Feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or even unable to cope is something that happens to everyone at some point. Regardless of age, gender, or location. It can be hard to manage and if not dealt with effectively it can start to take over and adversely impact on mood, your productivity and how you operate and feel on a day-to-day basis.
Dealing with feelings of overwhelm can be difficult but it is entirely possible to learn and adapt skills to help you better manage feelings of stress. This article is designed to help provide you with some of the tools you can deploy to navigate your way through feelings of being overwhelmed.
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What is being overwhelmed?
Being overwhelmed is akin to feeling stressed. It can leave you feeling submerged by thoughts and emotions regarding a current situation and ultimately leave you feeling as though you are unable to cope or move forward. It may prevent you from being unable to think or act rationally and this can have a detrimental effect on your well-being and personal relationships.
What causes someone to feel overwhelmed?
Everyone has a different tolerance level for stress and anxiety and the root cause of one person’s anxiety will differ from that of others. It could be that you are feeling overwhelmed from a stressful time at work, or a traumatic personal experience. Perhaps you have experienced long periods of ongoing hardship or been through a short but traumatic turn of events. There is no one cause to feeling overwhelmed but below is a list of some of the common contributing factors;
- Financial worries or insecurities.
- Work related problems
- Relationship issues
- Significant life changes
- A traumatic life event or personal trauma
- Death
How to deal with feeling overwhelmed
- Accept your feelings
Trying to ignore or put off your feelings of anxiety or overwhelm will only serve to escalate them. It is important to understand that these feelings are a perfectly normal part of life. The sooner you recognize and accept these feelings the quicker and easier it will be to try to move on from them. - Understand why
Once you have accepted your feelings it is important to try to identify the cause of your feelings. By being able to locate the source of your feelings it will make it that much easier to try to solve the problem and ultimately feel better. - Consider mindfulness
Mindfulness practices have long been understood to help people navigate through anxieties and stressful moments. Mindfulness is designed to prevent you from focusing on your anxieties and stressors and to instead allow you to be in the moment. You will be encouraged to think about the moment you are in, to focus on your current state of being and surrounding physicality. This helps to remove the possibility of your thoughts and feelings running away with you and heightening your anxiety. Mediation or using apps such as Headspace or Calm can be a great way to help you promote mindfulness. - Understand your resources
Mindfulness is one resource you can have in your arsenal to help you combat overwhelming situations but your tool bank is not limited to this. There are a whole host of other ways you can help to negate the feelings of stress and anxiety. It could be by understanding and mastering breathing techniques, doing a workout, or by using products such as Delta 8 THC Vape Carts. It may take some trial and error to find the best anxiety management resources for you but once you have identified what works you can call upon them to help you battle through those overwhelming situations.
Consider therapy
There may be times when the tools at your disposal just are not enough to help you overcome the difficult feelings you are experiencing. Once again this is a perfectly normal human behavior and part of life. If you find yourself becoming paralyzed from the feelings of being overwhelmed and are unable to stave them off yourself then do not be afraid to seek professional help. A qualified mental health professional will be able to help you identify and work through any causative issues you may have. They may be able to help you identify or better understand the real cause of your anxieties. They will also be able to equip you with the means to help you identify, deal with and appropriately react to feelings of stress and anxiety to prevent them from taking over your day-to-day life and impacting your wellbeing.
