mental gum.”
Very often, such means of protecting against obsessive thoughts themselves quickly turn into obsession.
Thus, the disease only becomes more complicated, since the methods of protection themselves remind of the problem, strengthening it. But in some cases, this method of combating OCD can still help in the short term.
Among the main reasons for the appearance and development of an obsessive state is the habit of mentally communicating with oneself. Such dialogues usually occur automatically regarding any exciting old or new situation. The second reason is attachment to a belief, as well as deep faith in it. Obsessive internal communication is common to many people, but most often they simply do not notice it, considering it the norm.
Having become a habit, such dialogue begins to concern all ordinary daily events.
This problem is more acute with questions that have been worrying people for a long time. Constant monotonous, restless internal dialogue causes severe fatigue. Over time, even fear of one’s own thoughts appears, which only complicates the problem.
A person becomes dependent on an obsessive feeling. He begins to suffer from insomnia, VSD, and feelings of increased anxiety.
Obsessive thoughts arise against a person’s will. Their main feature is monotony.
A stream of obsessive thoughts absorbs all attention, so the events that happen around them become almost unnoticeable.
Such thoughts are irrational and highly emotional. They are most often associated with fear, resentment, anger, doubt, and guilt. Thus, their main basis is strong emotions.
Obtrusive signals are created by nature in order to automatically remind and concentrate a person’s attention on something important.
For example, you took out a loan, but you currently don’t have the money to repay it. In this case, obsessive thoughts will remind you of the loan, stimulating you to find a way out of the current situation.
The most popular causes of obsessive behavior are thoughts about material wealth, career growth, improving living conditions, and personal life.
An obsessive state is dangerous to human health. It indicates the occurrence of mental disorders.
It should be remembered that the body needs regular proper rest.
Otherwise, chronic fatigue, mental disorders, increased anxiety, neurosis, and obsessiveness may occur.
Thus, regardless of the importance and usefulness of your activity, it is necessary to take long breaks, rest physically, emotionally and mentally.
Why do obsessive thoughts of an anxious nature arise? Most likely, some stupid thought somehow came into your head. It was necessary to stop her by saying: “what kind of crazy thoughts are arising in my head.” But in this situation you gave it great importance, got scared, and began to analyze it.
Obsessive thoughts can also arise regarding everyday things. For example, did I turn off the water, the iron, or close the door.
How to get rid of OCD on your own?
Remember that you cannot unconditionally believe all your thoughts. They are only a part of you.
Therefore, everything that arises in your head can be edited, sensibly assessed, condemned and even ignored.
Thus, the main way to combat an obsessive state is the ability to separate yourself from your thoughts.
You cannot resist obsessive thoughts and try to forget them. This way you will save a lot of the energy that you would normally spend fighting them.
If you notice that a thought comes to you every day, it bothers you, but your internal dialogue does not help solve the problem, try to simply ignore it. Look at these thoughts from the outside, do not start a dialogue with them, do not plunge into them.
If some obsession is justified, it points you to a real problem, remember that any problem must be solved by actions, not by thoughts.
02.06.2016 18:48
A couple more tips on how to remove mental gum
- Do something interesting. Direct your thoughts to work, to your activities.
- Find the good aspect of a bad thought. Perhaps you can benefit from a situation that had a negative impact on you. As soon as you find this plus, immediately cling to it. And gradually you will come out of these thoughts.
- Show indifference. Just ignore unnecessary thoughts.
- Use meditation and relaxation when dealing with mental gum.
- Take a break from your hobby. If you notice that you are thinking about the wrong things, start doing what you love.
- Share your experiences with a loved one. When a person talks about his difficulties to another person, it becomes easier for him. Just talk it out, you’ll see you’ll feel better!
In this way, mental gum can be easily removed from your brain. The main thing is not to forget about regular training.
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Best regards, project administration
What is mental chewing gum?
Mental gum is a thought that arises in the head and is difficult, and in some cases almost impossible, to get rid of. They are intrusive, appearing in the head regardless of a person’s desire.
These thoughts are groundless, arise on their own, and do not carry even a shred of rationality. Apart from nervous exhaustion, there are no consequences. They can spin in their heads for hours, i.e. they are as long-lasting as chewing gum. Oddly enough, this phenomenon affects both adults, children and teenagers equally.
For example, an unpleasant situation happened to you in a store or public transport, you were rude. It has already passed, but you suddenly begin to replay this situation in your thoughts. You imagine what might have happened if they had answered this way or that way. Or maybe you should have ignored this moment altogether and remained silent, then the outcome would have been completely different? Or maybe, on the contrary, you had to enter into conflict and defend your opinion to the end? What's better? What is the right way out of this situation?
