Are You Mean When You're Overstimulated? There's Actually A Reason For That.

A few weeks ago, a viral tweet perfectly captured a phenomenon familiar to many of us. The post ― a response to someone’s question “what’s your biggest ick about yourself?” ― read simply: “i can be really mean when i’m overstimulated.” Judging by the retweets, it seems 55,000 people could relate.

If you’ve ever snapped at your partner after a bad day, or had an outburst during a frustrating call with a customer service agent, you may understand the meaning behind the tweet. We’re not exactly at our best in moments like these, but they’re part of the human response to being overstimulated.

“Our brain receives information from our senses — sight, touch, smell, sound and taste — so this helps us understand our environment,” said Manahil Riaz, a psychotherapist and the owner of Riaz Counseling in Texas. “To be overstimulated means that our senses have received a lot of information, and now we are feeling overwhelmed as we’re receiving this information.”

When you’re overstimulated, your prefrontal cortex goes offline, said Emma Shandy Anway, a licensed marriage and family therapist based in California. This is the part of your brain responsible for rational decision-making, she noted.

When we’re stressed out, the prefrontal cortex goes from reflective and rational to reactive, Anway said. In these conditions, your brain’s not thinking about maintaining relationships or effectively solving problems, Riaz noted. Instead, it’s panicking.

More, your body’s stress response system (also known as your “fight, flight or freeze” response) activates, regardless of whether you are dealing with an actual stressor or just a perceived one, according to Riaz. Your stress response then affects your mood.

Overstimulation is “going to amplify