03/25/2025
How can I tell if I'm ruminating, or just processing?
Dr Rick Hanson created a list of what is, and what is not problematic rumination. (“Hint: when your thoughts turn chronically negative and repetitive, without any progress, that's problematic rumination”.)
What IS Rumination:
- Dwelling on something repetitively, negatively, and unproductively
- An ongoing, deliberate engagement with the negative material, that you keep getting drawn back into, keeping you stuck
- Recurring and persistent worries, resentments, regrets, self-doubts
- Revisting thoughts, interactions, memories, feelings, sensations, or desires that make us feel bad
- Interfering with your ability to think about other things, be productive, or enjoy the good aspects of life
- Not generating anything new in terms of new ways of thinking, new behaviors, or new possibilities—just rehashing the same old information without any change
Examples of problematic rumination:
- Replaying conversations over and over. You keep going over what you said or a text exchange, criticizing yourself or imagining how they must have judged you. Even though nothing new is coming up, you keep cycling through the same thoughts. “I can’t believe I said that. They probably think I’m _________.”
- Getting stuck in “what if” loops. You constantly imagine worst-case scenarios or dwell on what could have happened, even though it's out of your control. “What if I fail again?" "What if this ruins everything?" "What if they leave me?”
- Mentally revisiting past mistakes or regrets. You keep going back to decisions you made—whether it was last week or ten years ago—beating yourself up or wishing you could go back and change things. “If only I had ________… everything would be better.”
- Constant self-judgment. Your inner critic takes the wheel, and you spiral into harsh self-talk that doesn’t help you grow—just makes you feel worse. “I’m so stupid. I always mess things up. I’m not good enough.”
- Looping through unresolved conflicts. You rehearse an argument in your head repeatedly, imagining what you should have said—or building your case for the next time. “They had no right to ________. I should’ve said ________.”
- Obsessing over how others perceive you. You analyze people’s reactions to you, trying to decode whether they like you, approve of you, or are secretly judging you. “She didn’t smile back—did I do something wrong? Was I too much?”
What is NOT Rumination:
- Daydreaming, fantasizing, or positive reminiscing
- Mulling things over, and stepping back and reflecting
- Revisiting compelling experiences, and “processing” them
- Having intrusive images, thoughts, feelings, etc. from painful, traumatic experiences
Being shadowed by moods of sorrow, regret, anxiety, or anger
- Thinking you have turned the corner on something . . . and then being surprised by another wave of grief, outrage, etc. (the key here is that it is not deliberate)
Not sure if you're just processing your experiences... or stuck in a negative loop of problematic rumination? Take this short quiz to help you find out.