Can sensory overload cause an anxiety attack?

[Suzanne]

When any of you get overloaded like you are describing, would you be able to tell a person with you "I'm overloaded" so the person could understand what's going on and be able to assist in some way like just sitting with you without speaking or handing you something which would cut out the sensory stuff like headphones?

Trouble is, most would say: you are weird; get over it. Join the nt world!

 

[Progster]

Having just a few unexpected sensations isn't overwhelming, either. It is just when I have too many at the same time, that I get overwhelmed.

Same here. I can cope with one sensation, as long as it isn't too intense like a loud motorbike noise or car horn, but when I have several sources of stimulation coming at me, I get kind of dizzy or nauseous or panicky and need to remove myself from the situation. For example, I'm in the car, my mum is playing the car radio loud at the same time as talking, the car is moving, scenery going by and movement, she then asks me to find a certain station on the radio, I try, but immediately become very dizzy and can't do it, and she can't understand why because she would have no trouble doing it.

 

[Chance]

Sensory overload can send me into shutdown, but I must qualify what I mean by "sensory overload."

When I first started working at a cell phone factory, it was definitely SO. After working there for a while, the same sounds didn't bother me any more. They were expected. (My counselor says that I was acclimatized.)

Having just a few unexpected sensations isn't overwhelming, either. It is just when I have too many at the same time, that I get overwhelmed.

very well said, and something I haven't even really noticed... I can be around a roaring tractor and never have a problem... but get me in a place I don't know and just the click of the thermostat on the wall can make me sort of jump inside... now pour me off into a crowd and unknown surroundings and I think it's more what a bad trip on drugs might be like... I'm not sure because I have never done that...

I just know that whatever filters all this stuff in normal people... seems to have been skipped for me...
So its very raw, harsh, and intense. Usually the next thing I understand is that I am in an invisible battle that no one else is having to fight... In that is where I feel like a freak and I don't want to be seen as such. So I guess I get ashamed, worried, afraid it will show, and usually try to vanish... And then people are going... "What the hell is wrong with that guy?"

I wish I was going to go put on my Batman suit and do some super hero stuff, but no mostly just hiding trying to find my way back to my normal...

However... Me and Batman have never been seen in the same room at the same time... Just sayin... and full of it... : )

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

very well said, and something I haven't even really noticed... I can be around a roaring tractor and never have a problem... but get me in a place I don't know and just the click of the thermostat on the wall can make me sort of jump inside... now pour me off into a crowd and unknown surroundings and I think it's more what a bad trip on drugs might be like... I'm not sure because I have never done that...

I just know that whatever filters all this stuff in normal people... seems to have been skipped for me...
So its very raw, harsh, and intense. Usually the next thing I understand is that I am in an invisible battle that no one else is having to fight... In that is where I feel like a freak and I don't want to be seen as such. So I guess I get ashamed, worried, afraid it will show, and usually try to vanish... And then people are going... "What the hell is wrong with that guy?"

I wish I was going to go put on my Batman suit and do some super hero stuff, but no mostly just hiding trying to find my way back to my normal...

I often think I can't distinguish distance in hearing.

A person rubbing their fingers together,the sound of the skin is as noticeable as the t.v.
Hearing them both equally then the skin louder as my attention goes to it.

 

[Chance]

Trouble is, most would say: you are weird; get over it. Join the nt world!

If I had a dollar for every time I was asked... "Why can't you just be normal?" or the many variances of that.. wow... I could come see you in the south of France for free... : )

 

[Chance]

I often think I can't distinguish distance in hearing.

A person rubbing their fingers together,the sound of the skin is as noticeable as the t.v.
Hearing them both equally then the skin louder as my attention goes to it.

And not only distance but where the noise is. I will think I hear my phone in one place only to find it somewhere else, or hear a person and they not be where I think I heard them from, and yes rubbing skin sounds like sandpaper on wood...
or my face on the carpet when I just don't want to deal with it anymore : )

 

[Suzanne]

If I had a dollar for every time I was asked... "Why can't you just be normal?" or the many variances of that.. wow... I could come see you in the south of France for free... : )

You would not be coming to see me then lol because I do not live in the south of France; but Bretagne ( Brittany).

