Anxiety vs. Sensory Overwhelm: A Neurodivergent Guide to Understanding Your Distress
One of the most powerful things I’ve ever done to manage my own anxiety was learn I was Autistic. I spent years in cognitive behavioral therapy, frustrated that no matter how much I tried to challenge and reframe my thoughts, I still felt anxious. As a therapist, I certainly understand how our thoughts influence our emotions and behaviors, but no amount of cognitive work seemed to get to the root of my ongoing anxiety.
When I started looking at things through an Autistic lens, I began to realize just how much of an impact sensory experiences had on my day-to-day anxiety and distress. I wasn’t anxious because of some thought about being at the grocery store; I was anxious because I could hear, feel, and smell everything - including the fluorescent lightbulbs and a stranger’s perfume four aisles away. And I didn’t just hear, smell, and feel everything - it was visceral. With every ounce of my being. Just existing in these spaces sent me into an overstimulated fit, but without the awareness of or words to describe what was happening, all I could do was label it anxiety and panic.
Peeling Back the Layers: The Overlap Between Anxiety and Sensory Overload
Often, experiences like anxiety and sensory overwhelm feel intertwined, but they aren’t the same thing. Understanding the difference between your personal experience of anxiety and sensory overwhelm can be vital for finding the right tools and strategies for managing them.
Both anxiety and sensory overwhelm can trigger similar responses in the body - racing heart, tight chest, difficulty breathing, and feelings of overwhelm. If you can identify what is happening underneath the surface of the physical and emotional response, it’s much easier to help yourself regulate and feel better.
While anxiety comes with a whole host of physical symptoms, it is typically more mental. A specific worry or fear often triggers anxiety and can frequently be tied to events that happened in the past, or things we are concerned could occur in the future. For neurodivergent folks, anxiety often stems from a pressure to conform to neurotypical standards and social norms and fear of judgment or being perceived as “too much” or “not enough.”
Sensory overwhelm happens when the sensory input around you is too much to process and manage. Things like bright lights, loud noises, uncomfortable textures, excessive movement, overwhelming emotions, crowded spaces, and unexpected events often trigger it. During sensory overwhelm, your body may feel overloaded and overstimulated, and you might experience physical symptoms similar to those of anxiety, including dizziness, headaches, and nausea. Many folks experience an urge to run or flee the overwhelming environment.
Why Is It Important to Know The Difference Between Anxiety and Sensory Overwhelm?
It’s important to distinguish between your experiences of anxiety and sensory overwhelm because the things that help in each situation are likely different. Before I realized the difference between my sensory and anxiety triggers, I became frustrated that I knew and did all the things, but they still didn’t work for me. It was another thing to reconfirm all the ‘not good enough’ messages that had me masking in the first place. So many of the anxiety “coping skills” didn’t work, and the longer I couldn’t figure it out, the more frustrated I became.
If you are experiencing sensory overwhelm and treat it like anxiety, you might, like me - get more frustrated with yourself. If, instead, you treat your sensory overwhelm like sensory overwhelm, you might find yourself taking care of your sensory needs and making space for your unique and authentic experience. Many people find this also makes it easier to address lingering anxiety.
Recognizing what’s happening in your mind and body is the first step in determining the best course of action. If you know you are experiencing anxiety, you can use strategies like grounding techniques and challenging your thinking. If you know you’re experiencing sensory overwhelm, you can change your environment and/or use sensory tools to help you feel more regulated.
Sensory Overwhelm vs. Anxiety: Ways to Tell Them Apart
Know Your Sensory Preferences & Triggers
If you aren’t aware of the sensory experiences that overstimulate you, take some time to pay attention to your experiences and make note of your dislikes and preferences. Sensory checklists can help this process.
Neurodivergent folks often have experiences of trauma, CPTSD, or PTSD. It can be helpful to be mindful of potential trauma triggers when self-assessing. For many of us, sensory experience and trauma are interlinked. An ND-affirming trauma therapist can help provide support in figuring this out.
Check Your Thought Patterns
If you are worried about something that happened in the past or could potentially occur in the future, it’s likely anxiety.
It may be sensory overload if you aren’t worried about anything specific and focus more on the physical sensations or environment.
Check In With Your Environment
Notice your environment. Are there external sensory factors contributing to your experience? Are there any loud noises, bright lights, movement, crowding or clutter, strong smells, or anything else that could trigger your sensory response?
If the distress seems to be coming from an internal pressure or a social expectation, it’s more likely anxiety.
Notice Physical Symptoms
While there is much overlap between the physical experience of anxiety and sensory overwhelm, there may be some distinctions to look for. With anxiety, you might experience a racing heartbeat, shallow breathing, a sense of dread or doom, and/or tightness in your throat. Sensory overwhelm often feels like irritability, being hyper-aware of your surroundings, feeling physically drained, headaches, jaw clenching, and/or the need to move or even immediately leave the environment.
Reflection and Journaling
After the situation passes and you feel more grounded, journaling and reflecting on the experience can be helpful. Write down the details of what happened. Did you have specific thoughts that triggered your fear or worry? Did you feel overwhelmed by physical sensations and your environment? Writing it down or making art about your experience can help you tease out and clarify your self-understanding.
Experiment With Different Coping Tools
Create a list or “menu” of coping strategies to try for both anxiety and sensory overwhelm. Note what works and doesn’t work for you. Keeping a short list of things that work best can be a helpful reminder in overwhelming moments.
When In Doubt…
If you aren’t sure if it’s anxiety or sensory issues that are inducing your distress, try anxiety-reducing techniques like breathing, affirmations, or guided relaxation. If they don’t work, try sensory-focused strategies instead.
How Unmasking Can Amplify Sensory Awareness — and Why That’s Not a Bad Thing
As you begin to unmask and make space for your sensory needs, it might seem like sensory sensitivities worsen. As I’ve learned what unmasking means to me, I’ve found this to be true. Sensory overwhelming experiences that I used to be able to push through (mask), I can no longer. Sometimes, that makes it feel like it’s all getting worse - more meltdowns, more shutdowns, etc. But in reality, I’m taking off the mask, getting a better understanding of myself, and learning to do exactly what my body needs, even if that seems counterintuitive and doesn’t look like neurotypical standards. It’s a process that continues to change shape for me, but learning to make space for my big experiences has also brought a new sense of self-compassion, self-advocacy, and better boundaries.
Why Understanding The Difference Is Important for Healing
Understanding the difference between anxiety and sensory overwhelm can be an essential piece of self-care and long-term healing. When you can identify the source of your distress, it’s much easier to care for your specific need and approach yourself with compassion. If you find yourself nearing a state of overwhelm and try to talk yourself through it, but you actually need to decrease your sensory input, you might unintentionally make your symptoms worse.
Unmasking involves learning to listen to our bodies without judgment, getting comfortable with our neurodivergence, and learning how to meet our needs without fear and shame. By distinguishing between anxiety and sensory overwhelm, you can approach challenges from a place of understanding and better care for yourself in each moment. This has significant effects over time, helping our minds and bodies stay in a more connected and regulated state.
For support on navigating sensory overwhelm and anxiety, reach out today to get scheduled for a free 15-minute consult call or initial intake session (therapy available in Florida only).