Overwhelm is everywhere - and you can shift it

Aug 24

2 min read

Overwhelm is possibly one of the most commonly experienced - and most easily dismissed - psychological and emotional states in our culture. Our lives are an endless barrage of stimulus, demand and expectation - and our overloaded prefrontal cortex simply cannot keep up. This leads to a cascade of stress hormones. that leaves us foggy, fatigued, and convinced we just need to “push harder.”

Culturally, that’s exactly what we’re taught to do. And of course… it doesn’t help at all.

The Overwhelmed Brain:

Overwhelm happens when the demands on your attention, memory, and emotional regulation exceed what your prefrontal cortex can process at once. Most of us are juggling far more than we realise:

phone alerts, updates, social media feeds, emails, constant requests for our input
a family - children's needs, cooking, cleaning, maintaining a loving relationship, perhaps caring for elderly parents.
health concerns
work - which also often expects us to be on call even after we clock off

It’s not the actual workload that determines overwhelm — it’s your perception of that load. When answering an email feels unmanageable, or cooking dinner looks like a mountain ahead of you, we tend to assume we have a motivation problem. But that’s not what’s happening. Your brain is flooded with cortisol and simply can’t complete tasks the way it normally would.

How overwhelm shows up in body, mind and emotions:

The effects of overwhelm are often subtle at first, building gradually until the metaphorical dam breaks. Ideally, we notice the signs before that happens.

Common symptoms include:

mental fog
easy tasks feel mountainous
headaches
fatigue
poor sleep
poor concentration
forgetfulness
restlessness or heaviness
racing mind or numb mind

If you notice an accumulation of one or more of these symptoms (and this is by no means an exhaustive list), you may consider taking action to give some gentle support to your overtaxed system.

Bring peace and ease back!

There is a fascinating study in which people are asked to assess the steepness of a hill. Some participants stood alone, while others stood next to a supportive friend. The hill never changed, but the people standing next to a friend consistently perceived the hill as less steep than those standing alone (here's the actual study).

This shows the importance of having social support around us, and more strikingly, shows how our perception of our challenges are not fixed. No hill, mountain, email campaign or child's tantrum is an objective absolute. We only ever have to deal with our perception of them.

This is where PSYCH-K® can step in. We can use PSYCH-K® to shift the perception of overwhelm, allowing peace and ease back into situations that currently feel impossible. We can also use it to explore how we perceive all the little demands and stresses that we experience.

How could I look at that differently?

Does this viewpoint serve me well, or would I benefit from changing it?

Is there a hidden benefit to keeping this situation the way it is? (like approval, admiration, safety, a sense of identity).

Give me a call or drop me an email if this strikes a chord and you'd like a chat...