Happpy Tuesday, founders,

Have you noticed a physical shift in yourself post-pandemic, or during particularly stressful periods?

Maybe you’ve found yourself more irritable in crowds, overwhelmed by loud noises in networking events or malls, or needing to dim the lights and lower the volume on your life.

You're not imagining it. Some people reported their cognitive dysfunction, such as sensory overload, insomnia or concentration issues became out of countrol even 3 years after covid.

This kind of sensitivity isn’t just in your head - it’s a neurological response to chronic stress. When cortisol, your primary stress hormone, stays elevated for long periods, it starts to dysregulate the prefrontal cortex - the part of your brain responsible for decision-making, emotional regulation, and filtering out irrelevant sensory input. When this system is overwhelmed, the brain struggles to distinguish between true threats and harmless stimuli.

The past month has been particularly stressful for me, both at work and in my personal life, and I’ve noticed a buildup in sensory sensitivity.

I remember in my final year of high school, months leading up to exams, I became hyper-reactive. I’d wake up at the sound of footsteps, flinch at the kettle boiling, and could only listen to music at a quarter of my usual volume.

When that state of sensitivity lasts too long, the brain often swings the other way.

I became emotionally flat. Numb.

During a post-exam summer trip to Australia, I (unknowingly) craved stimulation. I signed up for a 12 a.m. ghost town tour and went skydiving the next morning.

I felt… nothing.

No fear, no thrill - just irritation that the “ghosts” weren’t scary enough and that the wind during free fall made it hard to breathe.

This emotional blunting isn’t just psychological. Chronic stress leads to what we call sensory overload, when one or more of our five senses becomes easily overwhelmed.

Sensory overload can lead to temporary damage in the brain's dopamine and threat-processing circuits - particularly in the amygdala and nucleus accumbens. In simple terms, our neurons misfire, and our sense of aliveness dulls.

This topic hits close to home for founders. We’re constantly riding waves of prolonged stress, which makes it crucial to understand how recovery actually works.

But before we dive into how to repair those systems, we need to understand the biology behind it - and why our brains are wired to respond this way.

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What's actually happening in your brain

Chronic stress triggers a neurochemical cocktail that our brains were never designed to sip long-term. It can lead to structural changes in the prefrontal cortex, affecting decision-making and emotional regulation. McEwen and Morrison (2013) discuss the vulnerability and plasticity of the prefrontal cortex over the life course.

When we’re under prolonged pressure - whether from launching a product, dealing with personal loss, or just constant uncertainty - our HPA axis (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis) stays activated. This system governs our stress response and floods the body with cortisol, keeping us on high alert. While short bursts of cortisol help us survive, sustained elevation wears down the brain’s key structures.

One major casualty?

The prefrontal cortex - responsible for focus, decision-making, and emotional regulation. Long-term stress reduces both gray matter volume and synaptic plasticity in this region.

This shrinkage weakens our ability to filter irrelevant stimuli - think of it like losing your brain’s noise-cancelling headphones. Suddenly, everything feels loud - the notifications, the lights, the small talk, even the energy of a crowded room.

Meanwhile, amygdala activity (your threat detector) increases, keeping you in a loop of hypervigilance or, eventually, emotional numbness.

This is why you might swing from highly sensitive to completely flat - it’s not a personality flaw, it’s neurobiology trying to protect itself under pressure.

Common symptoms of sensory overload include:

• Inability to ignore loud sounds, strong smells, or other types of sensory input

• A sense of discomfort

• Anxiety and fear

• Extreme sensitivity to clothing or other textures

• Feeling overwhelmed or agitated

• Irritability

• Loss of focus

• Restlessness

• Stress

• Insomnia

Okay, so... how do you rebuild?

Neurons are resilient - but they need the right conditions to bounce back. Here’s what actually helps based on neuroscience:

1. Sleep: your nightly neural janitor

Glymphatic activity - your brain’s deep-cleaning system - spikes during sleep, flushing out stress-related toxins like beta-amyloid. Aim for 90 minutes more than usual in recovery periods

2. Novelty: controlled hits of safe stimulation

Neuroplasticity loves novelty - but not the kind that risks your life in ghost towns. Instead, try low-stakes, high-interest novelty: a new route to work, painting badly, or cooking with an unfamiliar spice.

3. Non-sleep deep rest (NSDR)

This includes yoga nidra, guided body scans, or even 20 minutes of eyes-closed breathwork. Research shows this drops cortisol and re-regulates the autonomic nervous system without requiring full sleep cycles.

4. Limit stimulants - even the “legal” ones

Caffeine, high-volume media, and dopamine-heavy social scrolls trick your brain into thinking you’re solving something urgent. But you're not. If you’re recovering from sensory overload, replace them with “white space” - silence, slow music, or time without input.

5. Supplement food for neuroprotection

Targeted supplementation can support stress recovery and neuroregeneration, particularly after prolonged periods of elevated cortisol. Adaptogens like Ashwagandha and Rhodiola rosea have been shown to regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and reduce anxiety-related symptoms. Meanwhile, Omega-3 fatty acids and Magnesium have demonstrated neuroprotective and mood-stabilizing effects.

• Ashwagandha has been found to significantly reduce stress and serum cortisol levels.

• Rhodiola rosea has shown efficacy in reducing fatigue and improving stress resilience.

• Magnesium plays a crucial role in neuroregulation and has been linked to reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety.

• Omega-3 fatty acids support synaptic plasticity and reduce neuroinflammation.

Let’s not glorify the freeze state

That wired-but-numb feeling? It’s not your edge. It’s a warning sign.

If you find yourself bored with everything, unbothered by real risk, or underwhelmed by things that should excite you, you might be living from survival mode, not strategy.

Recovery isn’t about quitting. It’s about letting your brain catch up to the pace you’ve set for your life.

As always, hit reply if something in here hits home.

Until next week,
Lavena

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