The Perils of Overstimulation after Brain Injury

One of the most challenging impacts of my traumatic brain injury was the loss of my ability to easily filter intense or excessive sensory input.  Things that I once took for granted, such as sharing a meal in a busy restaurant or enjoying a live band at the park are now stressful and, in some cases, even traumatic events.  Before my injury, I was always ready to see the latest action movie – but now, even with earplugs, it’s hard to sit through a movie.  I find that afterwards I’m likely to be struggling with simple  conversation and maintaining emotional stability.  Excess noise and visual stimuli are only the most obvious stressors TBI survivors must manage, however, overstimulation comes in many forms.

Emotionally engaging conversations can wear me out quickly.  There are many times when a topic comes up that touches a nerve and I feel emotion bubbling up that can suddenly spin me out of control.  The mental effort of managing what I say and working to keep my emotions in check leads to that same helpless feeling of too much happening all at once. 

My time at work is always especially challenging.  While some days are quiet and easy to manage, most are high-demand and filled with chaos.  In my position, I manage business projects, servers and software environments, write custom software applications, and even provide technical support as needed.  It is only through consistent use of the tool sets I developed as a result of much needed occupational therapy that I am even able to perform at a level sufficient to keep this position.  Luckily, writing software code is one of my less frequent requirements, because this is an activity that overstimulates my brain and exhausts my mental faculties in short order.

Developing Tools and Techniques to Help Cope

Regardless of what our specific daily activity and work challenges are, it’s important to identify situations that result in overstimulation before they become overwhelming and even debilitating.  Two practices that have made a difference for me include breaks at the right times and reduction of  stimulation levels where possible.

Taking Breaks

Taking breaks, even short ones, at the right time can make all the difference in our ability to cope with many situations.  Learning not to just “tough it out” was probably one of my hardest lessons.  I’ve finally reached a point where I can recognize that feeling overwhelmed from a situation others are handling with ease doesn’t come from personal weakness, it is simply the a result of an injury to my brain.  

I’ve learned that I can do some tasks for extended periods and only need to intersperse short breaks through the process.  With others, like writing code, it’s best to work for 15 or 20 minutes, then step away from it for a while.  Taking a short walk outside is one of my best options, but even switching to a less demanding task for a while can help.  On particularly demanding days, I will try to have a 10- or 20‑minute meditation to quiet and recharge my mind. 

Stimulation Reduction

Managing stimulation when possible is critical for me.  Probably one of my biggest struggles with overstimulation from external sources comes from too much noise.  For me, the term “too much noise” means either it is just too loud or that too much is going on.  Movies are difficult for me due to the sheer volume in modern theaters.  Busy restaurants, for example, may not be excessively loud – but the background music, the clatter of dishes and glasses, and every conversation I can hear blend to become an unbearable cacophony that causes my mind to completely shut down.  Even simple family gatherings, where multiple conversations happen simultaneously in the same room, are no longer something I can manage well.

I have found that ear plugs can make each of these scenarios more tolerable.  I now have three sets of ear plugs, each for different situations, and I am again able to enjoy activities that were just too much before.  I have a set of “high fidelity” 16db reduction ear plugs that are designed for reducing sound intensity with minimal impact on quality.  I find that this reduces the cacophony while still allowing me to participate in conversations.  I use these when enjoying coffee at my local bistro, at family gatherings and even for movies that aren’t excessively loud.  For situations where volumes are higher, I have a set of concert ear plugs. Where necessary, I use my 30db reduction plugs designed for industrial use.  Each of these items are readily available through major retailers and are sold on Amazon.  If excess noise is a struggle for you, this approach may help.

Time in Nature

For breaks, walks, and meditations alike, navigating towards a natural setting always makes it better.  I know that this isn’t always an easy option for urban dwellers—my options are limited when I’m at work.  Still, there are a couple of nice trees and a small patch of grass at our site where I can often be found.  I live in the Pacific Northwest, and when I have the time, a 10-minute drive at lunch time puts me at a lakeside park.

While breaks in almost any setting are helpful, I find that eating my lunch while sitting in the grass under a tree and looking out at the lake calms my emotions and refuels my brain in a special way.  If I have time to meditate in a setting like this, it can be almost like starting my day brand new.

If you have any place nearby with grass, trees, or other elements of nature to immerse yourself in, I highly recommend you work this into your day as often as possible.

Final Thoughts

I was raised to believe that just setting my mind to something would allow me to overcome any adversity if I was strong enough and pushed hard enough.  This isn’t my truth anymore.  It was through reading the blogs of other brain injury survivors and connecting with the unexpectedly large brain injury community on social media that I began to understand how a brain injury changes everything.  The type of mental exhaustion we can experience after a brain injury isn’t like physical exhaustion, just pushing through it to finish the race isn’t always an option.  And no, it’s not because of weakness, it’s because of changes brought about by a very real injury.

Respecting our new limits is a huge part of adapting to who we are now.  Taking steps to reduce overstimulation and adopting a habit of taking breaks to allow our minds to recover somewhat for the next round can make all the difference in our day to day experience.  Find the things that work best for you and practice them every day.