Overwhelmed
In a research carried out by Bupa UK, 27 percent of the respondents admitted that they are close to the breaking point and feel overwhelmed. Money is the leading cause of anxiety and stress by these respondents, followed by work and family life.
When a person admits that he/she is close to the breaking point, he/she feels overwhelmed. Emotional When overwhelmed, a person is flooded by thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations—often related to a specific problem—that can be difficult for them to manage overwhelm is a state characterized by a difficult to manage intense emotion. Feeling overwhelmed can affect the way a person thinks and acts rationally. It can also hinder him/her from performing efficiently or in a functional manner.
Why We Feel Overwhelmed
When a person is exposed to multiple challenges in rapid succession or when his/her coping mechanism is insufficient, he/she can feel overwhelmed. The level of stress and the person’s support system are significant factors. When the person has a good support system like friends or family, then he/she is less likely to feel overwhelmed despite the stress level.
Feeling overwhelmed can stem from different reasons. Some people may feel overwhelmed by relationship problems while others cite financial issues, career demands, health conditions, and underlying mental condition as the cause.
How the Body Responds
When there is a perceived threat or danger, the body releases hormones or special chemicals to prepare the person for a fight-or-flight response. As a response to the release of these hormones, blood from the skin, organs, and extremities is directed to the brain and larger muscles. Aside from that, the senses especially vision and hearing are heightened.
Short-term stress can make the heartbeat and breath faster, the muscles tightened, the skin cold, and the mouth dry. These physical effects are normal and are needed for the person’s survival under stress.
When the person is constantly dealing with stress, the effects can be more severe and debilitating. It can change the person’s appetite, affect his/her sleeping habits, make him/her constantly feel worn-out and tired, and can make him/her more susceptible to colds and flu. People who are stressed can also suffer from psychological and somatic problems especially those with low self-esteem and poor social support.
Signs and Symptoms of Being Overwhelmed
Irrational thoughts: You may struggle to think rationally, which can make the problem seem inflated and your perceived ability to deal with it feel deflated.
Paralysis: You may experience a freeze response that can cause you to feel paralyzed and unable to function. Even simple tasks can feel impossible. You may find yourself postponing stressful tasks, or avoiding them altogether.
Disproportionate reactions: You may overreact to minor stressors. For instance, you may panic if you’re unable to find your keys.
Withdrawal: You may find yourself withdrawing from friends and family. You may feel like they can’t help you or understand what you’re going through.
Pessimism: You may feel helpless and hopeless about the situation.
Mood changes: You may feel angry, irritable, or anxious, and cry easily.
Cognitive fatigue: You may feel confused and have difficulty concentrating, making decisions, and solving problems.
Physical symptoms: You may experience physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, cramps, an upset stomach, or other aches and pains.
Coping With Being Overwhelmed
Change Your Perspective
Take a step back from your thought processes. Recognize and accept how you are feeling and the situation you are in. Stop the vicious emotional cycle of rumination.
Do what you can to get some perspective on the situation. You can try taking a break from the situation, going for a walk, changing your environment, speaking to a friend, or taking a few deep breaths.
Seek out resources to help you solve the problem. This could mean asking for help, doing something to recalibrate your perspective, or approaching the problem from a different angle.
Challenge Your Assumptions
When we’re overwhelmed, we tend to let irrational thoughts and fears guide us, instead of being logical. For instance, if you’re going through a breakup, you may worry about what people may think about you, or you may stress about being single and ending up alone.
It can be helpful to identify illogical assumptions and articulate them, so you can examine them in the light of day and see that they don’t necessarily hold. You can try writing them down in a journal or voicing them out loud.
How can hypnotherapy help?
Stress Management and Therapy
Using hypnotherapy for stress, we can address the problems that are at the root of your stress response, helping you to either tackle and resolve the problems themselves or allowing you to reframe the problem so that your stress response is significantly reduced or eliminated. Hypnotherapy for stress helps you to acknowledge and reduce the perceived threat it sees.
We do this using one or more of a variety of techniques that are tailored to your specific issue and best suited to help eliminate your stress triggers and, therefore, your emotional and physical responses to them.
The integration of hypnotherapy is more effective than using NLP alone. The self-awareness that the integrative approach offers renders it a highly successful way to quickly eliminate negative thoughts, emotions and limiting beliefs allowing you to generate a more positive future, improve your self-image and increase determination.
