Anyone who is susceptible to being overstimulated can attest to how miserable it is when it is at its worst. You’re agitated, disassociative, flustered and pissy, so God help anyone who asks you anything when you’re at the height of it; once you’ve managed to calm yourself down, you feel terrible for snapping at whoever you did, and you feel frustrated that you can’t control your emotions better.
I didn’t start experiencing overstimulation issues until after COVID, and no, I don’t know if the two are connected. They certainly could be, but who knows?
As much as I despise feeling overstimulated, I recognize that it is something I need to work on in terms of combating its severity, so I’ve come up with a couple of tactics that help me out when I’m on the brink of quite literally exploding. Check them out – here’s hoping they can help you, too.
- Removing myself from the stimulating environment: sometimes, walking away is the most effective way to go about quashing overstimulation. Leaving the environment that has caused us to feel overstimulated is one of the most effective ways to calm ourselves, and our senses, down.
- Taking deep breaths: this one might seem like a given, but it can work wonders in a stressful situation. Forcing ourselves to pause and take several deep breaths distracts our brain and gives it an opportunity to focus on something different from what was causing us anxiety
- Focusing on something that makes me happy: if I’m in the midst of a stimulation spiral and I happen to spot my dog, Lenny, I’ll stop what I’m doing, get down on the ground with her, and cuddle for a bit. Lenny is a source of joy for me, so it makes sense to occupy my attention with her as opposed to dwelling on whatever it is that has set me off
Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash
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