The overhead lights are too loud, and you can hear your refrigerator humming from a room away. Your shirt is itchy, and your jeans are too tight. You’re already feeling panicky, anxious, and irritable when your partner asks you loudly from the kitchen, “Hey, what do you want for dinner?”
What you do in that situation will depend on your fight-or-flight response. You might snap back, shut down, start to cry, or leave the room without saying anything. Although your response may bewilder your partner and even yourself, it makes sense. At that moment, you were experiencing severe overstimulation.
Everyone will experience overstimulation at some point. People with mental health disorders such as anxiety, ADHD, and autism will experience overstimulation more often and at greater severity. Children and teenagers will also experience overstimulation more often.
What Does It Mean to Be Overstimulated?
Our brains are powerful processing machines, but just like how your computer can overheat and start to malfunction, your brain can be overwhelmed too. When your brain receives too much information at once, overstimulation can occur.
It’s possible to be understimulated as well, like when you’re bored. Being understimulated can make it difficult to focus, think deeply, and stay on task. Finding the perfect level of stimulation can be harder for people with ADHD and Autism, whose brains struggle with executive dysfunction and dopamine levels.
Our brains process 11 million pieces of information every second. With every bit of color and shape in your vision to the way the seat feels under you, the keys under your fingers, the crossbreeze from the window, the smell of your coworker's lunch, the sound of the microwave going off, and all the thoughts you have going on inside your head as well. . . It makes sense why you get overstimulated sometimes.
What Does Overstimulation Feel Like?
Overstimulation will feel different in everyone. Some might feel irritable and angry, while others shut down. It can feel like your brain is racing or like you aren’t able to comprehend everything around you. For a lot of people, it’s a scary feeling that triggers their fight-or-flight response (which is actually a fight, flight, fawn, or freeze response).
It also depends on what is overstimulating you. Sensory overstimulation is only one kind. There is also:
- Sensory overstimulation (sight, touch, smell, sounds)
- Emotional overstimulation (intense emotions, sometimes mixed or sudden)
- Social overstimulation (navigating difficult or overwhelming social situations, like a large crowd, emotionally charged situation, or difficult conflict.)
- Cognitive overstimulation (overload of information, like cramming for a test or being bombarded with new information)
Each type of overstimulation may result in different feelings.
Signs of Overstimulation in Adults
In children, you can usually tell they’re overstimulated by how they behave. They may throw a tantrum, run away, hit, scream, or cry. They are trying to get out of the situation as quickly as possible.
As an adult, you are conditioned not to do that and to continue acting in a way that is socially acceptable. Instead, you might experience symptoms such as:
Physical Symptoms
- Headaches or migraines
- Muscle tension or clenching (jaw, shoulders)
- Fatigue or sudden exhaustion
- Rapid heartbeat or shallow breathing
- Sensitivity to light, sound, touch, or smell
- Restlessness or difficulty sitting still
- Nausea or digestive discomfort
Emotional Signs
- Feeling irritable or easily frustrated
- Anxiety or panic
- Mood swings or emotional outbursts
- Feeling overwhelmed or "on edge"
- Low tolerance for noise or crowds
- A strong urge to escape or withdraw
Cognitive Signs
- Difficulty concentrating or focusing
- Racing thoughts or mental fog
- Trouble processing information or making decisions
- Forgetfulness or confusion
- Difficulty completing tasks
Behavioral Signs
- Snapping at others or being unusually short-tempered
- Isolating from people or avoiding interaction
- Compulsive behaviors (e.g., fidgeting, nail biting)
- Avoiding responsibilities or procrastinating
- Overeating or undereating as a coping mechanism
Social Signs
- Becoming quiet or withdrawn in conversations
- Feeling drained after social interaction
- Difficulty following social cues or engaging meaningfully
- Feeling disconnected from others
This is not a complete list. Overstimulation feels different in everybody.
How Does an Overstimulated Person Act
If you think someone you love is experiencing overstimulation, look for these signs:
- Fidgeting or pacing
- Looking scared or tense, jumping or startling easily
- Getting frustrated easily and snapping
- Leaving the situation
- Making efforts to cover eyes or ears or otherwise block sensory input
- Seems confused, asking for clarification or not seeming to understand what you’re saying.
If you notice someone looks overstimulated, make efforts to decrease the input they’re receiving. Speak slowly and clearly. Try not to ask overly complicated questions. Lower the sound and turn off unnecessary lights if you can.
Why Do I Get Overstimulated So Easily?
