Why Am I So Overwhelmed All the Time? When Chronic Overwhelm Is Really Trauma in Disguise
Why Chronic Overwhelm Is More Than Just Stress
Many people blame overwhelm on their schedule, their workload, or the unrealistic demands of daily life. And while those things absolutely contribute, they often aren’t the real root. Chronic overwhelm frequently reflects a nervous system that has been stuck in survival mode for far too long—often due to trauma a person never recognized as trauma. Unresolved experiences can teach the body that the world is unsafe, prompting constant vigilance, tension, and a sense of urgency.
When the nervous system is overloaded, even simple tasks can feel impossible. Answering an email feels draining. Making decisions feels paralyzing. You might berate yourself for not “getting it together,” not realizing your body is still trying to protect you from a threat that no longer exists.
How Trauma Creates a Cycle of Overwhelm
Under chronic stress or unresolved trauma, the brain’s fear centers become overactive. The prefrontal cortex—responsible for planning, organizing, and regulating emotions—struggles to operate effectively. As a result, daily tasks feel heavier than they should. You may swing between bursts of productivity and intense shutdown. You might procrastinate, not out of laziness but because your system is simply beyond capacity.
This cycle becomes self-reinforcing: overwhelm leads to avoidance, which leads to more overwhelm, which leads to shame. Many people live in this loop for years before realizing it’s trauma—not character flaws—driving the issue.
Why Traditional Talk Therapy Isn’t Always Enough
Talking about your overwhelm can provide insight, but insight alone doesn’t reset the nervous system. When old memories or sensations are still stored in the body, they continue to activate stress responses. Many clients tell me they intellectually understand what happened to them but still feel overwhelmed in their daily lives.
This is where trauma-focused interventions make a profound difference. A therapy like ART works directly with the nervous system and visual memory networks, helping you update the images and sensations that keep overwhelm alive.
How Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) Helps
ART uses guided eye movements and visualization techniques to calm the nervous system, reduce emotional reactivity, and resolve the subconscious triggers that fuel overwhelm. You don’t need to retell your trauma story in detail—in fact, many clients barely speak during sessions. The process helps the body release the stuck survival response that keeps you operating in crisis mode.
Clients often describe sessions as “finally exhaling” after years of tension. When the nervous system resets, overwhelm reduces naturally—not because life gets easier, but because your system is no longer interpreting everything as a threat.
Book a Session
If you’re ready to break free from constant overwhelm and feel like yourself again, you can book a session here.
Peer-Reviewed References
McEwen, B. S. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation. Physiological Reviews.
van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score.
Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress signaling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
Kip, K. E. et al. (2016). Accelerated Resolution Therapy for treatment of psychological trauma. Military Medicine.