A group of researchers from the University of Arizona (USA) set out to find out what people thought when they had a few free minutes. To do this, they selected 78 participants who remained in a room without access to any electronic device . They were asked to speak their thoughts out loud for 10 minutes. The researchers recorded what the participants were saying, transcribed the recordings and analyzed their content. In all, they analyzed more than 2,000 thoughts.
The idea was “to imitate the small breaks we make throughout the day , such as when we wait in line at a cafeteria, when we shower, when we are in bed at night, etc. These are times when external demands are minimal and internal thoughts tend to appear, “explains the study’s first author, Quentin Raffaelli, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona.
Well, what they saw was that most of the participants spent the 10 minutes thinking about the present or the future in an emotionally neutral way . Others, however, presented more focused and negative thoughts. The latter also obtained a higher score in a rumination questionnaire. “Ruminant individuals were also more likely to think of themselves,” Raffaelli said.
What does it mean to be a ruminant person ? Well, neither more nor less than being someone who does nothing more than think about something that worries him. At all times and in any place he has in mind that question that can be past or future. These types of thoughts can end up producing fear, sadness, restlessness, guilt … and can predispose to anxiety and depression .
Returning to the study, the researchers tracked certain thoughts over time, measuring their duration and their focus, more or less broad. Ruminant individuals had negative thoughts that lasted longer than positive thoughts , and those negative thoughts became progressively narrower on the subject over time.
“We were able to see how some people got caught up in perseverative cycles of thought,” said Jessica Andrews-Hanna, a co-author of the study. “We recruited a random group of people without knowing if they were diagnosed with any clinical conditions for this study, yet it is surprising that in just 10 minutes of downtime, we can capture thought processes that speak to many different mental health conditions. ”.
In contrast to ruminants, there were those who saw in these 10 minutes of disconnection a therapeutic moment. “Some participants thought about positive themes or goals they wanted to achieve ,” Andrews-Hanna said. “Other people’s thoughts were quite creative. Many participants found that exercise offered a refreshing break from the busy world around them.” For these people it was like a therapy session with themselves . “There is research on the power of externalizing our thoughts interns through journaling or sharing thoughts with others that I think this study takes advantage of indirectly, “Andrews-Hanna said.
The study was completed before the COVID-19 pandemic exploded, but the results are especially important now. The reason, according to the researchers, is that many people have spent more time inactive and alone during the time of the pandemic than at any time in their lives.
The authors also conducted a version of this study during the onslaught of the pandemic and are now analyzing the results. “Sitting at home for so long affected people’s mental well-being dramatically,” Raffaelli said. “We saw it with the increase in anxiety and depression during the pandemic and the increase in substance abuse .”
When you are not locked up, downtime can be scarce. “Taking mental breaks seems to be increasingly undervalued in today’s busy and distracted society ,” says Andrews-Hanna. “Western societies seem to reinforce a lifestyle in which we are always on the go, taking work home with us or distracting ourselves with email or social media.”
Although the study did not measure it, the authors speculate that training people from childhood to feel comfortable during downtime can help maintain mental well-being. “By taming our reflex to reach for the phone every time there is a moment of silence, we can better harness the benefits of pauses on our mental health and creativity,” Raffaelli said.
Fuente: Quentin Raffaelli, Caitlin Mills, Nadia-Anais de Stefano, Matthias R. Mehl, Kate Chambers, Surya A. Fitzgerald, Ramsey Wilcox, Kalina Christoff, Eric S. Andrews, Matthew D. Grilli, Mary-Frances O’Connor, Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna. The think aloud paradigm reveals differences in the content, dynamics and conceptual scope of resting state thought in trait brooding. Scientific Reports, 2021; 11 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98138-x
