We are constantly experiencing stimuli. Whether it’s feeling a cool breeze on your skin or hearing the buzz of a cooling refrigerator, your five senses are hard at work.
Most of the time, our brains filter out these external stimuli. However, this vetting process can prove challenging, depending on how your brain automatically processes sensory input. The result of being unable to filter excess stimuli is overstimulation, which can range from feeling physical sensations to emotional instability.
Everyone experiences it differently. Understanding what it is and how to manage it can help improve your focus, productivity, and personal growth.
What is overstimulation?
Overstimulation occurs when the brain receives too much novel sensory input and becomes overwhelmed. As a reaction to overstimulation, the brain activates its fight or flight response, filling the body with cortisol and adrenaline. The nervous system enters overdrive, making it difficult to process information.
Say you attend a loud concert where the venue is hot and crowded. All at once, you’re experiencing loud noise, bright lights, increased temperature, and dense crowds. Sensory overload can quickly overwhelm your five senses when your brain processes this information.
Anyone can experience overstimulation. But it’s most commonly seen in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, Tourette syndrome, or a sensory processing disorder (SPD).
Everyone has a different capacity for processing sensory information. Learning how to recognize the symptoms of overstimulation can help you build skills to support your brain’s natural function.
Signs of overstimulation
Signs of overstimulation in adults can vary depending on the person and environment. In the concert example, your heart rate might increase and you might start to sweat. You might feel easily irritated by a fellow concertgoer bumping into you or unintentionally moving to block your view of the stage.
Overstimulation symptoms can start subtly but intensify over time if not addressed. It’s important to learn what overstimulation feels like for you. Here are some common symptoms:
It’s not uncommon for your ability to identify emotions to decrease or disappear when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Familiarizing yourself with the potential causes of overstimulation can help you become more aware of your body’s cues.
Causes of overstimulation
The rise of technology has amplified the amount of sensory input we receive on a daily basis. We are constantly bombarded with messages, emails, and notifications. With so many potential causes, spotting the source of your overwhelm can prove tricky. These are some of the most common causes of overstimulation.
Environmental causes of overstimulation
The concert illustration above is a good example of environmental overstimulation. In it, you receive intense sensory input from all five senses. Common environmental causes can result in overstimulation through our senses of taste, touch, sound, scent, and sight. These include the following:
- Crowded spaces: These can be restaurants, grocery stores, concerts, or any other locale where crowds are common
- Bright fluorescent lights: Bright fluorescent lighting, as is found in medical or professional offices, can feel intense to those with sensory sensitivities
- A stranger’s intense perfume: In general, strong smells can lead to overstimulation. You may get a headache or feel nauseated when someone with intense perfume is nearby.
- Unpleasant clothing textures: Scratchy tags, uncomfortable fabrics, or restrictive clothing can all be common culprits of sensory overwhelm
- Foods that are too hot or cold: Ingesting foods that are too hot or cold is a shock to anyone’s system. Yet, for individuals who are sensitive to external stimuli, it can feel disruptive to their nervous system.
- Sudden or unexpected changes in routine: Routines, daily schedules, and predictability are comforting. If your expectations are disrupted due to unforeseen events, it can cause you to feel dysregulated.
Technological causes of overstimulation
Technology’s massive role in our everyday lives also means it can create overstimulation. If there are two or three devices you use throughout the day, the potential for sensory input is increased. Here are some of the most common causes of technological overstimulation:
- Using multiple devices for different tasks: If you use a cell phone to text a friend and a laptop to work, you receive input from multiple sources. As a result, it’s possible to overwhelm your brain with information.
- Receiving too many messages, emails, or notifications: Constantly receiving messages, emails, and other kinds of notifications all day is a strain on our internal information processing systems
- Doomscrolling on social media: Social media scrolling can overstimulate the brain’s reward center. While it might feel good to zone out in the moment, the large amount of information present in your brain can cause you to feel overwhelmed.
- Using a digital device right before going to sleep: Our cell phones produce blue light, which stimulates alertness. But blue light can overwhelm our senses and negatively impact our sleep quality and duration.
- Information or cognitive overload: Technology puts endless information at our fingertips. However, too much information pushes our brains into cognitive overload or mental fatigue. This state makes it more difficult for our brains to make good decisions or process new information.
Personal factors that cause overstimulation
When identifying overstimulation triggers, it’s equally important to recognize internal factors as well. These are internal factors related to our wellness and mental well-being. When we don’t take care of ourselves, we might experience an increased likelihood of overstimulation.
- Sleep deprivation: When exhausted, the brain is less likely to readily filter external sensory input. Not only may you struggle to focus and feel irritable, but you are also more likely to become overstimulated.
- Poor or inadequate nutrition: Good nutrition fuels the brain. When we forget to eat or consume a lot of processed foods, our minds are less prepared to handle sensory input.
- Rumination or overthinking: Constantly mulling over something in your brain can lead to intellectual overstimulation, resulting in the same symptoms of overwhelm
- Chronic stress or overworking: Chronic stress exhausts our nervous system, priming it to be easily overwhelmed. Pay attention to the signs of overworking to know when it’s time to take a break.
- Empathic or highly sensitive person (HSP): High sensitivity to others’ emotions can lead to emotional exhaustion. When in this state, you have a higher chance of overstimulation.
