Probably, everyone at a certain point in his life experienced such a state - the "chewing" of thoughts and experiences. The scientific phenomenon is called "rumination". There was a problem with a person or, on the contrary, a joyful event and he had thoughts in his head. First in a straight line, and then in a circle and in a circle.
And it's fine if there's anything good running around in your head. Why not? The main thing is not to get carried away for too long. But, unfortunately, people more often chase in their heads thoughts unpleasant. Conflict with a colleague at work, for example. Already the night has come, and the man all the debate in his head is with the offender. And it is not that the debate has dragged on by itself. Just a thought, like an airplane with an unreleased landing gear, every time comes to the landing, and then climbes up again ... and so hours, if not days.
The very process of thinking about the problem is not so bad. Even more than once you can lose the same situation in your head from different sides and choose the best option. The past can not be corrected, but you can somehow stabilize or change your behavior and attitude in the future.
But the whole point of chewing is that the decision does not come. It would seem that he has already reached the very point in the internal discussion, decided that the next time he will answer the offender, and Raz... all over again began anew. And even the same dialogues with a colleague go word for word, and he reacts, just like in the previous visit.
The chewing of problems does not always arise only as a result of an external conflict in the form of "waving his fists after a fight". People are still engaged:
- Chewing on their insignificance and worthlessness,
- Discussion about their innocence and "goodness" in the form of statements and self-justifications. (They can be very inventive in lying)
- planning
- fantasy (how am I gonna get there and do it right)
- creation of plans in the past and fantasies related to them (I should have done this, then I would have done this and this and then another, and everybody would have lived happily ever after. And, in general, by today I would be a millionaire, buy a yacht and go around the world.)
And although people in this state can be very emotional, they still enjoy it. The fact is that this "chewing" of problems is a kind of toxic thought. It seems to the brain that the person is fighting enemies, and each time finds a way out of a difficult situation. For this, he gets backed by dopamine and gets carried away. And what to be ashamed of? Sit yourself, do not do anything and think one thought.
Since, in principle, the mechanism is useful for the brain, then situations of "chewing" occur in almost all. But they last for different people in different ways. Sometimes there is such an answer to stress or conflict, which quickly subsides. A person simply draws conclusions, and the "word mixer" stops. Others can chase thoughts to infinity, jumping from the topic: started with the conflict, moved on to self-accusations, then to the construction of plans in the past, then to the conflict and then in any order.
Varieties of such "chewing" can be the constant description of the same episode or state on a blog or forum. However, in the latter case, other forum members quickly stop obsessive monotonous word combinations, up to and including a ban. Some people tend to chew problems over and over again in conversation with friends and family.
Rumination is very closely related to depression, alcoholism and eating disorders. A much worse prediction is that these disorders will develop in those who have long-term dialogues with themselves after stressful situations.
It is not easy to cope with this habit. When a person's mind is full of habitual thoughts, he or she ceases to perceive himself or herself and to keep track of what he or she is doing. His attention is narrowly focused on internal dialogue or monologue. Sometimes he can be so focused that he does not hear what others are saying to him.
It helps to develop the habit of bringing the dialogue inside him to the end and drawing conclusions. The beginning of the mental flow is not always caught. Sometimes thoughts can play for hours and only then can a person ask himself: "What am I doing here? And when this idea came up, here it is necessary to sit down for constructive thoughts. Build a scheme of conflict, paint details, and draw a conclusion. Often, at the end of the study it turns out that there is nothing to discuss, and there is nothing to worry about, too