Engaging Your Senses to Help When You are Overwhelmed by ADHD

Those with ADHD and other people on the neurodiversity spectrum tend to feel bored, overwhelmed, or overstimulated pretty regularly. When this happens, most of us have unique methods of self-soothing, colloquially known as “stimming,” short for stimulating. This might involve us repeating certain vocalizations, fidgeting with something, speaking in a foreign accent for fun, or making facial gestures.

Stimming helps soothe our agitated brains by siphoning nervous kinetic energy into a repetitive behavior. Although most stimming is done on a subconscious level, we might find even more comfort if we intentionally engage our senses to help when overwhelmed by ADHD.

Stigmatized Stimming

Neurotypical people are usually the first ones to notice our stimming behaviors. What is ordinary behavior for people with ADHD might seem strange to those around us. When they ask us what we are doing, we might not have even realized we were behaving strangely, much less be able to articulate why we are.

The simplest answer is that we have unknowingly stumbled upon an activity that feels good to do; it scratches our brain in a certain way or comforts our busy mind. Neurotypical people often struggle to understand this because their actions are governed by a different way of thinking. They don’t find enjoyment or comfort in stimming behavior like we do.

Stimming might appear childish to others. Making repetitive animal noises, repeating a word or a phrase in different voices for hours, or fidgeting nervously is childlike behavior, but it is also behavior that we can’t avoid doing. To be on the neurodiverse spectrum often means to be childlike.

Those with ADHD are often creative, fun-loving, and adventurous people, and stimming behavior often reflects that. It is not our problem if others can’t understand that. As long as our stimming doesn’t affect someone else’s comfort, we may do it freely.

Dopamine Chasers

So many of the things we do as people struggling with ADHD are governed by our brain’s inability to produce dopamine. We are in constant search of fun, challenge, excitement, or comfort. When we do find any of these things, it is usually fleeting, and the enjoyment lasts a short time. The constant pursuit of pleasure and stimulation is exhausting, and even if our brains can’t switch off, our bodies will eventually start to feel the strain.

Feeling overwhelmed by ADHD can be debilitating. Sometimes, we are overwhelmed because we are exhausted from looking for stimulation, and other times, our nervous system is fried from being focused entirely on enjoyment to the detriment of all the tasks we need to complete.

Stimming often helps us calm down, regulate our emotions, and focus on the things we need to do. Becoming intentional with our stimming means that we can begin to take control back from our hyperactive brain and find calmness and comfort in the chaos.

Engaging Your Senses To Help When Overwhelmed by ADHD

People with ADHD tend to be fun and creative people who find immense enjoyment in spontaneous activities. Our five senses allow us to stimulate our brains in various ways. Sense-focused activities stimulate the pleasure senses while also grounding and calming us. This could help us regain our focus on tasks that we need to complete, either at home or at work.

Touch

Touch is an essential sense for those with ADHD, as anyone who enjoyed the trend of fidget spinners will tell you. Beyond occupying our hands, though, touch is about textures and physical sensations. Many feel-good hormones are released into our brains when we experience a pleasurable physical sensation, and some of these are stronger and more effective than dopamine.

Hugging friends and cuddling pets are good places to start. This releases feel-good hormones like oxytocin, endorphins, and dopamine while reducing the stress hormone cortisol. You can also release these hormones by wearing something cozy.

Studies show that a cold shower in the morning boosts the immune system, improves circulation, increases energy, and enhances mood. Sometimes, the most stimulating physical sensations are the ones we have never tried before.

Taste

Many people stim by biting on pens or pencils. It is seldom because they enjoy the taste of office equipment, but they stim by chewing on things because they enjoy oral stimulation. Studies have shown that biting on things can help people to focus on tasks, so we might have subconsciously been trying to help ourselves be productive.

Chewing on pens and pencils is not good for our teeth. There are more enjoyable ways to stimulate our sense of taste. Chewing gum is a good way of stimming, as is sour candy or spicy snacks.

Try playing a game where you determine the flavors of candy without looking at their colors before you eat them. You can also use healthier snack options to avoid sugar. Trying one new food a day might be a fun activity, and one that will save your pens and pencils from being chewed on!

Sound

Those of us with ADHD are prone to getting songs, phrases, words, and sounds stuck in our brains on repeat. There is deep satisfaction in hearing our favorite song on repeat, sometimes for days on end. We tend to drive those around us up the wall by repeating chorus hooks and phrases from films. Whether we realize it or not, this is common stimming behavior.

We can add variety to the mix by making a playlist of our favorite feel-good songs and listening to it at least once a week. In addition to music, we could play a game in which we have to listen for and list as many different sounds as we can hear at any given moment. If we are feeling brave, we can also imitate some of them with articulations and vocalizations.

Smell

Of all the senses, smell is one of the most overlooked but important ones. Our sense of smell is directly connected to several parts of the brain, including the amygdala and hippocampus. These are responsible for processing emotions and memory, respectively, meaning that we often experience powerful emotions related to smell.

If we wanted to become intentional about incorporating our sense of smell into stimming activities, we could experiment with essential oils or bouquets. Like essential oils, flowers have a variety of scents, each evoking a different mood and sensation.

Finding your favorites might take some time and exploration, but it can be a fun challenge. For example, keep a pot of fresh lavender on your work desk, stopping to inhale the calming scent whenever you feel overwhelmed.

Sight

Those who are not sight-impaired might not realize just how much we take sight for granted. As people with ADHD, we might not have considered how we use sight, but there are ways that we can intentionally form stimming habits based on our sense of sight. Watching an eye-catching music video on repeat can scratch our itch to hear a particular song while also stimulating our vision.

You could hang a piece of art near your workspace; the busier and more colorful it is, the better. This will give you a comforting and familiar reference point to focus on when your brain reaches overload.

Stimming is often viewed negatively by people who don’t understand the behavior. Those overwhelmed by ADHD will tell you that it is a comforting and often subconscious thing they do. By being more intentional and varied with our stimming behavior, we might find new activities that will satisfy and calm our busy brains.

If you or someone you know is struggling with any aspect of neurodiversity, you might benefit from speaking with a counselor about it. ADHD is not an uncommon trait, but many people are only beginning to understand it. They need grace, patience, information, and a counselor who can support them with these things. If you are ready to get counseling or professional support, contact our offices today, and we will set you up with a counselor.