When “Success” Is Actually Overwhelm, Over-Functioning, and Chronic Anxiety

In the arts and academia, burnout doesn’t always look like collapse.

It often looks like achievement.

You meet every deadline.

You take on more than your share.

You’re always prepared, always available, always “on.”

From the outside, you look unstoppable.

From the inside, you may be running on fumes.

What if the thing you’re calling success is actually overwhelm, over-functioning (doing more than your share, staying in constant motion to cope), and chronic anxiety?

And what if those patterns aren’t just habits — what if they feel safe to your body?

The Hidden Safety of Doing Too Much

For many high-achieving artists and educators, constant motion is not just a work style — it’s protection.

When you’re over-functioning:

• You stay too busy to feel the grief, frustration, or doubt that might surface in stillness.

• You avoid criticism by being the one who’s always prepared.

• You keep control of your world by never leaving space for uncertainty.

In environments where slowing down risks being left behind, staying in overdrive feels safer than resting.

Why the Soma Holds On to These States

The soma (your living, sensing body — the whole of you, not just muscles and bones) doesn’t care about efficiency or balance. Its first priority is survival.

If your nervous system (the body’s internal communication network that shifts you into calm, alert, anxious, or shut-down states) has learned that stillness is unsafe, it will resist it.

If your body has learned that vigilance prevents harm, anxiety will feel like home.

If productivity has always equaled worth, overwhelm will feel like purpose.

These patterns aren’t failures of discipline or character. They are survival strategies (automatic habits your body developed to protect you in challenging situations) — often formed early, and reinforced by the culture of our field.

Why Change Feels Risky

You can’t just tell your body, Relax, you’re safe now.

The nervous system won’t release a survival pattern unless the new way feels equally safe.

This is why productivity hacks, time-off resolutions, or even long vacations often don’t “stick” — the body hasn’t learned to trust the alternative.

To your soma, doing less can feel dangerous until proven otherwise.

Small, Safe Shifts That Work

If overwhelm has been your norm for years, big swings toward “balance” can backfire. The change feels too foreign, too exposed.

Instead:

• Name what’s happening. Recognize the difference between genuine inspiration and anxiety-driven busyness.

• Titrate the change (introduce change in small doses). Even five minutes of a slower pace lets your body adapt without alarm.

• Create safety cues (signals your body reads as reassuring, like warm lighting, grounding breath, or a familiar ritual before performance). Anchor new patterns to these signals.

• Reinforce through repetition. Show your body, again and again, that nothing bad happens when you slow down.

Why This Matters for Artists

In our world, over-functioning is often celebrated as dedication.

Chronic anxiety is mistaken for commitment.

Overwhelm is brushed off as “part of the job.”

But these patterns drain creativity, narrow your expressive range, and take a quiet but devastating toll on health and relationships.

The good news?

The moment your soma senses that it’s truly safe to live differently, it will choose it. Every time.

Reflection Prompt

What are the “successful” habits in your life that might actually be keeping you in survival mode?

What small change could you try this week to test the safety of slowing down?