It can be frustrating when you get overstimulated easily. You might not be able to do everything your friends do, like going out to clubs or crowded spaces.
You are not alone. There are a number of physical and mental health disorders that can lead to people being overstimulated easier. These include:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Heightened sensory sensitivity is a core feature; noise, lights, textures, or social interaction can easily overwhelm.
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Difficulty filtering stimuli and maintaining focus often leads to sensory and cognitive overload.
- Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD): The nervous system has trouble receiving and responding to sensory information, making everyday stimuli overwhelming.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Constant worry and heightened awareness make external stimuli more distressing.
- Panic Disorder: Sudden overwhelming sensations can be triggered by seemingly minor stimulation.
- Social Anxiety Disorder: Social situations can quickly lead to mental, emotional, and sensory overload.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Hypervigilance and heightened startle response increase sensitivity to environmental triggers.
- Bipolar Disorder: During manic or depressive episodes, sensory input may be harder to manage or regulate.
- Major Depressive Disorder (especially with anxious distress): Emotional fatigue and reduced tolerance to stress can heighten sensitivity to stimulation.
- Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): Emotional dysregulation and hypersensitivity to stress or rejection can contribute to overstimulation.
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME): Cognitive and sensory overstimulation is common due to limited energy reserves.
- Fibromyalgia: Heightened sensitivity to sensory input, particularly touch and pain.
- Migraines (Neurological): Light, sound, and smell can become overwhelming during and even outside of migraine episodes.
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Obsessions and compulsions can create cognitive overload, and minor disruptions may become overwhelming.
This is not a complete list, and people without these disorders can experience overstimulation.
ADHD Overstimulation
People with ADHD get overstimulated much quicker than people without ADHD. This is because ADHD’ers brains have a harder time filtering out important and non-important stimuli. To the ADHD brain, everything is important.
The diagnosis of “Attention Deficit Disorder” isn’t quite right. ADHD is actually the excess of attention. They can’t stop paying attention to things, even if it’s overwhelming them.
Autism Overstimulation
People with autism frequently have sensitivity to certain sensory stimuli. They also have the same sensory processing difficulties that people with ADHD do.
Autistic brains process the world a little differently. They aren’t able to tune out familiar stimuli as easily, so even old things are noted as new and important. This can slow down overall processing speeds and make overstimulation happen quicker.
How to Calm an Overstimulated Brain
If you’re overstimulated, what can you do? It can take some time to find what works for you. Go through some trial and error, and keep a journal of what works and what doesn’t. When you’re overstimulated, your brain isn’t in problem-solving mode, and it can help to have a plan already in place.
- Find a quiet, safe space: Remove yourself from the situation that is causing you to be overstimulated. A quiet space with dim lighting is usually best.
- Limit sensory input: Put in headphones, close your eyes, and take off restricting clothing if you can.
- Choose a grounding exercise: Overstimulation can make it feel like you’re floating away amidst all the noise. A grounding exercise will help you come back to yourself. Try box breathing, color scanning, or progressive muscle relaxation. Check out this list of grounding exercises for more information.
- Ask for help if you need it: Some people go nonverbal when they’re overstimulated, meaning they find it very difficult to speak. Others feel unsafe or unable to communicate their needs. Make a safety plan with close friends beforehand, and a signal to let them know you’re feeling overstimulated. If you can’t talk, try writing it out or using hand signals.
The best way to cope with overstimulation is to stop yourself from getting overstimulated. You can do this by planning ahead:
- Eat food and drink plenty of water: Oftentimes, feeling hungry can be that one sensory input that sends you over the edge. A happy body is one less thing to be worried about.
- Bring headphones: Find a way to limit noise. Loop Headphones are a tool that can limit noise but still allow you to interact with the world around you.
- Take breaks: If you feel yourself getting overstimulated, don’t push it. Take a break and come back later.
- Try using fidgets: A lot of people with ADHD and autism find that having something to do with their hands can help them stave off overstimulation for longer.
- Avoid triggering situations: Work up to the highly triggering scenarios. For example, a live concert might be a lot when you're first learning how to deal with overstimulation. Instead, try a coffee shop, a silent disco, or a quieter performance.
- Talk to a therapist: Chronically high levels of overstimulation are often linked to underlying mental health conditions. Without treating the condition, you can’t fully treat the overstimulation.
If you’re ready to talk to a therapist about overstimulation, ADHD, autism, anxiety, or anything else, Lifebulb is here for you. We have online therapists who are ready to see you. We accept most major insurances and have an affordable self-pay rate. Contact our team to learn more.
