{"id":5304,"date":"2025-06-22T13:29:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T13:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/5304\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T13:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T13:29:09","slug":"so-thats-why-you-get-mad-when-youre-overstimulated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/5304\/","title":{"rendered":"So THAT’S Why You Get Mad When You’re Overstimulated"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, a viral tweet<\/a> perfectly captured a phenomenon familiar to many of us. The post \u2015 a response to someone\u2019s question \u201cwhat\u2019s your biggest ick about yourself?\u201d \u2015 read simply: \u201ci can be really mean when i\u2019m overstimulated.\u201d Judging by the retweets, it seems 55,000 people could relate.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever snapped at your partner<\/a> after a bad day, or had an outburst during a frustrating call with a customer service agent, you may understand the meaning behind the tweet. We\u2019re not exactly at our best in moments like these, but they\u2019re part of the human response to being overstimulated.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur brain receives information from our senses \u2014 sight, touch, smell, sound and taste \u2014 so this helps us understand our environment,\u201d said Manahil Riaz<\/a>, a psychotherapist and the owner of Riaz Counseling in Texas. \u201cTo be overstimulated means that our senses have received a lot of information, and now we are feeling overwhelmed as we\u2019re receiving this information.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re overstimulated, your prefrontal cortex goes offline, said Emma Shandy Anway<\/a>, a licensed marriage and family therapist based in California. This is the part of your brain responsible for rational decision-making, she noted.<\/p>\n

When we\u2019re stressed out, the prefrontal cortex goes from reflective and rational to reactive, Anway said. In these conditions, your brain\u2019s not thinking about maintaining relationships or effectively solving problems, Riaz noted. Instead, it\u2019s panicking.<\/p>\n

More, your body\u2019s stress response system (also known as your \u201cfight, flight or freeze\u201d response) activates, regardless of whether you are dealing with an actual stressor or just a perceived one, according to Riaz. Your stress response then affects your mood.<\/p>\n

Overstimulation is \u201cgoing to amplify and speed up all reactions,\u201d Anway said. When you\u2019re overstimulated, your nervous system is essentially dysregulated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m already feeling a low level of dysregulation, and then I keep having these micro-things happen… let\u2019s say you have a stressful morning, you wake up late and then you drop your coffee and then your kid can\u2019t find their shoes,\u201d Anway offered as an example. \u201cYou\u2019re kind of gathering these moments of stress, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t have time to deal with them, to process them, so I\u2019m already getting overstimulated,\u201d she went on. \u201cThen I get in my car and I start driving to work, and all of a sudden there\u2019s a train, and I just lose my damn mind … That\u2019s the final straw.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re already in overdrive, any annoyance or inconvenience is going to trigger instant reactivity. You\u2019ll be more likely to yell at your kids or snap at a colleague if you\u2019ve reached your overstimulation threshold, because your brain isn\u2019t thinking rationally and you\u2019re in that \u201cfight, flight or freeze\u201d zone. And if the issues stressing you out<\/a> are less obvious, you may not even realize you\u2019re getting more flustered. These subtler things are only going to lower your ability to deal with other stressors, too.<\/p>\n

Technology is probably playing a huge role in your overstimulation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about feeling overstimulated, I think technology is a very relevant topic,\u201d Riaz said. <\/p>\n

Between texts, emails and social media notifications, it\u2019s easy to reach sensory overload. \u201cI think people are somewhat kind of excited and attracted to these notifications, and now we\u2019re in a society where it\u2019s very normal to glance at your phone, whereas maybe 30 years ago, we were just present, we were just here,\u201d Riaz said. <\/p>\n

While many of us may be addicted to our phones, we actually crave peace and being in the moment \u2014 two things that phones do not offer. With constant information coming in, on top of day-to-day real life outside of technology, it\u2019s no wonder we\u2019re all overstimulated.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo back to the basics of having an idea around what your relationship is to technology,\u201d Riaz said. There\u2019s power in turning off your notifications, or simply leaving your phone in a room where you can\u2019t see or hear it.<\/p>\n

To help keep from feeling overstimulated, it\u2019s important to have boundaries with the technology around you, Riaz said.<\/p>\n

\"Getting<\/p>\n

jeffbergen via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Getting mad when you have too much going on is a part of your body’s natural stress response.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you can do to regulate your emotions<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s normal (and inevitable) to feel overwhelmed at times. We\u2019re all human, and being a human is hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime our nervous system is dysregulated, we have to find that way to teach our body that we\u2019re not in danger,\u201d Anway said. \u201cHow do we get that prefrontal cortex back online? Because if everything is offline and I\u2019m just in that \u2018fight, fight, freeze\u2019 zone, then of course I\u2019m going to be mean, of course I\u2019m going to be explosive, because it\u2019s almost like I\u2019m not in control.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you notice that you\u2019re near or at your threshold, Anway recommends deep breathing through the nose.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing that you want to focus on is making sure that exhale is longer than the inhale. When your exhale is longer than the inhale, it\u2019s reminding your body and your brain that you\u2019re not in danger,\u201d she explained. \u201cWhen my breath slows down, my nervous system starts to slow down, and that will, in turn, slow my thoughts down.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to notice what you give your attention to when you\u2019re feeling overstimulated. Practicing mindfulness skills in the moment \u2015 like, say, naming three things around you that are green \u2015 is a way to combat sensory overload. \u201cIt helps you have some control over where you give your attention,\u201d Riaz noted.<\/p>\n

Before you\u2019re even feeling at your threshold, you can help your body maintain a sense of calm by practicing certain daily habits. In a very go-go-go culture, \u201cwe tend to be a lot more stressed out than we\u2019re even aware of,\u201d Anway said.<\/p>\n

Ask yourself how you\u2019re maintaining a sense of homeostasis throughout the day. This could mean not checking your phone in the first 30 minutes after you wake up; having 10 minutes to yourself every day (it could be as simple as sitting on the front porch as you drink coffee); or setting an hourly alarm that reminds you to check in with your needs, whether that\u2019s a glass of water or a walk down the block, Anway recommended. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can start with really micro changes. I think a lot of times people are like, \u2018Oh my God, I have to start doing yoga for an hour every day and I have to really change my life,\u2019 and you really don\u2019t,\u201d Anway said. \u201cThese small moments, they end up having such a large impact in a way I don\u2019t think most people anticipate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n

Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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These calming practices will be the most helpful when you make them part of your busy weekdays \u2015 not just on the weekends when you\u2019re ready to reset, Riaz noted. They should be a daily practice that helps you better connect with yourself and the world around you.<\/p>\n