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
Advice needed please: Has anybody ever been in a situation where something traumatic or heartbreaking was happening in their life and struggled with rumination? I know there is like a normal amount that you should process something and cry it out but I don’t know that it is conducive to anything to do that on and off for hours? Wouldn’t it at a certain point be considered unhelpful rumination? And if so how does one stop? Because I’m going through something so hurtful and confusing that I don’t know how to stop thinking about it and the usual distractions don’t work for very long. And idk how important this is but it just happened today so it’s very fresh which makes it even harder to not think about and “figure out” why x, y, z happened. Goodness, I’m sorry if I’m weird or a baby
So hard to not engage the thoughts because even though it's from the "past" (i don't even know if im remembering things correctly and it kills me) and i can't change it, I just NEED to prove it to myself that it didn't happen this way. If you'd asked me questions maybe a few months ago, I would have been able to lucidly explain things. Now I just feel like I'm in a constant swarm of thoughts, not knowing if anything is real. If my brain is to be trusted. Wish I could just get hypnosis to forget
How can I deal with False Memory OCD? I am struggling with ruminating thoughts, and trying to figure out false memories! How can I enjoy my day without figuring it out?
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