Quit Ruminating and Brooding

Why can we not quit worrying and ruminating? Even though we want to quit ruminating, we spend a considerable amount of time doing it, days as well as sleepless nights. All in all, we can spend months and years of our lives ruminating and brooding, even though it only makes us feel worse.

Why did I say that?

Why did I not get that job?

Why did he get a bigger raise than me?

Don’t they like me?

Kind advice from friends, and even from therapists, often contributes to making ruminations worse, rather than decreasing them. For instance, to use distraction in order to stop rumination can be relieving in the moment but is no cure. For lasting change, you have to teach your brain to stop producing discomforting thoughts. That is what this book is about.

Olle Wadstrom explains why we ruminate, what drives ruminations, and why they are so hard to stop. He also provides different tools that are useful, as well as explanations as to why things should be done in the way he presents them.

"I have been working with a patient with severe anxiety and depression problems, where ruminations have been very prominent. Progress with traditional CBT was quite small. After reading your book, I presented your model to the patient, who said he was willing to work with it. Pretty soon, we both noticed that it showed powerful results. Now, a while later, the results are incredible, almost like magic!"

—Gudrun Hansson-Lönnqvist

Socionom and licensed psychotherapist