Experiencing Baseline Chaos
There are times when chaos doesn’t feel like a moment in life, but a baseline. A steady sense of overwhelm, restlessness, or disconnection that can be difficult to name, even internally.
Many neurodivergent adults describe this experience as a feeling of being out of sync — with expectations, with environments, or with themselves. It’s not always dramatic, but it can be deeply tiring.
Understanding Chaos Through the Nervous System
Earlier in my life, I did not yet have language for this. What I understand now is that what felt like “chaos” was also a nervous system responding to sustained pressure and misattunement. Not a failure — but an attempt to cope.
Through both personal experience and my work as a therapist, I’ve come to see that distress is often meaningful. It tells us something about our needs, our limits, and the environments we’re moving through. When those needs go unmet for long enough, the body finds ways to signal.
Finding Regulation Through Music
Music became one of the ways I learned to listen to those signals. Not as a solution, and not in a performative sense, but as a regulating experience.
Rhythm, repetition, and sound can offer containment when words feel inaccessible. This isn’t unique — humans are wired for rhythm and attunement long before language develops.
Music and Creativity in Counselling
In counselling, music and creativity can offer a gentle bridge. They can:
Support regulation
Allow emotions to move
Create space for awareness without pressure to analyse or fix
Importantly, this work is always led by the individual — at their pace and with consent.
You Are Not Broken
If you’re reading this and feel chaotic or overwhelmed, I want you to know that you are not broken. Healing is rarely linear, and it often happens through small, manageable shifts, rather than sudden change.
Small Steps That Can Help
Some gentle ways to begin:
Notice what helps you feel even slightly more settled.
Share a small part of your experience, without needing to explain everything.
Move at your pace, listening to your nervous system.
Seek support that feels respectful and collaborative.
Meeting Yourself With Curiosity
You don’t need to have all the answers and you don’t need to make sense of everything right now. What matters is meeting yourself with curiosity rather than judgement. If you feel almost ready to explore this further, I’ll wait to hear from you.