Being diagnosed made me more aware of issues that I wouldn’t have previously recognised.
I’ve noticed that sometimes when I felt overwhelmed, I generally didn’t realise that it may be due to sensory overload.
For instance I could be wearing clothes that are too itchy or too tight, and the sensation will overwhelm. However I can be quite aloof to it. I could be tugging at my clothes as a physical reaction to the stimuli, but not realise that the clothes were having a big effect on my mood, and my ability to focus and enjoy my environment.
I know now that uncomfortable sensations are likely making my mood irritable and can put me in a bit of a state. It can be severe enough to give me less motivation to join in with life in general. I can be so agitated that the only solution is to go to my room, shut the door, dim the lights, make everything quiet, and close my eyes for a while to switch off the brain.
The difficulty before diagnosis was that I never recognised how severe sensory overload felt physically, because I’d ignore it as though it was background noise.
Then because I ignored it, I never recognised that it was quite severely affecting my mental state too.
Also the two issues felt separate. I can only describe it as being out of sync. I’d rant at my sister about how ‘my top is itchy, the tv’s too loud and I feel irritable’ never did I think that I felt irritable because my top was itchy and the tv was too loud! The irritability was just another problem on the list, as though it was the same as a physical sensation, rather than an emotional reaction to the physical sensation.
When I started to read about sensory overload, I was given the knowledge to recognise that I should take care of myself better, and make my surroundings and clothing comfortable. And if I’m feeling irritable I should try to assess why! It seems really obvious now I’m thinking about it.
I’ve noticed that sometimes when I felt overwhelmed, I generally didn’t realise that it may be due to sensory overload.
For instance I could be wearing clothes that are too itchy or too tight, and the sensation will overwhelm. However I can be quite aloof to it. I could be tugging at my clothes as a physical reaction to the stimuli, but not realise that the clothes were having a big effect on my mood, and my ability to focus and enjoy my environment.
I know now that uncomfortable sensations are likely making my mood irritable and can put me in a bit of a state. It can be severe enough to give me less motivation to join in with life in general. I can be so agitated that the only solution is to go to my room, shut the door, dim the lights, make everything quiet, and close my eyes for a while to switch off the brain.
The difficulty before diagnosis was that I never recognised how severe sensory overload felt physically, because I’d ignore it as though it was background noise.
Then because I ignored it, I never recognised that it was quite severely affecting my mental state too.
Also the two issues felt separate. I can only describe it as being out of sync. I’d rant at my sister about how ‘my top is itchy, the tv’s too loud and I feel irritable’ never did I think that I felt irritable because my top was itchy and the tv was too loud! The irritability was just another problem on the list, as though it was the same as a physical sensation, rather than an emotional reaction to the physical sensation.
When I started to read about sensory overload, I was given the knowledge to recognise that I should take care of myself better, and make my surroundings and clothing comfortable. And if I’m feeling irritable I should try to assess why! It seems really obvious now I’m thinking about it.
