Manage Overwhelm in ADHD With Grounding & Calming Techniques
For ADHDers, feelings of overwhelm can be a frequent and debilitating experience. The way the ADHD brain is wired often leads to challenges with emotional regulation, sensory processing, and managing co-occurring conditions - factors that worsen susceptibility to overwhelm.
This blog aims to provide a deeper understanding of the neurological roots of overwhelm in ADHD, while offering an extensive toolkit of practical, actionable strategies to help effectively manage these intense feelings.
Learn to:
Uncover the core dysfunction in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), including the imbalance between the sympathetic "fight-or-flight" response and the parasympathetic "rest-and-digest" state.
Explore the contributors to overwhelm, such as executive dysfunction, sensory processing sensitivities, and co-occurring challenges like rejection sensitivity and perfectionism.
Recognise the physical, emotional, and cognitive signs of overwhelm so you can address it proactively.
Implement a set of grounding and calming techniques, including progressive muscle relaxation, body scans, visualisation, and breathwork to downregulate when you feel overwhelmed.
Gain quick "microtechniques" and strategies to rapidly shift focus and find calm when time is limited.
Develop a personalised overwhelm management blueprint tailored to your triggers and effective regulation methods.
Implement broader strategies like the Pomodoro technique, Spoon Theory, batch tasking, environmental adjustments, and support networks to build long-term resilience and prevent overwhelm.
Autonomic Nervous System
In order to manage overwhelm, it’s key to understand an essential system that governs many of the body's automatic functions - the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This control centre manages fundamental processes like heart rate, respiration, and most of all, our levels of arousal and alertness. Within the ANS are two branches that ideally operate in a smooth, self-regulating loop:
The Sympathetic Branch ("Fight or Flight")
When we’re faced with stressful situations that require a burst of energy and focus, this branch kicks into gear by releasing hormones such as adrenaline. This accelerates our heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate - essentially pressing our body's metaphorical "gas pedal" to prepare us for action.
The Parasympathetic Branch ("Rest and Digest")
After a stressful event has passed, this branch works to return our body to a state of relaxation by releasing acetylcholine. This calming biochemical slows our heart rate, constricts pupils, and promotes deeper breathing patterns - acting as a "brake pedal" that allows us to recover.
How ANS Dysfunction causes overwhelm
For neurotypical individuals, these two branches form an efficient, self-regulating feedback system. They seamlessly transition between heightened arousal states optimised for energy and focus when needed, and low arousal states of calm and rest when tensions have subsided.
For ADHDers, this smooth operation can get disrupted, resulting in a condition called ANS dysfunction, where the body gets stuck in a state that doesn't match the environment. This persistent mismatch between our state and the state we need to be in leads to chronic overwhelm.
The root issue is that the ADHD brain finds it difficult to smoothly regulate between the sympathetic and parasympathetic states in response to environmental demands. It's as if the brain's metaphorical gas and brake pedals gets stuck - sometimes leaving the body under-aroused and lethargic regardless of situational stimuli (hypoarousal), while other times causing an overactive stress response and feelings of being constantly "amped up" (hyperarousal).
Hyperarousal’s role in immediate overwhelm
To shift between states, we enter transitional processes called upregulation and downregulation. In neurotypical individuals this happens more naturally, but we can proactively kickstart this process ourselves too, to help our bodies enter a more appropriate state.
Upregulation refers to the process of increasing activity in the sympathetic nervous system, essentially pressing the gas pedal. This is a natural response to situations requiring focus and alertness. Downregulation, on the other hand, is the opposite. It involves activating the parasympathetic system and calming the body down, like applying the brakes.
When we are overwhelmed, our bodies are stuck in a state of hyperarousal. This state is characterised by a constant release of stress hormones like adrenaline, leaving you in a perpetual state of "fight-or-flight." As a result, you may experience restlessness, agitation, difficulty controlling emotions, and racing thoughts – the recipe for feeling overwhelmed by even minor challenges.
To exit this state we need to kickstart a downregulation process in our bodies when the body gets stuck in a state of hyperarousal. Techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness meditation and other grounding practices can activate the parasympathetic system, effectively "taking your foot off the gas" and restoring balance to the autonomic nervous system. This leads to a more manageable, peaceful inner state.
Common Causes of Overwhelm in ADHD
While dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system represents the core neurological origin of overwhelm, there are several key factors intertwined with ADHD that intensify these feelings. Exploring these different contributors provides a more comprehensive, understanding of how overwhelm occurs.
Limited Executive Function
Our brains rely on a set of cognitive skills called executive function to manage daily life effectively. These skills include planning, prioritising, remembering things, regulating emotions, and managing time. However, ADHDers often experience weaker or less developed executive functions, leading to various challenges, such as:
Task Initiation and Prioritisation
Difficulty starting tasks or deciding which ones to tackle first can lead to a backlog of responsibilities and overwhelm. The growing to-do list and approaching deadlines can trigger stress and anxiety.
Emotional Regulation
Managing emotions, especially in stressful situations, can be challenging for ADHDers. They may experience more intense emotional responses or difficulty recovering from these emotions.
Working Memory
Deficits in working memory, which allows for temporary information storage, can make it difficult to follow instructions, retain information, or complete multi-step processes. This can lead to frustration and overwhelm.
Time Management
Estimating how long a task will take or managing time effectively can be problematic. This can result in rushing to meet deadlines or missing them altogether, contributing to stress, anxiety, and overwhelm.
