Overwhelm
Sometimes it was the mental math I had to do just to get through a conversation.
Sometimes it was the unspoken responsibility of translating everything I said into something that wouldn’t trigger shame or shutdown.
Sometimes it wasn’t a fight that broke me.
It was the fifth unanswered question.
The mental math I did just to get through a conversation.
The unspoken responsibility of translating everything I said into something that wouldn’t trigger shame or shutdown.
Overwhelm in neurodiverse love can look like silence, sharpness, dissociation. But underneath it is often grief:
Grief for the ease you hoped for. Grief for how hard this feels.
Here, we explore emotional and sensory overwhelm—not as a failure, but as a signal that something needs care.
Reflection prompt:
Where do I feel the weight most? In my body? My mind? My heart?