Be patient with yourself as you learn how to manage and prevent feeling overstimulated. No one learns how to handle their overstimulation overnight, and you’ll likely have some trial and error.
7 ways to manage and prevent overstimulation
Recognize patterns
The first step in managing overstimulation is recognizing what sensory overload looks like for you. Once you notice the symptoms, begin to identify when and how they arise. You might start journaling to document your observations or create a note on your cell phone to capture them in the moment.
Overstimulation symptoms can arrive gradually, particularly if you’re dealing with chronic stress. Or the symptoms can appear all at once, such as if you’re in a loud and bright place for an extended period. By tracking and recognizing the symptom patterns, you can more easily identify each trigger.
Identify the cause
Once you have a sense of what overstimulation looks like for you, pay attention to the people, sensations, situations, or environments that cause the overwhelm. Your goal here is to connect the dots between your symptom patterns and their causes.
For example, grocery shopping during peak hours might cause overwhelm due to the crowds, loud noises, bright lights, and series of decisions that are required. You might instead choose to shop in the middle of the day when fewer customers are present.
Overstimulation can vary in intensity depending on the environment, how well you regulate your emotions, and personal tolerance. Try not to underestimate the seemingly small sources, like a loud oven fan or tight clothing. At the same time, be mindful of big shifts like sudden cancellations.
Reduce stimulus and distractions
Now, it’s time to make changes. You should anticipate some trial and error here. You’re trying to increase self-awareness to know what overstimulation feels like for you. That way, you can reduce or remove to avoid overwhelm.
For example, reducing stimuli from technology may look like scheduling a digital detox. This period of reduced screen time can help cut back on the amount of sensory input you receive from your devices.
Similarly, a dopamine detox can help reduce your sensory input from digital devices. Such a “detox” occurs when you take a break from activities that negatively impact your well-being, such as your use of social media or television. The end goal is to reduce excessive stimulus to help you feel calmer.
If you work in a noisy office, consider using noise-canceling headphones to help reduce auditory input. Or, if you attend a loud concert, wear earplugs to help dampen the sound of the music.
Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness focuses on the present moment. It’s more than just meditation. For some individuals, implementing simple everyday grounding techniques can positively impact their ability to handle overwhelming sensory input.
By focusing on the present, we help train our brains to sort through incoming information. In doing so, we can better control sensory input and reduce sensory overload.
A grounding technique is a strategy that helps calm an overwhelmed mind. It’s an attempt to realign yourself with your present environment. For example, if you’re sitting at your desk and notice your palms are sweaty and your heart is racing, start by taking a deep breath. Next, you might look around the room and count all the blue items you see.
If you find it difficult to sit still while overwhelmed, try going on a mindful walk, paying attention to each step you take. Simple grounding techniques like this can help you calm yourself in the moment.
Spend time in nature
Nature helps calm our busy brains. While we can’t always eliminate sensory input, we can control where that input comes from. It provides a soothing alternative from the constant sensory input of our busy spaces. Whether it’s hiking or sitting in a park, time spent outdoors is a grounding technique that helps restore mental functions and boost positive emotions.
In 2019, Gregory Bratman, an assistant professor at the University of Washington, researched the impact of nature on our well-being. He found that a loss of access to green spaces negatively impacted the mental health of study participants.
Start spending more time in nature by setting small daily goals. Maybe you take a 15-minute walk every day or sit outside in the sun during lunchtime. Over time, these daily goals turn into healthy long-term habits.
Be compassionate toward yourself
It can feel frustrating to work hard to avoid overstimulation yet still find yourself overwhelmed in certain situations. Practicing self-compassion can help you reframe your ability to identify and address overstimulation triggers. Like any new skill, it takes practice.
Implement strategies like positive self-talk, mental health days, or grounding techniques. Familiarize yourself with the different types of rest so you can make sure you’re taking care of yourself. Self-compassion grants you space to make mistakes while knowing that you’re moving in the right direction.
Confide in a trusted loved one
If you feel like managing overstimulation is too much to tackle on your own, seek support from a trusted loved one. It’s estimated that 5% to 16.5% of the population deals with symptoms linked to sensory processing challenges.
Sometimes, confiding in a trusted friend can make us feel loved and supported. As a result, we feel better able to handle the challenges we face. You might be surprised to learn that a friend experiences the same challenges as you. Together, you can create safe spaces for both of you to work on and address overstimulation.
When to seek professional help
Managing overstimulation can sometimes feel like a lot to tackle alone. If you’ve tried a handful of tactics but aren’t experiencing the relief from overstimulation you hoped, it might be time to seek professional help.
Occupational therapists, mental health professionals, and life coaches each offer unique skills and insights that could help you. Additionally, therapies such as sensory integration therapy provide guidance for individuals to navigate sensory sensitivities. It’s designed to give those prone to overstimulation proper support so transitions into sensory-heavy environments are less disruptive.
By working with a professional, you may be more likely to uncover the true source of your overstimulation. They can help you easily identify your triggers and develop effective coping strategies.
Build a toolbox of resources to manage overstimulation
Every person experiences overstimulation differently. As you learn more about your sensory processing, remember that you’re not alone.
Identifying the causes and learning how to address them is a big task. Gain deeper self-awareness with a BetterUp Coach and learn to manage overstimulation.
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