Feeling overwhelmed can make it difficult to handle stressful situations that come up. It is important to know when you are overwhelmed so you can deal with it upfront and prevent it from becoming unhealthy.
Being overwhelmed can prevent you from moving forward due to the stress that is contributing to the feeling. When you don’t know what to do when feeling this way, it is likely that you may shut down and overall avoid the feeling and task completely without dealing with it. This is usually in response to the stress and the fight or flight response.
Here are 3 ways you can help yourself when you experience feelings of being overwhelmed.
Identify your trigger
Identifying your triggers can help you understand what causes you stress and puts you in an overwhelmed state of mind. Figuring out what causes you stress can help you to handle it with some coping mechanisms whereas, others who do not identify their triggers tend to be stuck in the overwhelming state of mind.
Take a Deep Breath
This one is something we all have heard and know how to do. However, doing this mindfully can impact the stress levels you are experiencing and allow you to take a moment to alleviate the feelings you are experiencing by doing some breathing exercises.
Create a Plan
Coming up with a plan for when stressful and overwhelming situations arise can help you to overcome it more easily and successfully. The plan that you would come up with can consist of anything that would help you to manage your emotions. It could be coping mechanisms, step-by-step of what to do when certain situations occur or even just talking to someone you trust. Creating a plan gives you confidence in overcoming your emotions and managing them.
These 3 simple tasks can decrease the intensity of overwhelming feelings and can lead to you feeling more hopeful in the moment. Becoming aware will lead you to identifying your triggers and by identifying your triggers, you can get ahead by planning on what to do if those triggers occur. What are some things you like to do when you feel overwhelmed that have worked for you?
