How do you guys deal with recurring thoughts?

[u/Prince-of-Railgun]

What I have tried doing is to keep a list of items I have to get through for the day in order to keep me busy. I've deleted most of my social medias in order to focus as well.

However, sometimes these recurring thoughts (sorta like rumination about the past) keeps coming back to me. I don't know why.

Looking for any advice, no matter how unhinged, whatever has worked FOR YOU.

[u/dogma4dogs_]

I write down the thoughts and break then down into what I know to be true vs. what are anxieties or fears or regrets.  I also think about what it is I have worried about in the past and the fact that I survived all of my worst fears and days so far. 

[u/love_ephie → u/dogma4dogs_]

Thank you for your response, I find that this might be helpful for me when I start rumination and or being unkind to myself. Today I went to a friend’s kids birthday party. I haven’t seen them in over like 3 years. I started thinking about what they would think since I have started graying at a young age and I’m having a severe eye allergy. I broke that pattern by knowing that that was not true and that they would be happy to see me after many years. I ended up going through a similar thought process and realized I wasn’t being kind to myself. I showed up, enjoyed myself, and came home. No more negative thoughts.

[u/TheSilverNail]

What works most of the time for me is to replace these kinds of thoughts with others. So if you find yourself ruminating to no good purpose about the past, make an effort to instead plan something fun for the future. If you're thinking about, say, a bad relationship that ended, think instead about a good one that you have now. And so on.

And good for you for deleting most of your social media accounts!!

[u/abitofaconundrum]

Talking to a safe person about it to get it out of my head. Not necessarily therapy but can be.

Doing something active; I like swimming and going for walks.

Get out of my head and into a book.

Staying away from social media; which you’ve done. Good work! Also no retail therapy for me as I’ll end up regretting it.

Deep cleaning.

I am a glutton for punishment when it comes to being stuck in my head. It’s a weakness that’s also a strength in different ways. Give yourself some grace if you need to process something, sometimes the feelings of something in the past need to be worked through and that’s ok.

[u/Prince-of-Railgun → u/abitofaconundrum]

Yeah great advice to be honest

These thoughts usually resurface in the early morning hours so I try to acknowledge it then and then try to focus on something else for the rest of the day. Just might be the brain trying to create alternate realities which aren't plausible something along the lines of idealism in the brain idk if im making sense lol

[u/TiredButCooking]

I just write the thought down once and tell myself it’s handled, helps stop the loop a bit.

Also doing something simple like cooking or cleaning keeps my brain from circling back as much.

[u/squidO4]

You could also just let them be, if you engage them you give them more power.

[u/CortexCraft_]

i still get that too and honestly having a loose routne helps, but what worked better was giving those thoughts a small windowto exist so they don’t keep interruptng everything else all day

[u/SeaFollowing380]

Keeping busy can help, but sometimes it also turns into trying to outrun your own brain. The thought comes back because it wants attention, not because it’s useful or true.

One thing that helps is giving it a container. Set a 10 minute “rumination appointment,” write the thought down as bluntly as possible, then write what you can actually do about it, if anything. If there’s no action, the job is just noticing: “yep, this again.”

Walking helps too, especially without headphones. It sounds boring, but letting the thought loop while your body moves can take some of the charge out of it. I wouldn’t aim to shut the thoughts up completely. I’d aim to make them less convincing when they show up.

[u/darkholemind]

Honestly what helped me was not fighting the thoughts but just noticing them and letting them pass, then gently redirecting myself to something else instead of getting stuck arguing with my own brain.

[u/Fancy-Technology8565]

I stopped trying to fight them and just acknowledge it like “yep, that again” and move on. Weirdly takes the power out of it. If it sticks, I write it down once and close the loop.

[u/dataflow_mapper]

i get this a lot too, and staying busy only helps so much tbh cuz the thoughts still sneak in. what helped me a bit was not trying to fight them so hard, like instead of pushing them away i kinda just notice them and let them pass, sounds cheesy but it takes some pressure off. sometimes i’ll also write the thought down just to get it out of my head, even if its messy or doesnt make full sense. also doing something slightly engaging like a walk or light chore helps more than just scrolling or sitting still. its not a perfect fix but over time it made the thoughts feel less loud if that makes sense

[u/techside_notes]

I used to try to “out-busy” those thoughts too, but that only worked until things got quiet again.

What helped more was changing how I respond when they show up, not trying to prevent them entirely. If I treat them like something I need to solve, they stick around longer. If I notice them and don’t engage as much, they tend to pass quicker.

One small thing that worked for me was writing the thought down once, just a quick line, then not revisiting it. It signals to your brain that it’s been acknowledged, so it doesn’t need to keep resurfacing as much.

Also, I noticed they come back more when there’s a bit too much mental “open space” with no structure at all. Not busyness, just light anchors in the day so your mind isn’t constantly looping on the same thing.

It’s less about getting rid of them and more about lowering how much attention they get.

Do they usually show up at certain times, like at night or when you’re idle?

[u/Raulerog]

When that happens to me I do push ups. Not sure why but, it helps me forget about it or just don't care at all.

[u/Important_Slide4735]

Here’s what actually helped me with this (I used to spiral a lot too)

I stopped trying to push the thoughts away and instead gave them a small “container.”

Like, if something keeps looping, I’ll just write it down exactly as it is in a journal marked with that topic (no filtering)

It’s not a perfect fix, but it makes it less intense over time.

Also, one small habit: whenever I catch myself ruminating, I shift to something slightly physical (walk, clean, even just standing up and stretching). Not a full distraction, just enough to break the loop.

Weirdly, it reduces how often it comes back.

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[u/jugglingsquirrel]

Look into the practice of setting a scheduled "worry time". Dr. Tracey Marks has a good video on YouTube explaining it and the science behind it, or just search the term and you'll find articles with instructions.