What is overwhelm?

Overwhelm is when too many things happen at once and your brain can’t keep up.

Imagine you're playing with your favorite toy box. It’s full of blocks, cars, balls, and crayons, everything you love. But suddenly, someone dumps all the toys out on the floor at the same time. You look down and see a huge mess, it's hard to know where to start. That’s overwhelm: when there are too many things happening all at once, and your brain feels like it can’t handle them all.

When you’re overwhelmed, it might feel like your head is full of buzzing bees or a storm inside your brain. You might say, “I don’t know what to do first!” or “Everything is too much!”

It’s like trying to drink from a big, full cup with just one straw, no matter how hard you suck, the water keeps coming down faster than you can drink it.

When things feel too much, take a deep breath and pick one thing to do first. Maybe start with the blocks. Once you finish with them, move on to the cars, one step at a time. That way, your brain doesn’t have to handle everything all at once anymore.