How to stop the rumination with PTSD?

[Anonymous]

Hi, OP, I don't have an answer but just expressing sympathy. After a sexual assault in college, I had about a 6-month period when I could barely think because my mind constantly reverted to playing the same movie again and again. I just wanted it to stop. It was consuming. For me, it took time and talk therapy. In that initial phase, all I could do was try to find distractions. After that, things calmed down enough for me to think and actually start to move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Therapy and lifestyle changes: nutritious, nourishing foods, daily walk, exercise, cutting toxic people out of my life, learning how to have/express/enforce boundaries, etc, etc. Trauma recovery is possible, but it is a lot of work and it is painful at times. Keep at it.

This exactly. Meds should be last resort, not first.

I get what y'all are saying and agree that meds should not necessarily be the first treatment for everyone with PTSD. But the suggestion that serious mental illness be treated with "nutritious, nourishing foods" and "daily walks" really needs to stop; it is next level ignorant and harmful.

Ptsd isn't a mental illness, rather it is a trauma response. The lifestyle changes were listed *after* therapy. It is ok to take meds to help access therapy and it is ok to not take meds. My trauma surrounds the loss of control. Running, choosing to eat well, etc help me feel in control of my body. Medicines I tried in the past were not only unhelpful, they made me feel worse.

Exactly. These meds really can’t guarantee anything. That’s why they’re experimental.

[Anonymous]

I know this sounds strange, but acupuncture, specifically for anxiety, reduced my nighttime rumination (and it can be strangely only at night and for hours).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Therapy and lifestyle changes: nutritious, nourishing foods, daily walk, exercise, cutting toxic people out of my life, learning how to have/express/enforce boundaries, etc, etc. Trauma recovery is possible, but it is a lot of work and it is painful at times. Keep at it.

This exactly. Meds should be last resort, not first.

I get what y'all are saying and agree that meds should not necessarily be the first treatment for everyone with PTSD. But the suggestion that serious mental illness be treated with "nutritious, nourishing foods" and "daily walks" really needs to stop; it is next level ignorant and harmful.

Ptsd isn't a mental illness, rather it is a trauma response. The lifestyle changes were listed *after* therapy. It is ok to take meds to help access therapy and it is ok to not take meds. My trauma surrounds the loss of control. Running, choosing to eat well, etc help me feel in control of my body. Medicines I tried in the past were not only unhelpful, they made me feel worse.

Exactly. These meds really can’t guarantee anything. That’s why they’re experimental.

There have never been guarantees with any medicine every made. I don't know which medications you're calling 'experimental' but there are some excellent anti-anxiety/anti-depressants that have been around for a very long time, are very well studied and available as generics so they're fairly inexpensive if you have insurance.

Prozac - 1987
Zoloft - 1991
Lexapro - 2002

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this sounds strange, but acupuncture, specifically for anxiety, reduced my nighttime rumination (and it can be strangely only at night and for hours).

Not OP. But thanks for this suggestion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Therapy and lifestyle changes: nutritious, nourishing foods, daily walk, exercise, cutting toxic people out of my life, learning how to have/express/enforce boundaries, etc, etc. Trauma recovery is possible, but it is a lot of work and it is painful at times. Keep at it.

This exactly. Meds should be last resort, not first.

I get what y'all are saying and agree that meds should not necessarily be the first treatment for everyone with PTSD. But the suggestion that serious mental illness be treated with "nutritious, nourishing foods" and "daily walks" really needs to stop; it is next level ignorant and harmful.

Ptsd isn't a mental illness, rather it is a trauma response. The lifestyle changes were listed *after* therapy. It is ok to take meds to help access therapy and it is ok to not take meds. My trauma surrounds the loss of control. Running, choosing to eat well, etc help me feel in control of my body. Medicines I tried in the past were not only unhelpful, they made me feel worse.

PTSD absolutely is a mental illness. It may arise from a trauma response to the level of mental illness when the symptoms become clinically significant. It's right there in the DSM-5 which, in case you don't know, stands for The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition and is published by the American Psychiatric Association. When submitting insurance claims for PTSD treatment, the DSM-5 code for PTSD must be included.

Those who can manage their PTSD without medication are lucky. It's unfortunate there's such a stigma regarding it.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519704/table/ch3.t14/

[Anonymous]

Grounding techniques help me. I ask myself the following, to help bring me back to the present:

Where am I?
Am I in a safe place?
What do I see?
What do I hear?
What can I smell?
What do I feel (physically)?

This helps a lot to break me out of spiraling ruminating thoughts. I suffer from anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Guided meditation helps me a lot, along with Zoloft.

