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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Roslynn on March 31, 2013, at 13:01:57
Hi all,
I have never-ending negative ruminations about my life and decisions I've made. I don't know how to stop them. I've tried writing them down and refuting them, I've tried fighting them with logical arguments, nothing seems to work. I've tried CBT but the ruminations seem to come back, like they are entrenched in my way of thinking. I'm constantly blaming and attacking myself in my head.
Anyone else have these and how do you deal with them?
Thank you,
Roslynn
Posted by Phillipa on March 31, 2013, at 14:40:29
In reply to Anyone else have ruminations???, posted by Roslynn on March 31, 2013, at 13:01:57
Sure do. And I've yet to figure out how to stop them. No med could do that? Must a way. Have tried positive thinking and it works for a few hours then back to the ruminating and what if's? Phillipa
Posted by gadchik on March 31, 2013, at 15:32:04
In reply to Re: Anyone else have ruminations??? » Roslynn, posted by Phillipa on March 31, 2013, at 14:40:29
The only way Ive conquered this,and it was very bad with me, was counseling(talk,cbt), and clonazepam.
Posted by sigismund on March 31, 2013, at 17:15:52
In reply to Anyone else have ruminations???, posted by Roslynn on March 31, 2013, at 13:01:57
My general hunch would be to act counter-intuitively and try to see what might be right in the ruminations....to give them the absolute best chance to establish how awful you are (or whatever they are arguing)....and then if they don't pass that generous and easy test ask them to leave the room, which of course they won't. If you could just brush them aside it would be easy.
I have this thing when I have smoked marijuana.....all of a sudden a new perspective comes from around the corner casting me in a terrible light and I think 'How could you?', and the best thing to do with that is to allow the case to be argued....and it turns out that the sin concerned is pretty venial......minor errors of taste and so on.
And if the errors are not venial but mortal, maybe the best you can do is resolve not to repeat the mistake or crime or whatever. Of course it might not be what you have done but who you are. Anyway....
Posted by TiredofChemicals on April 2, 2013, at 10:46:30
In reply to Re: Anyone else have ruminations??? » Roslynn, posted by Phillipa on March 31, 2013, at 14:40:29
I have had ruminating thoughts. Still do, I suppose at times. I never knew what ruminating thoughts were until a psychiatrist mentioned them. Now I kind of feel like it was the power of suggestion.
But it gets better! The psychiatrist has a magic pill that's gonna make it all better! pfffttt....
Well.... actually, if that pill doesn't work he's got another that "we" could try and see if that works..?? And it goes on and on and on.
I don't want to be discouraging in your search for relief. I am just trying to express my dissatisfaction with psychiatry.
I have no easy answer but for me psychiatry was not the answer. You mileage may vary.
I think I ruminate less, now that I'm not being treated for it (through chemicals). Also, with nobody suggesting that I have ruminating thoughts, I'm not ruminating about having ruminating thoughts.
Posted by sigismund on April 2, 2013, at 19:24:58
In reply to Anyone else have ruminations???, posted by Roslynn on March 31, 2013, at 13:01:57
> I'm constantly blaming and attacking myself in my head.
Have you noticed how some older people are more gentle and thoughtful?
This might be because, other tactics having failed, they have learned how to be kinder to themselves and others. Sometimes anyway. When I was younger my mind was floating in a soup of desires relating to wanting to be well thought of. It has taken much too long to learn to be kind to myself but once you CAN do it it is surprisingly easy.
I enjoy reading history....it gives me a sense of proportion about my 'problems'. As one approaches death it becomes more obvious that nothing matters, and that certainly includes self-accusations. In the extreme case, what does it matter if all the self-accusations are right? What would that prove? That you are not perfect?
Posted by sigismund on April 2, 2013, at 19:26:34
In reply to Re: Anyone else have ruminations???, posted by sigismund on April 2, 2013, at 19:24:58
Could you just say to them in a weary tone 'No doubt you are right'?
Posted by Chris O on April 11, 2013, at 5:41:35
In reply to Anyone else have ruminations???, posted by Roslynn on March 31, 2013, at 13:01:57
Roslynn:
I feel like my ruminations are totally caused by my anxiety-ridden brain biology. I don't know if this relates to you at all, but on the rare occasion that my anxiety and depression dissipate, so do my ruminations. I know that in the brief year where SSRIs worked for me, my negative ruminations decreased significantly. I too constantly blame and attack myself in my head. And I never seem to be able to cognitively shift myself away from this, no matter how hard I "try." It's so fr*gg*ng annoying. If I had to guess, for me, it has to do with a combination of my family's (mostly my mother's) crappy brain biology, and the way my mother blamed and attacked me for ... nothing at all, for just being me. I suspect that my brain was deeply shaped by these interactions at a very young age, and I don't think it has ever recovered. Oh, the joy.
This is the end of the thread.
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