This overstimulation happens because of external stimuli in your environment. It's when your senses take in more information than your brain can process. This overstimulation of the senses can be overwhelming and exhausting.
There are many different things, or combinations of things, that can trigger sensory overload. They include: crowds, or tightly packed spaces. loud sounds, such a loud music, fireworks, a crowd, a festival.
Exposure to certain triggers like bright lights, simultaneous loud noises, or certain textures can make you lose focus and feel irritable. The disruption of our routines and all the drastic changes in the way we live, work, and interact are major factors as well. “We are conditioned to engage with our environment.
Overstimulation happens when children are swamped by more experiences, sensations, noise and activity than they can cope with. For example, a newborn baby might get very unsettled after a party where they've been cuddled by a lot of grown-ups. A preschooler might have a tantrum after a big event like a birthday party.
What Does Overstimulation Feel Like? Overstimulation is a state of feeling overwhelmed by the situation you are in. This might take the form of physical or emotional discomfort and feeling like your brain is frozen or you're unable to think or process anything that's happening.
Similarly, people with ADHD can also experience 'meltdowns' more commonly than others, which is where emotions build up so extremely that someone acts out, often crying, angering, laughing, yelling and moving all at once, driven by many different emotions at once – this essentially resembles a child tantrum and can ...
If you have ADHD as well, this “shutdown” might sound familiar to you, too. You don't know where to start, there's too much to do, and you feel as though nothing can be done, because even just thinking of doing what you need to do feels like an insurmountable task.
What are the symptoms of overstimulation? “Common symptoms of overstimulation include irritability, stress, agitation, insomnia, loss of focus, overwhelming feelings and thoughts, and anxiety,” Hoang says. “It may be difficult to block out or ignore sensory input. One may experience uncomfortable feelings in the body.”
Some people who are overstimulated may experience extreme emotional or even physical discomfort. They may display extreme irritability, anxiety, or fear. Some may voice their discomfort by crying or throwing tantrums. Or, they may even show aggression.
Many different mental illnesses are associated with a heightened sensitivity to stimuli from the outside world, among them post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, attention deficit (and hyperactivity) disorder (ADD/ADHD), and more.
Sensory overload is when your five senses — sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste — take in more information than your brain can process. When your brain is overwhelmed by this input, it enters fight, flight, or freeze mode in response to what feels like a crisis, making you feel unsafe or even panicky.
For individuals with ASD, overstimulation can feel like an overwhelming flood of sensory input. This can manifest in a variety of ways, including physical discomfort, anxiety, irritability, or even physical pain. Some common signs of autistic overstimulation include: Covering ears or eyes.
While it's not impossible that living with an anxiety disorder could make you more prone to overstimulation, many people with sensory processing difficulties and anxiety report that high sensitivity rather than anxiety is the root of their symptoms.
Overstimulation is a daily reality for many people with ADHD. We feel too much — physically and emotionally. We struggle with emotional regulation, impulsivity, and big feelings. Many of us also experience sensory sensitivities, reacting strongly to sights, tastes, smell, and more.
Overstimulation describes what happens when genital contact goes from feeling really great to uncomfortable or numb, says sexologist Marla Renee Stewart, MA, sexpert to the sexual-wellness brand Lovers. "Overstimulation happens because of high arousal paired with repetitive action," says Stewart.
Sensory issues and sensory processing disorders are prevalent in people with ADHD. Although scientists are still researching the exact correlation, research has shown that kids and adults with ADHD are more likely than neurotypical people to experience sensory overload.
Many adults describe the feeling as being assaulted, attacked, or invaded by everyday experiences. They are bothered by sounds or textures that most people don't hear or feel. These experiences can become physically and emotionally unbearable and extremely distracting.
Sensory over-responsivity in ADHD is associated with anxiety. These children have a higher level of anxiety than those ADHD children without sensory overresponsivity and non-ADHD children. The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis is influenced by tactile sensory overresponsivity in children with ADHD.
An ADHD “Brain dump” is a phrase used to describe the process of transferring information from your brain to another medium. You could write the contents down on paper, type them into your computer or speak them into an audio recording… whatever works for you.
ADHD burnout is often something a little deeper. It refers to the cycle of overcommitting and overextending that leads to fatigue in people with ADHD. It involves taking on too many tasks and commitments, and then the subsequent exhaustion that happens when we're unable to fulfill all of our obligations.
Having ADHD means you have a brain thats hungry for reward, stimulation, something interesting. Uninteresting tasks dont fulfill that need, which is why we tend to have a hard time sustaining focus on them. Essentially, sitting still is the perfect example of an “uninteresting task” thats unrewarding and unstimulating.