Anxiety or Just Being Human? Rethinking Nervous System Overload

Here’s a truth I wish more people knew: not everything you feel is a disorder.

Sometimes what we call anxiety is simply your nervous system doing its job. Messy, inconvenient, too-loud maybe, but not broken.

The Anxiety Epidemic

Search the word “anxiety” online and you’ll drown in checklists, diagnostic criteria, and miracle cures. Counselling Directory, Google, TikTok — everyone’s searching for a way out of it.

And no wonder. Anxiety feels awful. Racing thoughts. Heart pounding. Sleepless nights. The constant what-ifs.

But here’s the thing: we’re labelling almost all of it as dysfunction. As if the only acceptable state of being is calm, composed, and in control. That’s not human. That’s a robot.

What Anxiety Really Is

Anxiety is your body’s built-in alarm system. It’s meant to scan for danger. It’s meant to mobilise energy when you need to act.

Think of your ancestors: a rustle in the bushes, a shadow at the cave mouth. The surge of adrenaline that made them run, fight, or freeze wasn’t a flaw. It was survival.

Fast-forward to now. Same nervous system, different world. You’re not running from predators. You’re opening emails. You’re paying bills. You’re walking into a work meeting. The body reacts as if it’s life or death. That’s not dysfunction. That’s a mismatch.

When Normal Response Meets a Frantic World

It’s not just you. We live in a culture that keeps our alarms switched on:

• 24/7 news cycles.

• Phones buzzing like fire alarms in our pockets.

• Hustle culture glorifying exhaustion.

• A planet on fire (literally).

If your nervous system is on edge, that doesn’t mean you’re defective. It means you’re awake in a world that doesn’t let you rest.

The Difference Between Anxiety and Nervous System Overload

Here’s where therapy language can help — without the psychobabble.

• Anxiety (the diagnosis) suggests something’s wrong inside you.

• Nervous system overload recognises you’re carrying too much, too fast, for too long.

One path makes you feel broken. The other reminds you that your system is trying to protect you.

Inner Wilderness: The Mess Beneath the Label

So many of my clients whisper, “Do I have anxiety? Am I broken?”

What they’re really asking is: Is it normal to feel like this?

Yes. It’s normal to shake before a presentation. It’s normal to feel restless when life is uncertain. It’s normal to wake up at 3 am when your body still thinks danger is coming.

Pathology makes us feel alone. Humanity reminds us we’re not.

But When Does It Tip Into Disorder?

There is a line. When nervous system overload becomes constant, when fear stops you living your life, when panic hijacks your days — that’s when anxiety takes root.

And therapy helps here. Not by erasing anxiety, but by teaching you to listen to it differently. By helping you notice when the alarm is real and when it’s leftover static.

What Helps (and What Doesn’t)

What doesn’t help? Telling yourself to “just relax.” Pretending you’re fine. White-knuckling your way through.

What does help?

• Grounding back into the body. Feet on the floor. Breath slowed down. Remind your body it’s here, not back there.

• Regulating the environment. Less caffeine. More breaks. Spaces without constant alerts.

• Naming it. Saying “my system is overloaded” instead of “I’m broken.” Language shifts everything.

• Connection. Anxiety shrinks when shared. Talking to someone who doesn’t minimise or judge can turn panic into presence.

The Bigger Picture

Here’s what gets missed: anxiety isn’t just an individual problem. It’s systemic. We’re living in a culture that burns people out, then tells them to meditate their way back to functioning.

The truth? You don’t need to become calmer so you can tolerate more bullshit. You need space to live differently.

Why This Matters

When we treat every ripple of fear as pathology, we forget what it means to be human. Fear, after all, is part of aliveness.

Therapy isn’t about “fixing” anxiety so you never feel it again. It’s about helping you live with your whole nervous system, its alarms, its signals, its wild wisdom. It’s about learning when to listen, when to soothe, and when to rebel against the system that keeps you overloaded in the first place.

You’re not broken for feeling anxious. You’re human. And maybe being human in a frantic world is the bravest thing we can do.

Sarah x