If this has happened to you, or this is where you currently find yourself, according to research, this is not uncommon. In a research article in the Suicide and Life-threatening behavior Journal, rumination has been found to lead to hopelessness which in turns leads to a downward spiral towards suicidal ideation.<\/span> According to the article, recent research has focused on predictors of suicidal ideation and behavior such as <\/span>negative cognition styles, dysfunctional attitudes, hopelessness and rumination.<\/b><\/p>\n According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention currently 44, 965 people die by suicide every year or 123 people per day.<\/span> Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.<\/span> \u00a0Since, suicidal ideation increases the likelihood of attempts, (according to the same article) it begs the argument for making ideation a critical point of detection and prevention.<\/span><\/p>\n Negative cognition styles,<\/b> which the article refusers to as \u201cdepressogenic\u201d thinking, refers to the way we negatively interpret negative events in our life. So, for example if my friend John didn\u2019t say hello to me in the store and I began to think about what a jerk he was, without considering other possibilities, that would be negative inference.<\/span><\/p>\n Dysfunctional attitudes,<\/b> to further the analog with John, could be the attributions I make about him in a negative light and then further take my encounter with John, and enlarge it to how many more people were being a \u201cjerk\u201d to me, and then top it off with globalization, inferring (albeit dysfunctional) that everyone is a \u201cjerk\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Hopelessness,<\/b> or a hopeless or pessimistic outlook towards one\u2019s future, can be another correlation to suicidal ideation, according to the article. The article adds other research that has shown a correlation to hopelessness and attempted and completed suicides. Hopelessness has been found to play a more central role as a predictor of suicidal ideation than depression.<\/span><\/p>\n Rumination, (or a ruminative response style) <\/b>according to the article, is a tendency for individuals to reclusively mull over the causes, consequences and symptoms of their depression. The research has found this response style can lead to further hopelessness and increased suicidal ideation.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of my greatest challenges in my recovery has been to stop ruminating.<\/span> As a Christian I was reminded that the Apostle Paul in the Bible says that we are to \u201ctake captive\u201d our thinking. He also says that we should focus on what is right and true. In other words, control your thinking. And replace the negative with what is true and helpful.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Here are three tools that I\u2019ve found helpful in overcoming my ruminating:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n
\n<\/span>Instead of allowing my mind to simply be on automatic pilot I have to choose to be in control of what I\u2019m thinking about and how often I\u2019m thinking about it. Even if what I\u2019ve been ruminating about is a \u201cworry\u201d that is true; I at least have to choose to simply stop letting it play over and over in my mind.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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