What causes feelings of being overwhelmed?

Feeling overwhelmed is an emotion which can come upon anyone at any time. It isn’t necessarily connected to a person who suffers from any mental health conditions. There are many reasons why someone can feel this way.

The causes of feeling overwhelmed can be for various reasons, from work situations, relationships, and everyday stress to health conditions and burnout. There is no one reason why overwhelming feelings can suddenly come upon a person.

If you find yourself in a stressful situation you can suddenly experience the familiar feelings of overwhelm, panic and anxiety. This can be a natural feeling. It can go back to the flight or fight feelings we are born with, those feelings that have long been inside the human brain that have helped us survive.

These feelings aren’t always bad emotions to have but learning how to control them so they don’t overtake your life is what is important.

Learning how to identify the triggers for feelings of overwhelm and then putting in place ways of easing them or eradicating them is what you need to do to make sure feeling overwhelmed doesn’t become a serious issue in your life.

How do you reframe a negative mindset when you’re feeling overwhelmed?

There are various ways you can begin to reframe a negative mindset. By adopting different coping strategies into your daily routine you will begin to discover you are far more able to cope when feeling emotionally overwhelmed.

The first thing you need to establish is what the emotion feels like for you. This may seem an obvious question but I know from coaching many clients over the years, that emotions can differ completely from person to person.

For some people it may feel like a churning sensation in their stomach, for others, it may be a shortness of breath.

Some people may experience many sensations, others one or two. Getting to know what overwhelm feels for you will help you to deal with the feelings far more effectively when they appear.

Below are 19 easy tips you can incorporate into your daily routine to combat feelings of overwhelm when they appear.

19 Easy Tips

1. Consider the reasons for why you are overwhelmed

What is going on in your day-to-day life that is making you feel overwhelmed? Are you suffering from stress because of work, relationships, family strains or the way you are thinking? You may have an underlying health condition that is causing you concern or you may be going through menopause and overwhelm is a symptom you are experiencing.

Considering the reason why you are feeling overwhelmed is the first step to counteracting these emotions.

The feelings you are experiencing will be caused by certain events in your life. Looking at the ways you can reduce the situations causing you to feel overwhelmed or adopting different practices into your life can start to combat the negative feelings.

2. Use controlled breathing to calm yourself down

Start to focus on the way you are breathing when you feel any overwhelming emotions surfacing. Controlled breathing techniques have long been used to combat stress and anxiety. By focusing on the breath, you are immediately placing the focus of your mind on another area.

Controlled breathing helps to reduce stress, lower raised blood pressure and calm the whole body. Use this simple technique whenever you are feeling overwhelmed;

1. Breath in for the count of four

2. Hold your breath for the count of four

3. Breath out for the count of four

4. Repeat the exercise until you begin to feel calmer and more in control.

3. Accept that it is normal to feel overwhelmed

Feeling overwhelmed is a perfectly normal emotion to experience. Accepting this as a statement of fact will help to dispel some of the fear around feeling overwhelmed.

Once you realise it is nothing to be afraid of or it is something everyone will suffer from at some point in their lives, it will begin to normalise the whole emotion making it far easier for you to deal with it.

4. View your situation with a new perspective

Start to look at the reasons for overwhelm from an entirely new perspective. If it is a situation at work causing these emotions within you, what can you do differently to help the situation? Could you discuss the way you are feeling with your employer or work colleagues?

A different perspective on the situation can make it far easier to deal with.

5. Journal your thoughts

A highly effective exercise to help with feelings of overwhelm is to journal your thoughts. This is a technique which helps a person to reframe the way they are thinking and to help them understand why they are feeling the way they do.

Expressing your thoughts in a journal will allow you to spot triggers or situations causing you to feel the way you are. It will also allow you to get some perspective on the circumstances around your feelings. It can be a very therapeutic aid to emotional overwhelm.

6. Engage in some physical exercise

Physical exercise is a great way to fight the emotions of feeling overwhelmed. When you exercise different positives happen to your body which are all good for relieving any stress, overwhelm or anxiety.

Firstly, when you exercise, endorphins are released into your body giving you an instant feel-good boost. These chemicals can work wonders in raising your emotions and making you feel happy.

Exercise is also good for making you feel good about yourself as well. The more you exercise, the better you will look and feel. This boosts your self-confidence making you more able to cope with what life throws your way.

Simply put, if you want to start feeling better instantly get exercising.

7. Use the power of gratitude

The act of gratitude has amazing powers to make you feel better, regardless of your current situation. Many people believe you can only be grateful when you have everything you want in your life. The reverse is true, being grateful for what you have in your life, no matter how little, helps you to bring more in.

Gratitude more importantly raises your spirits, it makes you feel better about the situations you are in and leaves you better able to handle the situations you find yourself in.

8. Pursue some self-care activities

We all need to spend some time in life doing what we want to do and looking after our interests. Despite what some people may say, this is not selfish, it is necessary for you to have good mental and physical well-being.

Spending some time each day doing something for you will help you to relax and recharge. It will make you feel emotionally stronger and will improve every area of your life so go on, spend some time each day doing something just for yourself.

9. Go for a walk in nature

When you want an instant lift to feel better emotionally, it’s always a good idea to get out into nature.