 

[Chance]

You would not be coming to see me then lol because I do not live in the south of France; but Bretagne ( Brittany).

You would not be coming to see me then lol because I do not live in the south of France; but Bretagne ( Brittany).

My bad... well in my head thats where you were at... : )

 

[Chance]

You would not be coming to see me then lol because I do not live in the south of France; but Bretagne ( Brittany).

Oh wow... I googled it. You live in a very beautiful place...
I love water... So I instantly like it a lot... : )

 

[LucyPurrs]

Trouble is, most would say: you are weird; get over it. Join the nt world!

I get that Suzanne, but what I meant was if you were with someone who really cared for you, accepted you and wanted to be helpful at those times, could you let them know what was happening? But now I see maybe it would be just too hard to say anything, so I would have to look out for the non verbal signs and then know what to do to be helpful and that's probably different for each person. So I will ask my friends who may be on the spectrum what I can do that would be helpful if they start having a meltdown or shutdown. And I realize that for most the answer may well be "just leave me alone until I get over it" and that will be fine, as long as it's helpful.

 

[Progster]

very well said, and something I haven't even really noticed... I can be around a roaring tractor and never have a problem... but get me in a place I don't know and just the click of the thermostat on the wall can make me sort of jump inside... now pour me off into a crowd and unknown surroundings and I think it's more what a bad trip on drugs might be like... I'm not sure because I have never done that...

I've noticed that every time I visit the UK, sensory sensitivity seems to be a lot worse. For example, I go into Aldi in Greece (it used to be in Greece) and it's ok, I go into Aldi in the UK and it's a nightmare!

I think that in a new environment you are taking a lot more in and you can reach overload very quickly.

I often think I can't distinguish distance in hearing.

A person rubbing their fingers together,the sound of the skin is as noticeable as the t.v.
Hearing them both equally then the skin louder as my attention goes to it.

Same here, especially with high frequency sounds like a plastic bag rustling or something tapping.

 

[ksheehan88]

I often complain of constantly being tired, and before diagnosis put it down to "laziness".

I now know, through noting down when and what happened before I got really tired, it is noise and socialising that does it.

For instance; its the Easter holidays, and all three children are home from school. My other half works so isn't here most of the time, and they have been exceptionally noisy. By the time he gets home early afternoon, I NEED to go to my room, be on my own, and sleep or rest.

 

[ksheehan88]

I often complain of constantly being tired, and before diagnosis put it down to "laziness".

I now know, through noting down when and what happened before I got really tired, it is noise and socialising that does it.

For instance; its the Easter holidays, and all three children are home from school. My other half works so isn't here most of the time, and they have been exceptionally noisy. By the time he gets home early afternoon, I NEED to go to my room, be on my own, and sleep or rest.

And I've just realised I went completely off topic...

Sensory issues often causes my anxiety, yes.

 

[AO1501]

I get that Suzanne, but what I meant was if you were with someone who really cared for you, accepted you and wanted to be helpful at those times, could you let them know what was happening? But now I see maybe it would be just too hard to say anything, so I would have to look out for the non verbal signs and then know what to do to be helpful and that's probably different for each person. So I will ask my friends who may be on the spectrum what I can do that would be helpful if they start having a meltdown or shutdown. And I realize that for most the answer may well be "just leave me alone until I get over it" and that will be fine, as long as it's helpful.

For me, overload is a very difficult condition because it's like hitting a wall at 100miles per hour. One moment it is full speed ahead and the next there's this sudden crash. It isn't that I can't tell there is a growing load of sensory input I am contending with, but usually my reflexive stims, which are either passive, such as playing with a stim toy (favourite is a row of beads on a short lanyard), or active, which is usually walking, keep it under control. If this doesn't work, I don't seem able to self-regulate and the overload is that sudden.

