While rumination syndrome itself is not life-threatening, the problems that develop around the rumination are quite debilitating. Some of these problems include: Heightened GI sensitivity resulting in severe abdominal pain, nausea, bloating and/or pressure that makes having food or fluid in the stomach intolerable.
Untreated, rumination syndrome can damage the tube between your mouth and stomach (esophagus). Rumination syndrome can also cause: Unhealthy weight loss. Malnutrition.
This problem is a psychological disorder. It may be mistaken for vomiting or other digestive problems. Behavioral therapy will help you to notice the pattern and work to correct it. Rumination syndrome should be considered in anyone who vomits after eating, has regurgitation, and weight loss.
Eventually, rumination disorder should disappear. Other treatments for rumination disorder can include: changes in posture, both during and right after a meal. removing distractions during meal times.
Some of the long-term complications may include: Increased risk of dehydration, malnutrition and weight loss. Poor school attendance and involvement in activities. Emotional issues such as anxiety, stress and depression.
Meditation can reduce rumination by promoting a calm emotional state and grounding you in the present moment. It also helps identify the connection between thoughts and feelings. When you catch yourself ruminating, sit down, breathe deeply, and focus just on your breathing. Identify – and then avoid -- your triggers.
Many different mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), may involve ruminating thoughts. However, in some cases, rumination may just occur in the wake of a specific traumatic event, such as a failed relationship.
How Common Is Rumination Disorder? Since most children outgrow rumination disorder, and older children and adults with this disorder tend to be secretive about it out of embarrassment, it is difficult to know exactly how many people are affected. However, it is generally considered to be uncommon.
Medication. If frequent rumination is damaging the esophagus, proton pump inhibitors such as esomeprazole (Nexium) or omeprazole (Prilosec) may be prescribed. These medications can protect the lining of the esophagus until behavior therapy reduces the frequency and severity of regurgitation.
Rumination disorder, or rumination syndrome, is a condition in which someone regularly regurgitates their food after eating it. The food is re-chewed and then either re-swallowed or spat out.
Depression in bipolar disorder has long been thought to be a state characterized by mental inactivity. However, recent research demonstrates that patients with bipolar disorder engage in rumination, a form of self-focused repetitive cognitive activity, in depressed as well as in manic states.
The exact causes of rumination syndrome are not known. Some people may develop this syndrome if they have emotional problems or if they are undergoing stressful events.
Rumination, or recursive self-focused thinking, has important implications for understanding the development and maintenance of depressive episodes. Rumination is associated with the worsening of negative mood states, greater affective responding to negative material, and increased access to negative memories.
The main symptom of rumination disorder is the frequent and effortless regurgitation of food, which usually happens 15–30 minutes after eating. People may also experience: a feeling of pressure or the need to belch beforehand. nausea.
It often involves negative thoughts or bad memories. Such thoughts can interfere with your daily life and mental well-being if you can't stop ruminating about them repeatedly. Rumination is linked to some mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
Rumination involves repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences. The repetitive, negative aspect of rumination can contribute to the development of depression or anxiety and can worsen existing conditions.
Both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and when necessary medications, like Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI), have been shown to be effective in reducing or eliminating rumination.
Fact: Everyone ruminates.
Rumination is extremely common. Everyone has experienced ruminating thoughts at some time in their lives. It's normal to have positive and negative ruminations.
Mortality/Morbidity
Rumination is estimated to be the primary cause of death in 5%–10% of individuals who ruminate. Mortality rates of 12%–50% have been reported in institutionalized infants and older individuals.
The rumination syndrome mortality rates are shocking. Rumination is the direct cause of death in between 5–10% of people with the condition.
Rumination is a major component of depression. Rumination, especially brooding, may make a person prone to depression and make therapy less effective.
The first records of rumination come from the 1500s. It derives from the Latin verb rūmināre, meaning “to chew the cud.” Rūmināre comes from the Latin rūmen, which gives us the English rumen—the first of four compartments in the stomach of ruminant animals.
An individual who is healthy but has the tendency to ruminate could easily become depressed. Rumination aggravates the illness of clinical patients with depression [21]. Similar research results have also been obtained on the other negative effects of rumination, including anxiety and anger [22].
Rumination disorder most often starts after age 3 months, following a period of normal digestion. It occurs in infants and is rare in children and teenagers. The cause is often unknown.