How to reduce the cycle of anxiety & depression 

Ruminating excessively can worsen feelings of anxiety and depression, an issue that is often underestimated. It involves dwelling on distressing thoughts or emotions without finding any resolution. While it may appear that reflecting on your concerns or feelings could help find solutions, rumination typically has the effect. It traps you in a cycle of thoughts that can exacerbate your symptoms and make it challenging to break free from anxiety and depression.

Let's delve into how rumination impacts well-being, why it exacerbates anxiety and depression, and strategies to break free from this cycle.

How does rumination impact well-being?

Rumination is the contemplation of thoughts, often focusing on sad or negative aspects. When you engage in rumination, you concentrate on problems, errors, or negative emotions, replaying them repeatedly in your mind. This pattern can lead to thinking that is not easy to shake off.

There are two forms of rumination:

1. Brooding ruminating involves fixating on a situation's downsides and obsessing over why things are not going as planned.
2. Reflective rumination entails gaining insights or comprehension about a problem or situation. Although it may sometimes lead to problem-solving, excessive reflective rumination can also entangle you in a loop of overthinking.

Rumination heightens feelings of anxiety by magnifying worries, making them seem insurmountable.

When you dwell on thoughts, you inadvertently give them strength, causing them to feel more pressing and overwhelming. It can lead to an increased level of anxiety. Keep your body in a state of alertness.

Overthinking also triggers the body's stress response, releasing stress hormones like cortisol, which can worsen anxiety symptoms and potentially result in health issues. Furthermore, it can result in overanalysing situations to the point where you get so consumed by worrying about outcomes or past mistakes that it becomes challenging to take action, leading to increased feelings of helplessness and anxiety.

In the context of depression, overthinking can amplify feelings of sadness, hopelessness and disinterest in life. When you meditate, your focus tends to narrow down on the aspects of your life experiences, making your challenges appear larger than they are and reinforcing feelings of hopelessness and despair.

Overthinking often involves thoughts centred around perceived failures, inadequacies or regrets, which further deepens feelings of worthlessness and depression. Additionally, the more you engage in rumination, the more likely you are to withdraw from activities and social interactions that could potentially uplift your mood, exacerbating depression by limiting support systems and positive encounters that could aid in breaking free from thought patterns. 

The interplay between overthinking, worry and feeling down sets up a pattern that is not easy to escape. When something happens or you have a thought that triggers anxiety or sadness, it leads to overthinking. This, in turn, makes the negative feelings stronger, causing more overthinking and ultimately worsening anxiety and depression symptoms, making it even harder to break out of this loop.

Breaking free

Although breaking free from the cycle of overthinking is a challenge, it can be done with suitable approaches and support. Being mindful, seeking help from professionals, and getting involved in activities and social interactions are ways to decrease overthinking and lessen its impact on anxiety and depression. Therapists can help you move to more positive thinking and better health.