Ask pretty much anyone in your life right now how they’re feeling, and they’ll probably reply: “stressed”. Yes, feeling under pressure at times is a normal part of life, but according to research by the Mental Health Foundation, at some point in the last year, 74% of us have felt so stressed that we have felt unable to cope.

It paints a sad picture of just how overwhelming existing in 2022 has been. But at least it seems like the busier and more difficult our lives get, the more terms we’re given to help us understand what we’re feeling. If we’re not burned out, we’re languishing. And if we haven’t got brain fog, we’ve got “frazzlebrain”.

As explained by Dr Gina Simmons-Schneider in her book Frazzlebrain: Break Free From Anxiety, Anger, and Stress Using Advanced Discoveries in Neuropsychology, “frazzlebrain” results from a hidden combination of emotions, including stress, anger, and anxiety.

And you only have to look around at what’s happening in the world to understand why so many of us are feeling this way.

The term seems to perfectly sum up the chaos of everyday life, and the unique mix of stress, anger, and anxiety that plagues us all from time to time.

Frazzlebrain: why are we all so stressed right now and how can we learn to manage it?