To stop being overstimulated, remove yourself from the situation, find a quiet "safe space," and use deep breathing or grounding techniques (like 5-4-3-2-1) to calm your nervous system, while also reducing digital input and setting boundaries to prevent future overwhelm. Long-term strategies involve identifying triggers, creating routines, prioritizing sleep, and communicating your needs to others.
6 Tips For Managing Sensory Overload
How do you calm down sensory overload? Calming sensory overload involves reducing exposure to triggering stimuli and finding techniques to manage the overwhelming sensations. Strategies include avoiding triggering environments and seeking support from others to help manage the situation.
Overstimulation can happen to anyone, but neurodivergent people tend to experience it more frequently, especially if they have a sensory processing disorder. Many autistic people experience sensory input more intensely than neurotypical people, making them more prone to overstimulation in day-to-day life.
ADHD overstimulation feels like sensory overload—everything around you is too loud, too bright, or too much all at once. It causes difficulty concentrating, anxiety, and even physical discomfort like headaches or muscle tension.
The ADHD "30% Rule" is a guideline suggesting that executive functions (like emotional regulation, planning, and impulse control) in people with ADHD can develop about 30% slower than their chronological age, meaning a 30-year-old might function more like a 21-year-old. It's a way to set realistic expectations, acknowledging that ADHD affects maturity levels, prompting caregivers to adjust demands to a younger "executive age" to reduce conflict and frustration, focusing on supporting the individual at their developmental level rather than their chronological age.
The 20-minute rule for ADHD is a productivity strategy to overcome task paralysis by committing to work on a task for just 20 minutes, leveraging the brain's need for dopamine and short bursts of focus, making it easier to start and build momentum, with the option to stop or continue after the timer goes off, and it's a variation of the Pomodoro Technique, adapted for ADHD's unique challenges like time blindness. It helps by reducing overwhelm, providing a clear starting point, and creating a dopamine-boosting win, even if you only work for that short period.
High-dose Vitamin-B6 reduces sensory over-responsivity.
The link between overstimulation and anxiety runs both ways. Anxiety heightens sensitivity, so things that might not bother others feel overwhelming. In turn, being overstimulated can trigger anxiety symptoms, creating a cycle that feeds itself. This helps explain why certain places or situations feel exhausting.
Around 90% of autism cases are attributed to genetic factors, meaning autism is highly heritable, with many different genes contributing, rather than a single cause, often interacting with environmental influences during early brain development, though specific environmental factors don't cause it but can increase risk. Twin studies show strong genetic links, with concordance rates between 60-90% in identical twins, and research points to complex interactions of many genes and prenatal/perinatal factors.
The "6-second rule" for autism is a communication strategy where a speaker pauses for about six seconds after asking a question or giving information, giving the autistic person extra time to process it without feeling rushed, which helps reduce anxiety and allows for a more thoughtful response, reducing frustration for both parties. Instead of repeating or rephrasing, which can be confusing, you wait, and if needed, repeat the exact same words after the pause.
Two types of medications are typically used to treat sensory overstimulation: gabapentin and/or benzodiazepines, particularly clonazepam. My doctor says that first generation antihistamines (the ones that make you drowsy) can also be helpful. I take gabapentin and medications from the other two groups.
Chronic stress or anxiety can cause the body's “fight or flight” response to become constant – leading to an overactive nervous system. This can cause symptoms including: Physical symptoms, including weight gain, body aches and pains, chest pain, diarrhea or constipation, nausea, dizziness and weak immunity.
Anyone can experience sensory overload. For some, it's part of a chronic issue known as sensory processing disorder. On the other hand, it might be related to another condition, such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Signs of hidden anxiety often look nothing like what you'd expect. Instead of panic attacks or visible distress, it can show up as overthinking, overworking, and overachieving, behaviors that are often praised rather than questioned.
To calm sensory overload, find a quiet space, use calming tools like noise-canceling headphones or weighted blankets, and practice deep breathing. Limiting exposure to triggers, such as bright lights or loud noises, can also help. Letting others know you need time to recover can provide additional support.
It has recently been discovered that taking high doses of vitamin B6 supplements significantly reduces feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression.
9 Tips for When Stress, Anxiety or Fear Flare Up
Studies suggest magnesium may support better focus, impulse control, and cognitive health. This interest is based on magnesium's essential role in brain function and overall neurological health. Magnesium helps regulate neurotransmitters, manage nerve signals, and protect brain cells from overstimulation.
Increase stress relief by exercising outdoors—people with ADHD often benefit from sunshine and green surroundings. Try relaxing forms of exercise, such as mindful walking, yoga, or tai chi. In addition to relieving stress, they can teach you to better control your attention and impulses.
Unlike traditional ADHD, which is more visibly disruptive, high-functioning ADHD manifests through procrastination, emotional overwhelm, and struggles with focus. Women with ADHD may excel professionally and academically, but this success often comes at a cost — hidden exhaustion, burnout, and self-doubt.
What is the Five-Second Rule? The Five-Second Rule is a technique to get things done the moment they cross your mind. The rule is once you get an instinct or gut feeling to do something that you know you should be doing, start it immediately.