a strange kind of action

The solution to rumination is not to fight it but to take positive steps and start to push back against it. When you try to address it directly - like for example, if you try to internally dispute your worries or negative perceptions - you just get drawn back into rumination. It's like that thought pattern is so deeply ingrained in your mind, that if your thoughts are anywhere near that issue, they will fall into that pattern.

What I've been learning and practicing for a while now is that the solution to rumination is action - consistent engagement in beneficial action....working on certain things every day. Starting small, but being consistent and building. Making progress and doing more happens naturally in time, because the things you are doing become habitual. It seems really hard at first. That's why I think you need to be going through some kind of crisis to make this change. It has to be a matter of life and death otherwise it seems impossible. 

When I use the word 'action' I'm not necessarily referring to physical activity, although that's a kind of action, but I'm talking about being occupied. So, for example, reading is a kind of action, as is writing, making art, talking to people, cooking, eating. Strangely, even relaxing or meditating is a kind of action - it's something positive that you engage in.