RT might have this effect, it could be argued, because RT takes place in a background of other conditions directing the individual’s cognition, such as the valence or mood the person is already in, the effect of the immediate environment (Watkins, 2008), and even the individual’s beliefs about how helpful RT is for solving problems (Watkins & Baracaia, 2001). Footnote 1 We might infer from this that there is nothing inherently pathological about repetitively thinking about upsetting things but this raises the question as to why RT seems to be a significant factor in enhancing or prolonging depressive symptoms (as in Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). Moreover, Antrobus and Bortolotti ( 2016) argue that there may be epistemic benefit in the kinds of beliefs dysphoric ruminators hold, and these beliefs may play an important role in one’s sense of identity. In a wider examination of the literature, Watkins ( 2008) has found evidence that positively valenced RT can be both helpful and harmful for one’s mental health, and there are even cases where negatively valenced RT can be helpful. However, repetitive thought (RT) need not always be negative or, indeed, pathological. a prohibited access to particular emotion concepts.īehaviors and thoughts that focus one's attention on one's depressive symptoms and on the implications of these symptoms individuals simply think about or talk about how unmotivated, sad, and lethargic they feel without doing anything to relieve their symptoms, or they worry about the meanings of the symptoms without making plans to change their situation. ) theory of hypocognition to further illuminate the particular cognitive qualities that can be experienced by ruminators, i.e. To conclude, I will apply my account to Wu and Dunning’s (Rev General Psychol 22(1):25–35, 2018 Hypocognitive mind: How lack of conceptual knowledge confines what people see and remember, 2019. Accessed ) in order to bridge the gap between the explicit thought we experience-an important part of the lived experience of rumination.

I develop my account from Barrett’s theory of constructed emotion (2006, 2011, 2014) using the work of Merleau-Ponty (Phenomenology of perception, Taylor and Francis Group. If rumination is something we all do at some time, what is it about ruminative thought that makes it ‘sticky’ and difficult to stop for the worst sufferers? In order to answer this question, I will present a plausible account of how ruminative behaviour becomes entrenched to the point where sufferers of anxiety and depression simply cannot make meaning from the world except in terms of the kinds of behaviours, actions and thoughts they have become reliant on. People who ruminate are not often diagnosed as insane-most of us ruminate at some point in our lives-but it is a common behaviour underlying both depression and anxiety (Nolen-Hoeksema in J Abnorm Psychol 109(3):504, 2000).

An oft misattributed piece of folk-wisdom goes: “Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.” In many cases, we don’t just do things repeatedly but think over the same topics repeatedly.

Define ruminating thoughts