Previous
About the author
- Karolien Koolhof is a coach voor introverts and gifted individuals
- Author of the book Introvert Leadership
- Contact
introvert prikkels overprikkeld burnout
Sensory overload: how it works
Karolien Koolhof •
As an introvert you are more easily overstimulated than an extrovert. But what does that actually mean? And how can you best deal with it?
A stimulus is information that enters our brain through our senses. So you can see, hear, feel, smell and taste stimuli. Pain, thoughts, feelings and emotions are also examples of stimuli. Your brain is used to processing them throughout the day, but there is a limit to it. Once you have reached that limit, we call it sensory overload. You no longer process them properly, so you experience more stimuli or have more difficulty processing them.
In short, the characteristics of overstimulation come down to the following:
- greater sensitivity to stimuli (everything comes in louder)
- greater amount of stimuli (you experience more stimuli)
- there is no longer a difference between small and large stimuli
Overstimulation can lead to fatigue, anger, irritation, becoming emotional, headaches, forgetfulness and concentration problems. It depends on the nature of the overstimulation how you can best deal with it.
Overstimulated
In introverts, situations in which many people are together contribute to the amount of stimuli, in addition to coming to the fore and getting into conflicts. This has to do with how introverts' brains work: they are simply more likely to be overstimulated, because an introvert needs less dopamine than an extrovert. To wind down, it is wise to take a moment for yourself from time to time. This way you can recharge and you can then better deal with new stimuli.
Overstimulation is not only common among introverts, but also among highly sensitive and/or gifted people, people with autism, people with ADHD or ADD, people with a burnout and people with a brain disorder. The lockdown due to corona also caused more overstimulation, because people were no longer used to so many stimulus due to the long quiet period at home.
By gaining insight into what leads to overstimulation for you and how you can deal with it, you can make this easier for yourself. Would you like to discuss this further? Please feel free to contact me.
