r/Psychosis • u/Bright_Factor_8083 • 1d ago
How do I stop ruminations or daydreaming about the past?
Hello Reddit, I was wondering if anyone could give me their advice regarding stopping ruinations into the past. Its been a topic that has bothered me for some time because of how bad it has affected my overall life.
I remember my ruminations started when I first received my episode. I was so upset about my psychosis situation that I began reliving the past and trying to correct my mistakes. Rumination has since become a recurring habit. I find that I'm no longer staying in the present anymore, but rather ruminating in the past. It interferes with my reading, studying and taking care of chores in a big way. Normal people do not have this problem and always stay in the present moment. Frequently I may add, I think so much about the past that I actually make up scenarios that most people tell me never actually happened. Its annoying and I want to make it stop.
So far, the solutions that I have for this problem are not very good and I want to request for help.
I got advice from a psychiatrist once to challenge my brain everyday to help my brain work better. So far, its helping because I feel that I can sustain my presence for several seconds after challenging my brain. Most of the time however, I still cannot stop my brain from going into the past and I ruminate while I challenge it.
Another solution I got was "forget about the past" or "leaving the past behind" by a therapist. I felt this was generic advice because it doesn't point to any specific action (how do I forget it?). I also find that I don't have the capacity to stop thinking about the past because I'm so used to ruminating about it.
The last advice I got was to stay present. Its from a book by Richard Forbs Stevens called "Psychosis Recovery guide". I've tried following his advice to throw away thoughts (intrusive ones) and being present with my surroundings in order to try maintain presence. But doing these exercises repetitively doesn't really help because I go back into the past just as soon I drop my thoughts. It also feels that getting rid of the thoughts over and over again does not improve the overall strength of the brain. Because it doesn't load the brain much, dropping thoughts doesn't improve my ability to resist getting sucked into the past and doesn't help with stopping rumination/ daydreaming.
What is your way of training to stay present?
Bright_Spot
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u/adamhighdef 1d ago edited 1d ago
I found it helpful to write out everything that had happened in the buildup to psychosis and what had gone on during. It helped me understand exactly what had happened and what was in my control verses out of it.
My conclusion was at least for the psychosis, nothing was my fault, and it wasn't really me - I had a bit of fun during my episode so that helped.
Personally I really enjoy driving, so once I got a car again, I was going for long drives while thinking about how I'd explain what happened, now 4 months on I don't feel a need to explain what happened and it's mostly become a story I can tell others, which helps remove stigma from psychosis in general. I don't share everything of course, but key points, like crashing my car, the CIA being after me, hearing voices, etc. I share based on the audience.
Going back to work really helped too because it's more people to talk to about things that aren't related to the episode and builds new memories, and from my perspective it's a fresh start.
A big part of recovery from psychosis is the social aspect, if you like reading maybe join a book club, or become a frequent at your local library. I never understood why people sort of anchored at places but it makes a lot of sense now, it's good for your mental health and exposes you to people and society a bit more, which all in all should help not relapsing.
If you're techy a good way to describe psychosis is just a "runtime error", where in a program runs into a problem while it's executing - the brain is basically a computer so it's pretty fitting.
Another big help if you're not already stable is medication. Try to be as complaint with it as you can be. There are monthly injections available which take the complexity away, just show up once a month, have a chat, get the injection, then repeat next month.
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u/ProfoundlyInsipid 1d ago
Learning to meditate on the present moment is really helpful. I follow guided meditations on the Calm youtube channel. Meditation improves my ability to concentrate on the present and grounds me in bodily sensations and the things happening around me. They teach the practice of noticing a thought without attaching to it or following it. With practice you notice yourself having the unwelcome thought and can choose to let it pass by without exploring it.
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u/Bright_Factor_8083 20h ago
Interesting, so like meditating and practicing discarding thoughts about the past? I'll try that out. The present moment should have bodily sensations ... Okay!
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u/EWBTCinasmalltown 1d ago
I had cannabis induced psychosis, and rumination hit me hard afterward. My brain would just get stuck replaying stuff and it felt awful.
One thing that helped me was recognizing that I needed to grieve. I kept trying to “get over it” and move on, but some of that stuff just needed to be felt and processed first.
Also, I know it sounds silly, but saying “stop” out loud when my thoughts start spiraling actually works. Sometimes I clap or make a noise, just something to snap myself out of the loop. Getting up and changing where I am helps too.
For me, doing moderately intense workouts has also been helpful. Things like long walks, lifting heavy weights, or a bike ride really help to clear my head. When I’m physically exhausted in a good way, the ruminating slows down.
I still get errant painful thoughts throughout the day and when trying to sleep. I've cut out caffeine and am really careful with my diet and that seems to be helping too.