The thing is that there is no “right” way. All that you can achieve by thinking about some situation, thing or person is simply nervous tension, fatigue and exhaustion. This is a real “mental chewing gum” that does not leave our heads at our request. She persistently returns and returns again. How to live with this? How to get rid of it? How to minimize negative emotions from this phenomenon?
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Julia took a deep breath, scratched the back of her head, smiled (as she knows how - as if to herself) and went into the control room, simultaneously commanding the film crew:
- That's it, let's write! We endure everything! You need to smile!
Yes, we all live on autopilot. But if you have some serious problem, you think about it so much that it is these thoughts - in themselves - that become your autopilot. And absolutely uncontrollable: they are thought in you against your will - obsessively and relentlessly.
And in order to jump out of this neurotic state, from this mental blindness, sometimes you have to go through more than one or two circles. But the sooner you realize that your thoughts about the problem make up the largest part of it, the sooner you will deal with it.
"Mental Chewing Gum"
A fool can be recognized by two signs: he talks a lot about things that are useless to him, and he speaks out about things that he is not asked about.
Plato
“Mental gum” are those obsessive thoughts that haunt you and swirl around in your head every day. You would be glad not to think about them, but they are thought – on their own, without any of your control or participation.
It's like the parable about the Buddhist monk. The student asks him:
– Teacher, what should I do to achieve enlightenment?
“Very simple,” answers the monk. “Go across that bridge over there, but don’t think about the pink elephant.”
The trick is that the student may have walked across that same bridge a thousand times and never thought about any elephant (especially a pink one!). But when you are told not to think about the pink elephant, you begin to try not to think about it and, accordingly, think only about it.
What psychologists call an “incomplete gestalt” [10] : you are thinking about something, but the thought is not fully developed (it’s like an unanswered question), and you don’t know what to do - there is no conclusion, there is no decision. So you end up in the same circle again and again.
And only at the moment when the corresponding gestalt is completed and thought turns into action, your brain will finally have the opportunity to connect several nerve centers into a single complex and archive it. Now he will not return to this issue.
Actually, our “mental chewing gum” consists precisely of such “half-thought thoughts” and “unfinished tasks.” The hardest thing, I think, is to come up with the idea of a “pink elephant”, because it is extremely meaningless. But, apparently, monks can even cope with such a task if they try hard.
But we are mortal people, not seen in holiness, so our problems are simpler. For most normal people, ordinary “mental chewing gum” looks something like this, quite trivially:
• several conflict situations at work - with the boss, with colleagues, relatives, etc.;
• thoughts about who and what thinks about you, how they treat you, etc.;
• some obligations – to friends, employees, etc.;
• worries about relationships with the other half - who said what to whom, who was right and who was wrong, where did the love go, etc.;
• considerations about universal injustice, lack of meaning in life, human selfishness and other, so to speak, “philosophical questions”;
• plus fears - not being able to do something in time, not being able to cope with something, “that things will get bad, and there will be no one to call an ambulance,” etc.;
• finally, thinking about what photo to post on Instagram or what to write on Facebook in order to inform your “virtual friends” about your own existence, so that they will also like it and start pouring in likes.
That is, the list, as a rule, is very specific and understandable, and most importantly, quite limited. Why do we chase these thoughts around in circles, instead of thinking them through to the end and forgetting them like a bad dream?
Everything is simple here: when you discover one of these thoughts in yourself, you begin to scroll through it (think, so to speak), but quickly become either horrified, or indignant, or despondent, and immediately throw it away . This is understandable: thinking unpleasant things is unpleasant.
Scientists have calculated that the duration of such a “wandering” thought (the duration of your thoughts about a specific situation), as a rule, does not exceed 10 seconds. It is clear that you cannot think through or come up with anything useful in such a short time.
The place of a thought abandoned halfway through, not fully thought through, is immediately taken by the next thought from your limited list of automatic thoughts.
You go through the same procedure: you zealously set out to think this thought, but as soon as you encounter difficulties, you push it away and immediately grab onto the next one.
return 10
In neurophysiological language, this is called an emerging or disrupted dynamic stereotype.
Gymnastics of the mind
Even in the mouth, it not only protects against caries, but also destroys what was created there by dentists - fillings, crowns, bridges (see infographic).
But recently, chewing gum has been found to have several beneficial effects. It turns out that it helps to recover faster after colon surgery. This is explained by the activation of hormones of the digestive system. But the most interesting thing is that chewing gum is a good remedy for stress. It helps you calm down and improves concentration and even memory. “This was recently proven by English scientists from Northumbria University,” says psychoanalyst Alexander Genschel . “But this is not news for Freud’s followers. Chewing gum plays the role of a “simulator”, allowing many to relive the most blissful moments of their lives, when they were still fed on their mother’s milk. People tune out worries and therefore learn better. But chewing gum is unlikely to make everyone an excellent student. This effect works better with an infantile type of psyche.
