Are goats related to Alpacas and Llamas? Apparently not., but before you scamper off to read something more interesting consider this.
Llamas, alpacas and goats come from different scientific families and species, but all belong to the order of Artiodactyla and they share some characteristics. They are ruminants, for example, so they know a thing or two about chewing things over repeatedly. Another link is that they can both do therapy (see below).
People do this too; one of the characteristics of depression is the tendency to go over things again and again (and again). Some people find it quite troubling. Most don’t realise that we can fairly quickly train ourselves out of this habit, if we only know how.
Clients who suffer with depression often tell me that ruminating is the most worrying aspect of their situation, and comes top of the list of things they’d like to change. Distraction and mindfulness techniques work well, in fact anything that helps us get absorbed in something other than our own thoughts. It needs commitment though, because training the mind takes time, just as training an animal does.
You don’t have to be depressed to ruminate, of course, nor in the Artiodactyla order. If you are troubled by obsessive thinking you can change it.
