Many people describe feeling constantly overwhelmed, emotional or exhausted even on days when nothing major has happened.
If this feels familiar, you are not on your own.
As a trauma informed psychotherapist at Design Your Mind, I hear this often from clients in Doncaster, South Yorkshire and across the United Kingdom who use online counselling. Most people believe that feeling overwhelmed means they are weak or that they should simply cope better. In reality, overwhelm is usually a sign that your nervous system has been working far too hard for far too long.
Here are some common reasons you may feel overwhelmed a lot of the time.
You carry a lot of responsibility
You may be the strong one in your family, at work or in your relationship. The person who fixes problems, looks after others and keeps going, even when you are running on empty. Over time, your body learns to stay on high alert and it becomes difficult to switch off, because a part of you expects that something will always be needed.
You do not experience real rest
Rest is not only sitting still or looking at a screen. Scrolling your phone, watching television or gaming can distract the mind for a while, but your nervous system may still be activated. Real rest involves a sense of safety in the body, and that can be unfamiliar if you have lived with stress for a long time.
You have lived in survival mode
If you grew up with stress, criticism, chaos, emotional neglect or feeling that you had to grow up too quickly, your system may have adapted by staying ready for the next problem. Survival mode can help you cope in the short term, but it is exhausting when it becomes a constant state.
Masking and neurodivergence
If you are autistic, ADHD or otherwise neurodivergent, you may mask without even realising it. Masking means working hard to appear calm, easy going or capable, while your internal experience is very different. You might hold everything in until you are at home, then crash. This pattern is draining and can lead to burnout.
Hidden trauma
Trauma is not only single shocking events. It can also be ongoing experiences such as
• feeling unseen or unheard
• walking on eggshells around someone
• caring for others long before you were ready
• never feeling good enough
When these experiences are not processed, the body often carries them as tension, anxiety and overwhelm.
How therapy can help
In online therapy with Design Your Mind, we explore what has shaped your nervous system and why your body responds in the way that it does. Using counselling, psychotherapy and EMDR therapy we work gently to move you out of constant survival mode and toward a steadier, safer way of living.
You are not broken. Your system has adapted in order to cope. With the right support, it can also learn to feel calmer, clearer and more grounded.