What an emotional roller-coaster this past month has been. We felt such joy seeing some of our hostages return home, only to be reminded that the depravity of our savage enemies has no limit.
Experiencing such tremendous highs and lows cannot help but have an impact on our already stressed nervous system. Now we must take a step back for ourselves and for our loved ones, especially our children, if we hope to heal and move forward.
We have all been through so much in the past few years. Trauma is an event that overwhelms our nervous system. Getting beyond all that we have witnessed or been through is dependent on our ability to reduce our feelings of being overwhelmed – in both the big and small events of everyday life. It is our ability to see events of the past as events that have had a beginning, middle, and end, and are now over, that will enable us to put things behind us and move forward. This is what will help us feel safe and reduce our stress the most.
The impact of sensory overload on our stress level, and conversely, how chronic stress itself can result in overstimulation of our nervous system, has become more evident with time. In many ways, our senses have been on fire in an unhealthy way. If we can remind ourselves that being in a state of calm can reduce anxiety and help us function well in our day-to-day environment, we can find ways to help ourselves.
To best take care of ourselves and our children, we must work to reduce the overstimulation or sensory overload that most of us experience with little or no awareness. By paying attention to what goes on around us, we can attend to, and reduce, our stress and anxiety levels. This will help us as we attempt to move forward during this difficult time.
Let’s check out our senses.
Auditory stimulation (sound)
Our ears play a huge role in signaling safety. While it can be lifesaving to hear and respond to a siren, it is not helpful when every motorcycle revving up or balloon popping causes us to jump. At this moment, we are a nation that thrives to a large degree on hypervigilance, and it is not easy to be selective, since it is both necessary and important to pay attention to what goes on around us.
The secret is to quickly let it go and reduce our level of alertness as soon as we have assessed that all is fine. The difficulty arises when we can’t.
When we stop long enough to get in touch with our body, we may discover that, in general, we have very little quiet in our everyday surroundings. Sit for a moment in your kitchen and notice the whirring of machines when you think all is quiet. Notice also the many sounds outside – horns honking, a neighbor yelling, a dog barking. Now add cellphones that bing and ping constantly, frequent interruptions, irrelevant conversations we are privy to without asking, loud music, and the television on in the background.
All of these can become unpleasant foreground and cause us to tense up, clench our teeth, become distracted, feel angry, and more. If we are lucky, we have learned how to tune out what we determine to be irrelevant.
As one gets older, the art of doing two things at once, such as backing up the car while listening to the radio, becomes more difficult. Simply stated, when we have too much to process, we may not respond well to anything!
Visual stimulation
In the past 17 months, we have all been exposed to too much news. The level of media saturation is possibly the highest ever. We have been glued to our phone, television, and computer, and have listened to or watched, repeatedly, the same news with a slightly different slant.
We cannot unsee what we have seen, but we can work to reframe what we see. For example, as we watch an ambulance arrive at the hospital, we, and especially our young children, may not realize that the story is often looping. As such, our brain may perceive this as multiple separate events, increasing our news overload, adding to our anxiety, rage, and exhaustion, all without our awareness.
Ask yourself how you feel when you enter a brightly lit mall with no windows, a movie theater with intense sound effects along with fast-moving scenes, or a loud and crowded concert with flashing lights and smoke. If you find yourself feeling increasingly stressed and experience headaches, dizziness, and a pounding heart, you are not alone.
Somatosensory (touch)
How our body is able to just “be” or perform within our physical space and connect in the world around us can have a huge impact on our social relationships. Think back to COVID and how we felt when someone got too close to us or how we may feel now in a crowded bus or elevator, especially if someone looks suspicious. Most of us will feel uncomfortable.
Touch is very important from infancy through advanced age. If done right, it can help us feel calm, safe, and happy. But too much touch, or touch in the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong way may not only feel like a violation but may be emotionally or physically painful or trigger deep fear.
Olfactory (smell)
Our sense of smell is crucial to our safety. Not smelling gas or smoke can be fatal. Hypersensitivity to smell, on the other hand, can be very unpleasant and have a huge impact on one’s pleasure or enjoyment, as well as one’s physical and emotional well-being.
A walk through the mall or the market, with the sights, odors, and incessant sounds, may feel pleasant for one person and overwhelming, stressful, and anxiety-producing for another. Think about a crowded, dark restaurant where you may also have to deal with unpleasant cooking smells and the clattering of dishes, all while struggling to hear your dining companion.
THESE EXAMPLES help illustrate that what you may find enjoyable may be painful and intolerable to someone else. Some people are simply more sensitive than others. As consumers of both information and material possessions, it behooves us to create an awareness and safe environment for our children as well.
Children may have a hard time attending to or interpreting what is most important or salient when they (like adults) become distracted by these stimuli. Imagine the difference when a child has a quiet, softly lit, organized, and clutter-free space with limited screen time in which to work. It will enable him to feel more settled and calm, to understand, focus, and have pride in his surroundings.
Too much information coming in simultaneously may lead to feeling overwhelmed, keeping you in a state of trauma. By lowering your stress levels, you can see the emotional, cognitive, and physical benefits almost immediately.
It starts with knowing your limits and setting your own boundaries for exposure. Silence your phone and check it less frequently. Take breaks from the news and have tech-free time with family at meals. Try evaluating the impact of taking regular breaks throughout the day to enjoy some fun activities. You’ll reduce burnout, exhaustion, depression, headaches, body aches, sleep issues, irritability, and so much more.
In social situations, you may want to ask that they lower the music at restaurants and other public places. By reducing your level of stimulation, you might be surprised to discover that you feel calmer, less angry, happier, and more connected to your family and others.
While you cannot control everything, there is so much you can do to reduce your sensory overload. With all that we have been exposed to recently, this may be the best gift to give yourself and your loved ones.
The writer is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Ra’anana, specializing in trauma, grief, and bereavement. She is the author of Life’s Journey: Exploring Relationships – Resolving Conflicts and has written about psychology in The Jerusalem Post since 2000. ludman@netvision.net.il, drbatyaludman.com
