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problems with sensory overload on the job?

alien girl

alien girl

Well-Known Member
the lights are a bit too bright, the noise a bit too loud. my shoes bother me, so i take them off and put my feet on the carpet, but then the carpet bothers me...

and my sensory issues are rather mild. can you describe the problems you've had?
 
I do have light sensitivity issues all around, so unless it's lit to what works for me (I frequently find myself sitting in a totally dark room for a good hour at home just to zone out a bit; sometimes lights are just a big no-no) I can't deal with lights properly. Being able to take a break to... well, I suppose, reset myself, on top of the freedom to wear shades to block out some intensity. Back when I had a job it was pretty much migraines all day, every day.

I got sensitive hearing so I prefer a quiet environment. Having ADD as a comorbid disorder going on might also mean that I'm easily distracted and less focused on the task at hand because of it.

A big issue I always had with certain jobs; considering a lot of jobs that don't require education are in warehouses and factories, so they require all kinds of clothing for "safety" reasons, including workboots with steel toes. Those never fit well with me since my feet are a bit odd. It's not just a little sensory issue, I'm usually in serious pain after work every day, hence I rarely keep such a job for more than a week.

Having some issues to deal with might be acceptable in one way or another, but being in pain after work every day, feels way, way too invasive for me.

I had a talk about issues and my functioning the other day at my therapist. The question arose to what sensory issues do to me. I don't go in a meltdown or anything over it, but I'm just not efficiently functional. And considering people are hired to be productive, I'd be a terrible employee.

There are a lot tiny issues I could touch upon, such as having to wear specific clothes for work and the fabric itches, the labels itch, stuff like that, but those are marginal and often more an agitation that's the result of not being focused and interested at a task at hand. If a job is interesting enough it should keep your mind occupied, which in a sense might mitigate some sensory issues.
 
I have the opposite problem of hypo-sensitivity. I work in a noisy, bright, dusty, cluttered, busy environment, and other than sometimes wearing earplugs, I just take it in.

I know under the surface it has had a lot of negative effects, but I've just absorbed them to the point where I put up with too much discomfort, and I find myself in need of dark, quiet warmth to recover. I take hot baths at night before going to bed. There is a hot springs that I've visited that has a very cave like hot pool that is the ideal environment for me to release the pent up irritation.
 
When I was working as a teacher in a school, I had a lot of problems with noise. I couldn't block out background noise and I couldn't hear the students speaking if there was any background noise. If I wanted to hear what a student was saying, I needed silence and had to get them all to shut up - which they did for about 30 seconds and then started talking. Also, there was noise coming from the street outside of other students waiting ouside. It was a big problem and caused me a lot of stress. I often got overloaded and frustrated. It's one of the major reasons why classroom teaching doesn't work for me.
 
My shoes are always off when I do office jobs. I really hate foot ware. I been in some officers the lighting is very bad. Flicking lights, or on wanted noise will ruin the day.
 
I turn off the lights in my office and open up the windows so I can see without being blinded.

I refuse to cooperate with my coworkers when they need my help if they do not be quiet and let me read what they want me to read and explain to them, or won't keep their fingers out of the way so I can see what they want me to read and explain to them.

I keep the doors shut to keep out the noise. And there's only so much politics and religion one person can listen to two old woman go on about before they go clinically insane. I also bring my mp3 player to help block out some of their complaining. And one of them is CONSTANTLY babbling, even if nobody is listening.

I also stay very close the windows for when one of those old women runs her infernal ozone machine. Opening the windows helps negate some of the stink, the sharp burning in my eyes and nose and lungs, and the pounding headache I get from it.

I wear jeans and a tshirt, and to hell with anybody who thinks my skill is based on what I wear. I'm being paid to perform a service, not to be a look purty. And I don't do my job well when I'm distracted from hurting.
 
I don't have a lot of sensory issues. Sometimes, however, I find people's voices physically irritating. My ear drums literally burn and I start to feel irate. I hide these feelings, as it's unreasonable to expect people not to speak, but this does sometimes make it difficult to get by.

I can also suffer from overload if there is too much going on at once. I think this has more to do with my ADD than anything. A good example would be that I am trying to listen to somebody, but there is a TV or radio on in the background. I find myself completely unable to focus on either the speaker or the background noise. It all seems like gibberish.

