Not all overwhelm looks like shouting, crying, or meltdowns.

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:01]Overwhelm can look so quiet. Did you know this?

[00:00:06]Part of being neurodivergent means that overwhelm doesn't always look like overwhelm.

[00:00:12]Sometimes you might shut down.

[00:00:15]You are still overwhelmed. You might be overstimulated. Lots of things could be happening. But rather than being loud and voicing it as a meltdown, you might withdraw into yourself. Others might think you're being rude because you're not answering or you're not maintaining eye contact. And it's so easy to re- to forget that overwhelm doesn't have to be loud. It doesn't have to be anger and frustration. It could be quiet, shoulders down, making yourself small. If you feel like you do that sometimes, maybe it's because your body's overwhelmed and it's trying its best to calm itself down.

[00:00:58]Give yourself some slack.