First Aid For Overwhelm

Overwhelm is something I've struggled with for years.

Working as a Midwife in an increasingly pressured environment I became more aware of overwhelm as a result of working longer hours with less staff and more demands from a system which to my mind was focusing more on avoiding litigation and putting out fires than the actual quality of care we were giving to women and families.

This culture of always watching your own back and box-ticking exercises often has the added frustration of decreasing job-satisfaction and our joy in work.

Searching for a dictionary definition of overwhelm, I found this description which I, and I am sure most of my colleagues can easily identify with; " Overwhelm - to bury or drown beneath a huge mass of something".

Midwives are drowning under a mass of "stuff"-more demands, less resources, stress, anxiety, time constraints, vicarious trauma, frustration and so much more.

The symptoms of overwhelm vary.

 For me, I can best describe it as not being able to think, or to function. My mind is so full of "stuff" my brain seems to go into freeze mode, the adrenaline and cortisol flooding my system try to protect me by switching on the ancient protective mode of freezing which centuries ago may have saved me from a predator, but which now only adds to my fear and frustration.

I lose the ability to make rational decisions.

My mind feels like a scrambled ball of wool, knotted and jumbled and unable to make sense of the situation I'm in. Feeling overwhelmed makes it impossible to think clearly or rationally, your head feels like it's about to explode and inner chaos leads to outer chaos.

The odd moments of feeling overwhelm are to be expected in modern day life; we live in a fast-paced and often stressful world and it's normal for things to get on top of us from time to time.

However experiencing overwhelm on a regular basis, often daily is unhealthy and damaging and can lead to burn-out.  As midwives it is easy to become buried under the weight of all the responsibilities and pressures we face.

Recognising overwhelm was the first step towards me being able to look at ways of avoiding and dealing with it. Acknowledging what it is, even saying out loud " I am feeling overwhelmed" gets it out of your head and even if you're the only one who hears it, it's out there, you've acknowledged it and you can then take steps to tackle it.

Mindfulness techniques have helped me immensely with avoiding and dealing with overwhelm. Bringing myself back into the present moment, away from the endless to-do lists and fear of not getting it all done helps to quieten that noisy mind and become calmer. Constantly worrying about the future and the "what-ifs" keeps us in a state of permanent stress and fight/flight/freeze. Similarly, dwelling on past events, mistakes, things we would do differently diverts the focus from the present and what's actually happening right now, affecting your ability to get things done.

Breathing. If I ever find myself rapidly rolling down a hill towards overwhelm, a first-aid technique I find helps every time is focusing on my breath. Taking some slow, conscious ,deep breaths and focusing on the air coming in through my nose and out through my mouth. Observing the breath, how does it feel? Cool? Warm? Rapid? Slow? Counting the breath in and out can help too. In - two, three, four, out - two, three, four, and repeat. This again diverts the mind from future/past events to the here and now creating a space for you to clear your mind, relax your body and escape the overwhelming feelings.

As you breathe, repeat a mantra which feels good for you. It could simply be "relax", "be present" , "I'm OK", "stay calm" or anything else that feels right at that moment. Using your breath and repeating these mantras can help to bring you into the present moment and engage the parasympathetic nervous system to reduce the stress response and help you to calm down and become more clear-headed.

The next step I find helpful is to remove myself from the place I'm feeling the overwhelm. Even if it's just for a couple of minutes, taking yourself out of that physical environment takes the focus off the overwhelm-if at all possible I find going outside is best-into the fresh air, observing all the sensations through your senses, what can you see, what can you hear, what can you smell, what can you feel, what can you taste?
If time is not a problem taking a walk in nature can be really helpful and I try to do this at least once a day as I find it grounds me and helps to clear the mental clutter.
If I'm feeling overwhelmed at work and can't get out into nature, even leaving the room I'm in and going to the loo, doing a bit of slow deep breathing and couple of stretches can be enough to re-set my anxiety.

These are just three techniques I have found to be helpful when I'm feeling overwhelmed. There are many other ways to help in the short and the long term.  Mindfulness techniques are especially helpful. These can include meditation, yoga, walking in nature, in fact anything that will bring your attention back to the here and now and not dwelling on the past or the future. Building some mindfulness techniques into our daily lives  is a little like putting savings into a bank account which you can withdraw when you need it. It's a great way of preventing overwhelm and having the ability to deal with it when it does raise it's head.

In the meantime, the three first-aid techniques above can be helpful tools to nip the feelings of overwhelm in the bud.