As one year comes to an end and the new one begins, it’s natural to think about goals and fresh starts. The days following the winter holidays create a pause in our lives, a moment when many people stop to reflect on the past year and make plans for the year ahead.
For some of us, it’s an inspiring time. We might be proud of everything we’ve accomplished over the last 12 months and excited to go after our New Year’s resolutions. But for others of us, particularly those of us with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), this period of year-end reflection can be less positive. The barrage of “year in review” posts, “new year, new you” messages, and self-improvement rhetoric can end up feeling intense—or downright overwhelming.
So if you’re finding it harder than usual to quiet your mind this time of year, know you’re not the only one. But if it feels like you’re constantly replaying the past year’s events, endlessly analyzing the decisions you made, and thinking over and over about how to have the “perfect” start to the new year, you might be experiencing rumination, a common compulsion in people with OCD.
Let’s explore why the transition to a new year can trigger rumination, how you might notice it showing up for you, and how you can learn to approach the new year with hope, not fear.
What exactly is rumination?
Rumination is a pattern of repetitive negative thinking about thoughts, past events and decisions, or future possibilities and concerns. In the context of OCD, rumination is a mental compulsion, but it can also be a part of other conditions, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), which commonly co-occurs with OCD.
It’s important to understand that rumination isn’t just thinking about something, or even “overthinking”; it’s getting caught in a mental loop where you’re actively trying to “solve” or make sense of a thought, over and over again. Unlike “regular” thoughts that drift in and out of your mind, rumination can feel like it demands your attention. It can also seriously impact your daily life.
Rumination in OCD might look like:
- Engaging with an intrusive thought in an effort to “figure it out” or rationalize it: “If I replay each work meeting from the past year, maybe I’ll understand why I didn’t get that promotion.”
- Replaying past “mistakes” and “wrong” decisions: “What if I had done things differently?”
- Searching for an answer or needing to feel certain about something: “How do I start the new year ‘right?’”
- Trying to “reverse” a thought or move on from it with a feeling of assurance or peace: “If I can just convince myself that last year wasn’t so bad, I’ll feel better.”
- Worrying about the future or trying to predict how something will turn out: “How do I know this year won’t be worse than last year? I should prepare for everything.”
- Having negative thoughts about yourself or feeling hopeless: “I failed at my resolutions last year, so I’ll probably fail again. What’s wrong with me?”
Rumination is often described as falling down a rabbit hole. Each attempt to “solve” one thought will often trigger new fears and doubts, creating an endless chain of “what-ifs.” And while OCD might promise that “just a little more thinking” will bring an answer or some peace of mind, the truth is that no amount of analyzing will ever be enough.
How the New Year can increase rumination
Society loves to celebrate the new year as a time for fresh starts and clean slates. While this might be exciting for some, it can be particularly challenging for those of us with OCD. Why? Because uncertainty—something that tends to be abundant during times of transition—is like fuel for OCD.
Think about it: OCD tends to thrive when we’re feeling uncertain or out of control, and what’s more uncertain than a whole new year stretching out ahead of us? Instead of allowing us to recognize the potential and hope of this new beginning, OCD can push us to spend countless hours trying to “figure out” everything that might happen or dwelling on everything that needs to change.
But here’s something powerful to remember: we don’t have to give in to this urge. Yes, allowing uncertainty to exist might feel uncomfortable at first, but those feelings of discomfort will pass on their own—without us having to search for answers to OCD’s unanswerable questions or try to solve its unsolvable puzzles.
Virtual OCD treatment that accepts insurance
3 ways OCD might try to trick you into ruminating
1. Perfectionist thinking
One way that OCD can try to trick us into rumination can be through perfectionist thinking regarding New Year’s resolutions, or in response to the “New Year, new you” cliché that’s so common this time of year. To spot it, be on the lookout for thoughts like “This year, I’ll ALWAYS do this” or “I’ll NEVER do that again” because these absolute statements are red flags.
The problem with this kind of black-and-white thinking is that it leaves no room for being human. It is okay to set goals for yourself or have things you wish to achieve, but at the same time, it is unrealistic to expect perfectionism, as it’s impossible to achieve—and that’s okay. One small slip-up on the way to your goal doesn’t mean total failure, and one imperfect day doesn’t erase all your progress.
Instead of letting OCD set unrealistic, unobtainable standards for us, let’s focus on fighting the urge to listen to its lies and criticism. Let’s direct our attention to the things that truly matter to us—and if we choose to make New Year’s resolutions, let’s make them resolutions that have flexibility built in, that allow for self-compassion, and that honor our values rather than OCD’s demands.
2. Latching onto uncertainty
I’ve worked with many individuals over the years who have noticed that their OCD symptoms flare up around times of significance, anticipation, and change. This makes sense given that OCD hates not feeling in control.
While it’s common for people to feel some anxiety about what a new year might bring, OCD can intensify this concern, making people feel compelled to map out every possible scenario. It might tell you that if you just plan enough or think through every possibility, you’ll finally “know for sure” or feel secure about what’s ahead. But this is just another one of OCD’s false promises.
The path to freedom isn’t through finding perfect certainty (which is impossible anyway)—it’s through learning to coexist with it and continue living your life. Yes, this takes practice, and yes, it can feel uncomfortable at first. But learning to accept uncertainty is a skill you can develop, one small step at a time.
3. Intrusive thoughts about the past year
Another way that OCD might attempt to grab your attention is through distressing intrusive thoughts about the past year. While the end of the year invites reflection for many people, for those of us with OCD, looking back can quickly turn into feeling stuck. We might find ourselves caught in an endless loop of analyzing past events, questioning our memories, dwelling on regrets or perceived mistakes from the past year, and obsessing over “what-if” scenarios.
OCD can have a way of making us feel like we can’t move forward until we’re absolutely certain about everything that happened in the past—every decision, every interaction, every choice. But this certainty-seeking is just another trap. The goal isn’t to eliminate all doubt about the past (which isn’t possible), but to learn to recognize when OCD is trying to pull us into these mental rabbit holes.
Breaking free from rumination
Rumination can make it easy to forget that New Year’s Day is just that: another day. It doesn’t determine the course of your future, and no matter what OCD might say, where you are—and who you are—is enough.
And with the start of a new year comes a new opportunity to let go of anything that no longer serves you. You can live life on your own terms, rather than according to OCD’s demands, and there’s no better time to start than right now.
By seeking out evidence-based treatment for OCD—specifically exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, the most proven treatment—you can learn to face uncertainty about the past year’s decisions or the unknowns of the year ahead without falling into endless cycles of rumination.
As you learn how to resist the urge to ruminate, you can open up more mental space and energy for the things you value. You can let go of OCD’s impossible standards and redirect that energy toward living a fuller, more meaningful life.
NOCD brings this life-changing treatment directly to you through our network of specialized therapists who specialize in OCD and ERP therapy. We offer convenient virtual therapy sessions and powerful in-app support between sessions, so you’re never alone, and our therapists are trained to deeply understand and help with all OCD symptoms, including mental compulsions like rumination.
You don’t have to spend another year feeling stuck in the same patterns. Book a free 15-minute call with our team to learn more about making this year your breakthrough year with OCD.