Your Brain Is Carrying Too Much

The Dr. Leaf Show

Dr. Caroline Leaf

Mental Health, Health & Fitness

4.6 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

📱 You’re not just tired—you’re carrying too much. Before your feet even hit the floor, your brain has already absorbed more emotional input than it can process. From news to reels to distant crises, your nervous system is on high alert… even if nothing’s happening to you directly. 🧠 In this episode, Dr. Caroline Leaf reveals the neuroscience of input fatigue, the biological cost of constant exposure, and how to reclaim clarity through a science-backed reset. 🔬 You’ll learn: What happens when your amygdala is constantly lit up by scrolling How empathy without resolution leads to mental fog and burnout The link between your messy conscious mind and thought clutter How interoceptive anchoring calms your nervous system in under 2 minutes Why small micro-boundaries can reshape your brain through neuroplasticity 🎯 This episode is your survival guide for overstimulated minds—rooted in real neuroscience and filled with practical tools you can use today. 🎬 Chapters Include: 00:00 The Overload of Constant Input 00:18 The Science Behind Emotional Overload 01:42 The Impact on Your Brain and Body 02:28 Introduction to the Dr. Leaf Show 02:54 Understanding the Mind-Brain-Body Connection 05:44 The Role of the Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex 11:38 Practical Steps to Rewire Your Brain 14:35 Conclusion and Further Resources If you wake up feeling foggy, tense, or emotionally “full” before the day even starts—this episode is for you. 📘 PRE-ORDER: Help in a Hurry Rooted in neuroscience, written for the chaos. Out August 5. 🎁 Get $900 in bonuses at: https://helpinahurrybook.com 📫 250,000+ read my free newsletter that breaks down scientific strategies to improve your mental health. Sign up here: https://drleaf.com 🖥️ WATCH THE SHOW ON YOUTUBE: / @drcarolineleaf GET IN TOUCH: 🌍 My website: https://drleaf.com 📸 Instagram: / drcarolineleaf 🐦 Twitter: / drcarolineleaf 💻 Facebook: / drleaf #MentalHealth #BrainFog #Overstimulation #Neuroscience #InputFatigue #RewireYourBrain #EmotionalOverload #ThoughtClutter #Psychoneurobiology #BurnoutRecovery DISCLAIMER: This podcast and blog are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. We always encourage each person to make the decision that seems best for their situation with the guidance of a medical professional. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You scroll through breaking news, urgent updates, distant tragedies, before your feet even touch the floor.
0:07.5	And even if you barely registered it, your mind didn't miss a thing.
0:12.7	It flagged every alert as something it might need to act on even when it can't.
0:18.1	And science backs this up.
0:19.8	Just 14 minutes of exposure to emotionally charged news can raise anxiety and sadness by more
0:25.5	than 40%.
0:27.0	Most of us are getting way more than that before breakfast.
0:31.1	And your non-conscious mind doesn't forget anything, which means until you rewire your
0:36.6	mind-brain body network,
0:38.3	those are stored. Those moments get stored long after you have moved on and they're
0:43.3	in the background driving you.
0:46.3	In fact, your poor brain wasn't built for this kind of unmanaged emotional battering.
0:52.3	It evolved to focus on what you need to survive,
0:55.0	not the entire world's issues, all at once, but if you're just immersed in all you're exposed
1:01.1	to without self-regulating and mind managing, you will quite literally batter and damage the brain.
1:06.9	Think of the damage a hurricane does. Our conscious, messy level of our mind tries to track everything, and that's good. Our conscious messy level of our mind tries to track everything and that's good.
1:13.8	But the tidy level of our conscious mind is there to guide us and make us aware we need to tap into wisdom of the non-conscious mind to make some judgments like a parent guide the toddler.
1:24.1	Headlines, social feeds, someone else's trauma and someone else's outrage will create a hurricane in the messy mind and the equivalent in the brain and the body.
1:33.3	That doesn't feel great at all.
1:35.1	And then you have this hovering anxiety effect.
1:37.8	You wonder what's wrong with you.
1:39.0	Nothing's wrong with you?
	...

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