We all know what this feels like. Whether it bubbles underneath the surface for weeks before we explode, or something triggers us out of the blue, we have all felt the feeling of being completely and utterly overwhelmed. How does this happen? Lets explain with the conveyor belt analogy. As I've mentioned before, our brain has a conveyor belt, which is what helps us to process the sensory input (boxes). When there are too many boxes, or too much sensory input, our conveyor belt becomes less and less productive. Eventually, some boxes start to fall off, and then more and more, until we lose our cool and experience overwhelm or dysregulation.
It all starts with something small. Your car needs fuel on the way to work, you didn't factor that extra time in. There is a crash on the highway making the drive extra long. A person who promised they would get something done for you is off sick and didn't complete the task, which leaves that piece of broccoli on your plate as well. All these tiny things build up, and then, what seems to be at the least convenient time, you feel like you are going to lose your cool. When I work with people about reducing the frequency of overwhelm, we discuss what we can control. Lets reduce the boxes on the conveyor belt. Lets ensure that sleep is maximised because that is the best reset, which is offered to us daily. What can we change about our life that will give our conveyor belt more time to process everything.
There are two main kinds of boxes that we are dealing with. Firstly, we have 'sensory input', the things we can hear, see, smell, taste, and feel. There are millions of these every day that need processing, but when we are feeling regulated, the brain is able to shut off alot of these. A lot of these are mostly out of our control, as they are happening all around us. The other kind of box are the situations we find ourselves in that are stressful. For example, having an agrument with a partner, missing a deadline at work, having a wakeful or sick baby. These boxes are big. They have a big impact on our conveyor belt and we can only ignore them for so long. We need to learn how to process everything and be aware that it is occuring, so that we can minimise the feelings of overwhelm, or prevent them altogether.
What do we do with all of this information? Once we know what happens in our brains and how processing of all the informaiton works, we can move onto learning about our response styles and what is happening with our nervous systems.
Think about what boxes may be on your conveyor belt at the moment. Can they be minimised? Can they be removed? Ask someone for help with your work deadline, communicate with your partner that the disagreement you are having is stressing you out and that you need to resolve it. If you're a parent of a new baby, toddler, or a person with sensory processing challenges, you will need to have your conveyor belt as empty as possible to help them with their big feelings and overwhelm, so lean on others where you can!! Or book in a consult with me so we can get into the nitty gritty of your own personal circumstances. You'll learn so much about yourself that you didn't even realise!
Till next time!!