It can create a meltdown, in which I most certainly want to be left alone to deal with it, because anyone touching me or talking to me or trying to calm me makes it worse, and harder to get through. If overload leads to an anxiety attack, and there was someone I trusted, their presence, and physical contact like holding my hand would help. This isn't an outcome that is very common for me anymore, because my environment is now specifically designed for low sensory input, but when it used to happen more frequently, having a trusted person hold my hand and tell me everything is OK, was almost instantly calming, despite it being even more sensory input itself.

If there is someone I don't know, or don't trust when it happens, it makes it worse, because the anxiety of it being witnessed adds to the severity of the attack.

 

[AO1501]

I often think I can't distinguish distance in hearing.

Definitely me too. If someone is standing in my office is talking to me, and I can hear someone else on the phone or having a conversation a hundred feet away, they are the same volume level, and I can't discriminate between them.

 

[ksheehan88]

I get that Suzanne, but what I meant was if you were with someone who really cared for you, accepted you and wanted to be helpful at those times, could you let them know what was happening? But now I see maybe it would be just too hard to say anything, so I would have to look out for the non verbal signs and then know what to do to be helpful and that's probably different for each person. So I will ask my friends who may be on the spectrum what I can do that would be helpful if they start having a meltdown or shutdown. And I realize that for most the answer may well be "just leave me alone until I get over it" and that will be fine, as long as it's helpful.

My best friend is great like this. She is NT, but she always makes an effort to keep me informed of what we're going to do, where we're going, who with, for how long. She's getting married in August and she has booked a hotel room for me for the night. She told me to bring my ear defenders and USE THEM if I need to, and if that's not enough just give her a tap so she knows I'm heading for my room. If she spots me feeling uncomfortable she notices straight away and will move to help me out. I'm really lucky

 

[Suzanne]

Oh wow... I googled it. You live in a very beautiful place...
I love water... So I instantly like it a lot... : )

Google Neulliac, which is where I live in a town called: Pontivy.

I do not consider why I live to be beautiful, but perhaps to someone else who does not live in France, it would be considered so.

 

[WereBear]

However, its sucks the LIFE ENERGY out of me very fast and I get extremely tired and no one understands that part.

YES. Yesterday was sewer gas in th office and a lot of bustl as a new person gets training and the guy who came to fix it made all kinds of noises and heavy breathing and it was laugh or cry. But the whole thing was incredibly exhausting.

I Think @Fridgemagnetman I think this could be part of what our brains can do that NT s can't hence they cultivate empathy, whereas for many of us the feelingsame of others are palpable and present. It's a bit like the way being psychic is often presented on TV fiction. In my experience.

EXACTLY. That is what it is like. I’m a radio tuned into their feelings.

It's not something I would want to tell anyone... It's not like I see dead people or anything like that...
Anguish is the only word I know to begin to describe it... It's just this deep pitted feeling that I dont think is mine to have, nor do I want it, or know how to handle it, or who its from... I only know it is like something that sort of sucks the life out of me... So, I become this horrible person who has this "thing" about going and seeing people in hospitals, and emergency rooms are a total mental nightmare, that mess me up pretty bad.

It's not that I don't want to go in, or maybe it is...

Maybe a nice foil hat would work, with the nice straightjacket they should probably put me in... : )

It’s always tough, we need emotional coping strategies as well as our sensory ones, because some of us deal with overwhelming empathic input, too. That has to be part of the math that adds up to too much.

I think that in a new environment you are taking a lot more in and you can reach overload very quickly.

AGREED. Which is how travel can suck.

 

[LucyPurrs]

I Think @Fridgemagnetman s gone quiet...

I was interested in Chances point about the pressure of that's maybe the effect of the anguish of others in hospital I think this could be part of what our brains can do that NT s can't hence they cultivate empathy, whereas for many of us the feelingsame of others are palpable and present. It's a bit like the way being psychic is often presented on TV fiction. In my experience.

Pain is always palpable and all too present for me. I think I'm a magnet for it. Seems to go beyond empathy.

 

[Arkanu of Galatiel]

I've gotten not only anxiety attacks, but I even get confusion when there's too much to process, be it sensory data or even commands, assignments, or details regarding something.