It has been shown to have physiological effects, such as increased heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol, in daily life as well as under controlled laboratory conditions.
'Just thinking about your problems, without calling it worrying or rumination', is also perseverative cognition, as is mind wandering when it concerns negative topics.
[4][5] There is a large body of knowledge about the typical constituents of perseverative cognition, such as worry, rumination, repetitive thinking and (negative) mind wandering (reviewed in Watkins, 2008[3]).
[7] The article found that cortisol levels, as well as the average heart rates of individuals, were higher when perseverative cognitive processes were present.
In another article, it is discussed that perseverative cognition increases heart rate, and also impacts parts of the brain, notably in the prefrontal and amygdala areas.
The article uses the term mind wandering to talk about “persistent and repetitive” thoughts[20] and correlates with other mental disorders.
The same article[21] also talked about how mental rigidity ties in with perseverative cognition and impacts individuals in multiple ways.