Inhibition Control
Difficulty regulating impulsive behaviors and responses can lead to social and professional difficulties. ADHDers may find it hard to resist distractions, make impulsive decisions, or interrupt others.
Why are executive tasks so difficult? Need to revise brain activity
One of the key underlying factors is that our bodies are frequently stuck in the hypoarousal (under-aroused) state.
When the brain and body doesn’t allocate the necessary resources it needs to complete the mundane (but essential) daily tasks, ADHDers have a tendency to regularly create high stress scenarios for themselves further down the road. It’s like the engine finally revving up, but only because you've waited until the last minute. The result is frantic activity, racing thoughts, and intense anxiety, leading to a state of overwhelm.
Recognise and address hypoarousal early on. When you proactively engage and upregulate your state of arousal, you can improve your ability to manage tasks efficiently, thereby avoiding the overwhelm cycle.
How Overwhelm Shows Up & Recognising the Signs
Recognising the signs of overwhelm will help you to manage it effectively and prevent the escalation of stress and anxiety - especially as the earlier you catch it, the easier it is to bring yourself down to a more grounded state. Each individual will react differently to stress, but there are some common signs for you to look out for.
Emotional dysregulation
This is characterised by intense feelings of frustration, anger, or sadness. Individuals experiencing overwhelm may find their emotions fluctuating rapidly or feeling unusually intense.
A term often used to describe this emotional state is "flooding," where emotions consume all available mental space, displacing other thoughts or feelings. This can result in difficulty shifting from one emotional state to another, potentially leading to a person becoming "stuck".
Cognitive overload
Symptoms of this include difficulty thinking clearly, forgetfulness, and an inability to focus or make decisions. Tasks that would typically be straightforward may become challenging, and the individual may find themselves easily distracted or unable to complete tasks.
Cognitive overload is often a result of the brain's executive functions, such as planning, problem-solving, and attention, being overwhelmed by stress or emotional turmoil. These cognitive difficulties are not a reflection of one's intelligence or capability, but rather a sign of overwhelm.
Physical symptoms
These can vary widely between individuals, but common symptoms include a racing heart, fatigue, headaches, and even changes in eating or sleeping patterns. These are the body's response to high levels of stress or emotional turmoil and can serve as a clear signal that something is not right.
Increased sense of FOMO (fear of missing out)
This is particularly relevant in today's fast-paced, hyper-connected world, where the pressure to keep up with everything can feel too much. Difficulty prioritising tasks or managing time effectively can increase this sense of FOMO, leading to further stress and overwhelm.
As we are all different, it is worth keeping a journal of your observations and personal reflections. By paying attention to these signs, you can take appropriate action.
Sensory Processing Sensitivities
Sensory processing refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioural responses. It is an integral part of our daily functioning, enabling us to interact with our environment effectively.
ADHDers often experience sensory processing sensitivities, meaning they may have an unusually high or low response to sensory input from their environment, such as touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. Whether we have a high or low response comes back to the concept of our bodies being in a state of hypoarousal or hyperarousal.
When ADHDers are over-stimulated from the environment, sensory inputs can trigger overwhelm. For instance, bright lights can appear excessively glaring, loud noises can seem deafening, and even the texture of certain clothing may be unbearably uncomfortable. This sensitivity to sensory stimuli can cause the nervous system to become flooded, leading to feelings of anxiety, irritability, and restlessness, making it difficult to focus and function optimally.
Quick Calming Techniques
Deep Breathing
a) 2-second breath: Inhale deeply through your nose for 2 seconds, hold the breath for 1 second, then exhale slowly through your mouth for 4 seconds. Repeat this process several times, focusing on the sensation of the breath entering and leaving your body.
b) Box Breathing (Mini version): This involves visualising a box as you breathe. Inhale for a count of 4, hold your breath for a count of 4, exhale for a count of 4, then pause for a count of 4 before starting the cycle again. Repeat this cycle for 2-5 minutes.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (Mini Version)
Tense and then release different muscle groups in your body. Start with your hands, making a tight fist and holding it for a few seconds.
Then, slowly release the tension and feel the difference in your hands. Repeat this process with your forearms and shoulders. This helps to relieve physical tension and promote relaxation.
The 5-4-3-2-1 Technique
This grounding technique encourages you to engage all your senses to anchor yourself in reality. Start by describing 5 things you can see, then 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and finally 1 thing you can taste. This can help to bring your attention back to the present moment and away from distressing thoughts or feelings.
Count Backward
Count backward from 100 by 7s. This requires enough concentration to distract you from your distressing thoughts and feelings, but is simple enough that it doesn't cause additional stress. If you lose track, just start again from the last number you remember. This helps to redirect your focus and promote calmness.
When you understand the underlying autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction at play, managing overwhelm becomes easier. The difficulty lies in our ADHD brain finding it challenging to smoothly modulate between states of hypoarousal and hyperarousal, resulting in a mismatch between the level of arousal needed for a situation and the actual state the body is stuck in.
This persistent dysregulation causes overwhelm, so recognising the need to proactively upregulate from hypoarousal states and downregulate from hyperarousal states helps to prevent the overwhelm.
No single technique can comprehensively address overwhelm. A holistic approach that combines strategies for both preventing hypoarousal from escalating as well as calming hyperarousal when it peaks is necessary.
The key is committing to developing your own personalised overwhelm management blueprint - identifying your triggers, recognising which strategies resonate most effectively, and integrating them into your daily life. With patience, self-awareness, and consistent effort, you can reshape your relationship with overwhelm and experience a greater sense of calm.
If you need further support, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.