When Hyperthinking Leads To Stress Overflow

I got properly sick a few days after a stressful few weeks: fever, body aches, exhaustion, and a UC flare that made the week even less enjoyable.

It was another long stretch of mental overdrive: late nights, constant updates, and not nearly enough rest. I'd simply pushed my system too hard. When I finally came across what was probably an ordinary virus, my immune system didn't have the reserves to deal with it. What should've been nothing more than a sniffle turned into a full shutdown.

That pattern isn't new. Every time I go through a period of sustained focus or heavy cognitive load (a project deadline, a string of intense news cycles, or just too much time analysing things that don't really need analysing) my body eventually pulls the handbrake. It's not emotional collapse. It's physiology catching up.

Prolonged stress keeps cortisol levels high. That's useful in short bursts; it sharpens focus and keeps you alert. But when it lingers, things start to misfire. Research shows that sustained high cortisol weakens the immune response and amplifies inflammation. You become slower at fighting off infection while the internal fire keeps burning.

For anyone with an inflammatory condition like UC, that combination is brutal. You're simultaneously under defended and over inflamed. So when I flare during stressful periods, it isn't "all in my head." It's my immune system shifting priorities, and making a mess of it in the process.

It's not just about politics or bad news. It's the constant input. The endless updates, metrics, deadlines, background noise. Even when you're not consciously stressed, your brain is still processing micro signals of threat. That steady drip of activation keeps your physiology slightly tilted toward fight or flight. Do it long enough, and you start to see the cost: disrupted sleep, inflammation, that familiar run of colds that never quite clear. It's not drama. It's data.

I can't eliminate stress, but I can manage how my body handles it. During high load periods, I take BRÍ Calm consistently. The Ashwagandha and Rhodiola help smooth the cortisol spikes without flattening energy. BRÍ Immunity keeps the basics covered with zinc and vitamin D, especially useful when Irish daylight disappears. I've also learned to set boundaries around input: less doomscrolling, more deliberate reading. I'd rather understand context than consume chaos. And I've started to respect the basics: proper sleep, movement, and time outdoors. Simple things, but surprisingly effective.

None of it's a miracle cure. It's just giving my body the same kind of maintenance I'd give a car or laptop: preventive, not reactive.

I still have a tendency to over analyse; it's how I process the world. But I'm getting better at noticing when curiosity turns into overload. When my UC flares, or I catch every bug going, that's not weakness. It's biofeedback. My system telling me to recalibrate.

Stress isn't going away. The world will always offer another headline, another deadline, another thing that demands your attention. The difference now is that I take recovery as seriously as engagement. You can stay informed and still protect your bandwidth. You can care deeply without burning yourself out.

That's not apathy. It's endurance.