Autistic ADHD overwhelm, what is happening and how to reduce them

Many clients come to see me when they are experiencing more and more overwhelm and often this is impacting their lives to a degree that they want some help.

Clients often ask me if this is normal. I would say that being AuDHD myself, and my family also being neurodivergent, that yes overwhelm is part of our experience.

However how we manage overwhelm is what we can control.

Our brains are busy processing our environment, sensory stimulation, masking and the demands of life, very often in a world that is not designed for neurodivergent experiences. Therefore there can be times when it all feels too much.

So how do we reduce these episodes that feel very intense?

I help clients with these 4 steps:

Awareness - be curious about what is going on, observe these experiences and what are the factors that led to them

Validation - take time to normalise what is happening. Being neurodivergent can often mean there are challenges that we have buried or masked. Bringing them into our consciousness and seeing those difficulties through a neurodivergent lens can be very empowering

Compassion - now you know why these periods of overwhelm are happening you can allow yourself to feel kindness towards yourself rather than the ‘shoulds’ that deny our experiences 

Choice - once you have moved through these steps (this can take different lengths of time depending on each person) then you can recognise if you would like to make a different decision or choice around demands on you, how you communicate, the different strategies you use

Working with these steps will allow for less time spent in overwhelm and also a quicker recovery time too.