[Anonymous]

EMDR can be life changing. As part of it you will also work on "containerizing" skills which helps a lot re: rumination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Therapy and lifestyle changes: nutritious, nourishing foods, daily walk, exercise, cutting toxic people out of my life, learning how to have/express/enforce boundaries, etc, etc. Trauma recovery is possible, but it is a lot of work and it is painful at times. Keep at it.

This exactly. Meds should be last resort, not first.

I get what y'all are saying and agree that meds should not necessarily be the first treatment for everyone with PTSD. But the suggestion that serious mental illness be treated with "nutritious, nourishing foods" and "daily walks" really needs to stop; it is next level ignorant and harmful.

Ptsd isn't a mental illness, rather it is a trauma response. The lifestyle changes were listed *after* therapy. It is ok to take meds to help access therapy and it is ok to not take meds. My trauma surrounds the loss of control. Running, choosing to eat well, etc help me feel in control of my body. Medicines I tried in the past were not only unhelpful, they made me feel worse.

PTSD absolutely is a mental illness, aka mental health condition aka psychiatric disorder.

The fact that PTSD has a triggering event doesn't mean it's not a mental illness. Many other mental illnesses have triggering conditions or environmental stressors that cause a genetically vulnerable person to start to exhibit symptoms.

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd

I recognize that some have said that PTSD should be called a "mental injury" instead of a mental illness, because trauma is a "normal response to an abnormal situation". And while I agree with the latter 2 statements, IMO, trying to separate out PTSD as the blameless mental illness really reinforces the stigma of mental illness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any hints and tips on how you were able to stop the rumination with PTSD. Like even waking up to go to the bathroom at night ends in 2 hours of rumination before falling back to sleep. How did you make the intrusive thoughts and memories stop?

Look
Up
MDMA therapy. About to to be approved

[Anonymous]

JaylaChandler wrote:Dealing with PTSD rumination is a tough battle, and I can definitely empathize. While I can't claim to have PTSD myself, I struggled with repetitive thoughts and anxieties for a while. Here are a few things that helped me, which might be worth trying for your rumination:

Focus on the present: When my mind would start to wander into negative thought loops, I found it helpful to gently bring my focus back to the present moment. Mindfulness exercises like deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation can be useful for this. There are even free guided meditation apps you can try.

Journaling: Sometimes getting those intrusive thoughts out of your head and onto paper can be a big help. I found it beneficial to write down the thoughts and anxieties, then challenge them with more positive or realistic self-talk.

Get out of bed: If I found myself lying awake dwelling on negative thoughts for more than 20 minutes or so, I'd get out of bed. Going to another room to read a book, listen to calming music, or do some light stretches helped take my mind off the rumination and tire me out a bit.


Remember, everyone is different, and what works for one person might not work for another. But hopefully, some of these suggestions might be a good starting point. It takes time and effort, but you can absolutely learn to manage those intrusive thoughts and memories. Hang in there!

Thanks, ChatGPT bot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any hints and tips on how you were able to stop the rumination with PTSD. Like even waking up to go to the bathroom at night ends in 2 hours of rumination before falling back to sleep. How did you make the intrusive thoughts and memories stop?

Look
Up
MDMA therapy. About to to be approved

+1

FDA approval is expected in August.

[Anonymous]

OP, shut-down the thoughts with a mantra. An empowering, positive, short few words. The same words. You have it memorized so well, it' automatic. When worries/bad thoughts creep in, your mantra beats them back.

Change the mantra periodically to address whatever worry is taking most of your time.

[Anonymous]

JaylaChandler wrote:Dealing with PTSD rumination is a tough battle, and I can definitely empathize. While I can't claim to have PTSD myself, I struggled with repetitive thoughts and anxieties for a while. Here are a few things that helped me, which might be worth trying for your rumination:

Focus on the present: When my mind would start to wander into negative thought loops, I found it helpful to gently bring my focus back to the present moment. Mindfulness exercises like deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation can be useful for this. There are even free guided meditation apps you can try.

Journaling: Sometimes getting those intrusive thoughts out of your head and onto paper can be a big help. I found it beneficial to write down the thoughts and anxieties, then challenge them with more positive or realistic self-talk.

Get out of bed: If I found myself lying awake dwelling on negative thoughts for more than 20 minutes or so, I'd get out of bed. Going to another room to read a book, listen to calming music, or do some light stretches helped take my mind off the rumination and tire me out a bit.


Remember, everyone is different, and what works for one person might not work for another. But hopefully, some of these suggestions might be a good starting point. It takes time and effort, but you can absolutely learn to manage those intrusive thoughts and memories. Hang in there!

This is all excellent advice, OP.