These Days of Sensory Bombardment


Never in the history of humanity are people being bombarded with so much information… and advertising from every direction of technology. Some estimates suggest that on average we are exposed to as much as 3,000+ advertisements per day. Bits and bytes of information zooming into our brains through the eyes, ears, skin (and nose?) are estimated to be in the tens of thousands per minute. It wasn’t long ago that people had a choice of three TV stations to watch, and each house had just one phone number. Those days seem like ancient history now. Experts suggest that all of this media and wonderful technology that is so accessible is simply overloading our brains with a cacophony of information. As a result many people are showing signs of impatience, rudeness, irritability, poor attention span and poor sleep (insomnia); in other words: STRESS! It has long been known in stress management circles that sensory bombardment leads to eventual “burnout” with many of the same symptoms listed above. Not only does one begin to process all of this sensory information poorly, but at some level it, triggers the stress response to heighten your awareness, thus elevating the threshold of excitement. What this means is that it becomes harder and harder to relax—and have your body return to a sense of homeostasis. The end result could be one or several manifestations of chronic disease or illness, ranging from headaches to something much worse. Life is WAY too short for this. Remember technology is here to serve us. We are not supposed to be slaves to it.

• Stress Tip for the Day:
Consider giving yourself one hour a day free from technology and media— all which begs for your attention. This includes not using an IPOD while exercising. Give your mind a chance to deprogram from the sensory bombardment that is ever so pervasive in the American (if not global) culture. For those of you having problems sleeping at night, its very likely you will see a difference.

• On The Shelf: Book Recommendations:
A friend of mine mentioned a new book on the market called Positivity by Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D. This book is the newest in the wave of books on the field of Positive Psychology and definitely worth reading.
A colleague of mine, Ron Frederick, has written a new book titled, Living Like You Mean It: Using the Wisdom and Power of Your Emotions to Get the Life You Really Want, which I also highly recommend.

Photo of the Day
This is a photo supporting the idea of taking time each day to unplug from technology and enjoy the simple things in life, in this case … a walk on the beach!

• Quote for the Day:

“If you want fast acting relief… try slowing down.”
—Lily Tomlin

Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D. is an internationally renowned expert in the fields of stress management, mind-body-spirit healing and stress and human spirituality. He is the author of over 10 books including the bestsellers, Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like Water, Stressed Is Desserts Spelled Backward, The Art of Calm, Quiet Mind, Fearless Heart and Managing Stress (6E). He can be reached through his website:www.brianlukeseaward.net

Brian Luke Seaward

Author Brian Luke Seaward

More posts by Brian Luke Seaward

Join the discussion One Comment

Leave a Reply