Taking a walk in the outside world is a real boost mentally and physically. It can help you to de-stress, recharge your batteries and put everything into perspective.

The fresh air is good for your physical health, as well because you are exercising. Spending some time either alone or with others out in nature is such a tonic and something you should try to do at least once a week.

10. Have a digital detox

Are you aware of how much time you spend on social media or with some form of digital device? We all know how incredibly useful our digital devices are these days, from smartphones to iPads, we are connected like never before.

There is a dark side though to too much digital screen time. Social media can have a very negative effect on your mental health and the blue lights in each device are incredibly stimulating and can affect sleep patterns. There is also the added disadvantage of a lack of real social interaction when everybody is hooked up to a device.

Ditch the technology for a few hours every day and begin to detox, you will feel so much healthier for it.

11. Start a self-care regime

Think about how you treat yourself daily. Do you get enough sleep, eat well and stay well hydrated? In essence, do you look after yourself or are you too busy looking after everybody else and feel stressed and overwhelmed?

Start looking after your physical well-being first and foremost. If you don’t look after yourself, who will? You should and must be the priority in your life. Start setting a daily self-care regime in place today.

12. Calm your mind using meditation

Meditation has long been known to reduce stress, anxiety and feelings of overwhelm.

Sitting for a small amount of time and just being present with yourself can have amazing results. You don’t need to sit in the lotus position for hours burning incense to achieve a zen-like state.

Even ten minutes a day is enough to begin the process of relaxing and reducing feelings of overwhelm in your life.

13. Practise living in the moment with mindfulness

Mindfulness can have amazing results for anyone who is suffering from feelings of emotional overwhelm. If you are someone who spends too much time worrying about the future or picking over the past, the practice of mindfulness is just what you need.

Spending a short amount of time being in the present moment and being open to everything happening to you without any judgment has a very cathartic effect.

Take some time every day to practice being in the present moment and see the difference it will make in your life.

14. Take frequent breaks to recharge

Your brain will only be able to work for a certain length of time before it begins to switch off and you start to feel overwhelmed so you need to factor in breaks to recharge during the day. Whether it is having your lunch away from your computer screen, getting outside for a walk or having a twenty-minute power nap, make sure you take frequent breaks to aid your mental and physical well-being.

15. Consider using reiki and massage to relieve stress

There are many holistic therapies that you can use to reduce emotional overwhelm. Reiki and massage are two you should look at for their relaxing and restorative properties.

Massage relaxes the nervous system by slowing your heart rate and blood pressure. It uses a blend of essential oils and deep tissue massage to reduce stress in the muscles leaving you feeling relaxed.

Reiki works on an energy level, with the reiki practitioner placing their hands on or just above the body in various locations, for you to experience feelings of relaxation and calmness.

16. Prioritise your tasks

Feeling overwhelmed emotionally can often be brought on by too much stress in your day-to-day life. Learning to prioritise your tasks can help to stop the build-up of pressure in your life. Plan each day so you know what you will be doing and when. Make sure important tasks are taken care of as soon as possible and if something isn’t urgent, leave it until you have more time.

By setting priorities in your life you will have time to do what needs to be done and still have time for you.

17. Avoid the use of alcohol and caffeine

Many people will often turn to alcohol or caffeine to relax them or to give them an energy boost. The trouble is, they can both have a detrimental impact on you emotionally.

Alcohol and caffeine are both stimulants which will hurt your nervous system. Instead of making you feel relaxed or in the case of coffee, give you a boost they will cause you to have disrupted sleep patterns and can make you feel more depressed.

When you are feeling overwhelmed, it is far better to switch to caffeine-free, herbal alternatives which are far gentler on your nervous system.

18. Improve your self-talk

Do you have any idea of how you talk to yourself? Are you someone who speaks lovingly to yourself, boosting your confidence and building yourself up or are you someone who is always knocking yourself down and finding fault?

Your inner voice will have a huge impact on your self-confidence and your emotions. If you are constantly berating yourself you will begin to feel emotionally overwhelmed.

Start practising some daily affirmations to get into the habit of speaking kindly to yourself, it will do wonders for your emotional well-being.

19. Discover a way to express yourself creatively

When you are in a creative state of mind, you will feel happy, rejuvenated and inspired, all positive emotions to lift you and to evoke positive feelings.

Start to incorporate some creativity into your week, whether it’s a hobby you love to do such as drawing, dancing or gardening.

Being creative will fill you with positive thoughts and will have a positive impact on your physical and emotional well-being.

Final Thoughts

There are many ways you can stop feeling emotionally overwhelmed. Once you are fully aware of how you are feeling you can begin to make changes in your life to overcome these emotions.

Living a more holistic life where you are aware of your physical, mental and emotional health and well-being will mean you are far more likely to adopt practices into your life to stop feelings of emotional overwhelm.

If you are struggling to cope on your own, it may be a good idea for you to work with a life coach.

They can help you to understand why you are feeling the way you do and they can offer you the tools to bring real and lasting change into your life. They will provide support and accountability, place no judgment on your situation and be with you while you bring change into your life.

Start taking a proactive approach to reducing emotional overwhelm in your life by following the tips above.

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