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?
When I get into a rumination cycle, my first strategy is to try to distract myself. In the middle of the night scenario you describe, that might mean listening to a podcast while falling back asleep instead of just lying there with my eyes closed. In the daytime, maybe it looks like going for walk, doing some kind of project, talking to a friend (about something other than the rumination), or whatever.
My second strategy is to engage with the rumination stuff, but in a more structured way. I journal. I make a therapy appointment and plan to talk about XYZ there. Sometimes I talk to a friend about what I'm ruminating about if that's appropriate.
Meds made it a lot easier to actually do those things, rather than aspire to do those things, fail, and then feel shame about it.