¶ Intro / Opening
Hello and welcome to the OCD and Anxiety podcast with me, Robert James, a coach and somebody who's been through it too.
¶ Introduction to Rumination
You might think you're doing recovery right but if you're spending hours in your head trying to figure things out there's a good chance you're stuck in the most overlooked compulsion of all, rumination. It feels productive, it feels necessary but it's actually one of the main reasons you're still caught in the OCD loop. In today's episode we're diving deep into what rumination really is, why it keeps you stuck and how to begin interrupting that mental spiral even when it feels automatic.
If you've ever found yourself mentally analysing, replaying or obsessing for hours in your own head then this one's for you.
And if you are struggling with OCD and anxiety and you would like some support with that I do offer a free discovery call to get that you can head over to my website robertjamescoaching.com there's a link in the show notes and if you find this podcast helpful it would be amazing if you could consider leaving us a review and subscribing it really does help other people who who might need to find this content to actually find it so
many thanks guys I really hope that you enjoy if you have any questions at all, do please let me know and off we go.
¶ The Sneaky Compulsion
Rumination is the number one compulsion that nobody realizes they're doing. Most people think of compulsions as checking, washing, seeking reassurance, the kind of more visible stuff. But the truth is some of the most powerful compulsions happen entirely in your own head. And rumination is really the sneakiest of them all. So why is this? Well, it disguises itself as kind of figuring things out. It feels productive, it feels necessary, but it's actually keeping you stuck in the OCD cycle.
Our brain gets triggered by something, a thought, a thought, a thought, a thought, a thought, a thought, a thought, you know a kind of urge a sensation whatever it might be and straight away we find ourselves wanting to kind of have certainty about it and this is where the rumination kind of takes over we we start thinking to ourselves i'm just gonna i'm just gonna figure that one out i'm just gonna try to get a bit more certainty
about that particular thing why did i get that intrusive thought or what did that sensation mean or what if what what would happen if i acted on that that urge. And of course, all of these thoughts, all of these ruminations, they tend to lead to one place, which is more mental rumination. And before we know what's going on, we find ourselves stuck in the OCD cycle, going round in circles. We're looking for that certainty. We keep on thinking about things again and again and again.
And we tell ourselves that we're doing this for a good reason because, you know, thinking about this is the responsible thing to do.
It's the safe thing to do and it's the thing that's going to lead to us kind of finding the solution to this problem but actually that's the trap because the very thing that we're doing here by trying to think about it more by trying to have more certainty is we're getting ourselves you know stuck more and more deeply into that OCD cycle and of course the more that we do that the harder it is to get ourselves out of it.
One of the biggest problems with rumination is that it kind of feels involuntary almost like it's automatic you probably don't even realize that you're doing it until you're kind of 10 minutes into it and you know the idea of letting go of it once you've actually started well it can be very difficult to kind of do that I used to kind of personally get completely stuck in my thoughts for hours at a time you know whether that was kind of relationship OCD or harm OCD or focusing on
trying to solve sensory motor OCD you know I had so many different themes and all of them could kind of ensnare me in the rumination trap. Where I would spend hours looking for certainty about that problem, trying to kind of identify the issue from all of the different angles and not really being willing to walk away from the rumination until I felt a certain kind of way. But the sad thing about rumination is that it never leads to clarity.
It only leads to kind of more compulsions and feeling more stuck. A quick note, if this is resonating with you and you're stuck in the OCD loop, I do offer a free discovery call. To get that, you can head over to my website, robertjamescoaching.com. There's a link in the show notes.
¶ Breaking the Rumination Cycle
So how do you stop something that feels so automatic? Well, first you stop treating rumination like a thinking problem and start seeing it as a behavioral one. You may not choose the kind of first thought, but what happens next can actually become a choice.
Not right away, not perfectly, but gradually. and that starts by learning to recognize you know when you're actually in that rumination cycle when you're spinning when you're going round in circles for me this meant catching the moment i shifted from from kind of living to actually being stuck in my head and analyzing i had to stop asking you know what's the right answer here and start asking is this helpful to be thinking in this way and that single question was really a lifeline here
because most of the time the answer to that question is no. If you're stuck in your head, if you're going around in circles, then it's not helping you to be in the present. It's not helping you to live your life by your values.
And it's probably not going to be good for you. Every time I was able to kind of catch myself and interrupt that rumination process and kind of ask that question, well, that was real progress for me because I was kind of breaking up that pattern of behavior and behavior and I wasn't just doing the rumination in the same way anymore. I was actually beginning to kind of ask questions about it and that changes things. So here's the challenge.
The next time your brain pulls you into the loop, see if you can pause and ask, am I actually solving something here or just trying to feel better? And if it's the second one, then try to step out, return to the moment, do something else altogether.
Even if it's uncomfortable in the short term even if the uncertainty is still there you don't have to wait until you feel certain to move forward with your life that's actually the trap of the OCD the real progress comes when you choose to act even with doubt they're in the background rumination wants your attention and your energy and you don't have to give it either the real progress comes when you choose to act even with doubt they're in the background rumination desperately
wants your attention and your energy and you don't have to give it either. This is something that really kind of felt like it was ruining my life for a long time but today is something that I'm able to manage really well and if you would like some support with doing that yourself I do offer a free discovery call. To get that you can head over to my website robertjamescoaching.com. There's a link in the show notes.
¶ Final Thoughts and Support
This podcast is for education only. It's not therapy or medical advice. If you're struggling, please speak with a licensed mental health professional for support.