An other recent incident was when I was preparing a meal for my clients. Clients were talking with my co-worker, who has a very harsh voice, as though she is always shouting. Add to this some music in the background and I just couldn't keep track of what I was doing. The meal prep went very slowly and the kitchen was a disorganized mess for much of the process. This culminated in me accidentally setting a dish towel on a hot burner and catching it on fire.
 
I work as a cashier at a grocery store part time on the weekends. My primary sensory issue is noise - idk if you're supposed to be able to filter out or block out noise, i'm told you are but i've never understood the concept. As a child my mom would always tell me (in regards to the school classroom) to simply tune out the other children but i never could. Now that same issue extends into work life as well - unless i have something to hyperfocus on (like the customer i'm currently checking out) i can't block anything out and hear everything at once without discrimination. All the noise and chaos used to lead to sensory overload and anxiety attacks when i first started work but once i learned how to use hyperfocusing to my advantage, its only an issue now if i'm tired or hungry or both. Usually around lunch break time or clocking out of work for the day time.
 
I once took a job in Europe, and every time the bosses would leave the office, the rest of the employees would start gossiping with each other across the room in a language that I couldn't understand. It was maddening to hear people shouting garbled noises over my head constantly. I would pack up my laptop and walk over to a cafe to work via their Wi-Fi connection. That wasn't much better, because the cafes that did have Wi-Fi also had terrible music or indoor smoking. The quiet cafes didn't have Internet.

Since then I'm mostly doing entrepreneurial things or working for clients remotely. I spent years wandering around from coffee shop to coffee shop working on my laptop. I learned to deal with most coffee shop noise -- as long as the music isn't terrible. I have a lot of problems with bad music due to the way it repeats in my head for hours or days afterwards.

The Penguin said:
My shoes are always off when I do office jobs. I really hate foot ware.
Click to expand...

Me too. I try to wear flip-flops as often as possible even when it's cold. :)
 
I'm the same way when it comes to light and sound sensitivities. My company has two main offices. One is an office with a huge cubicle farm with half height walls. I'm glad thatI I do not work in that building.

The building where I do work has a small room for the few people that are in my department. The worst part about it is direct overhead fluorescent lighting and tile floors so sound is amplified. I'm thankful that my coworkers are generally quiet but keep a set of headphones around just in case.
 
Sully said:
Ozone is bad for your lungs. That shouldn't be allowed in the work place.
Health Effects of Ozone in the General Population | Ozone and Your Patients' Health | US EPA
Click to expand...
I'd really love to tape this to her infernal machine, but she's so selfish and bullheaded, she'd run it anyway. :(
Even worse, if she feels "persecuted", she whines to all the clientele and makes the rest of us look bad. She's in her late 80s, I'm just hoping she dies soon before she poisons us to death.
 
Datura said:
Why would anyone run an ozone machine? Is there some kind of benefit to it?
Click to expand...
Supposedly it purifies the air, like if a heavy smoker or somebody with loud perfume/cologne comes in. I'd rather just open a window and have a cough drop.
 
Purifying the air by polluting it. What a fascinating notion.

At least she is doing her small part to repair the upper atmosphere.
 
Just the buzzzzzzz of machines can be stressful after a while. Computers, the airconditioner. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Just step outside for a moment when it gets too much.
 
Noise and interruptions. Which in my current workplace are an everyday occurrance.
 
Noise for me too - I work in an open plan office next to a lot of people who seem to need to chat all day, loudly and will talk to someone on the other side of the office by yelling at them rather than going over to their desk. Then there's phones, people having meetings, sometimes people singing.
 
I've had this on and off for years, It's pretty much disabling at a couple of points.

Sometimes when I was driving for a longer period of time (few hours) I'd heat up, start sweating and my vision would shake - a few times it was so bad that I had to pull over because I couldn't see the road. It's not so bad now but I think that's anxiety related.

At work, it entirely depends on my mind set for the day (and how I get out of bed) if I'm irritable then everything gets to me and everything winds me up. Reading black text on a white background for long periods of times makes my vision blur and dance, which I've found no answer for so far.

It's pretty debilitating.. also I sometimes have to have subs on the telly as I can't focus on what's going on AND understand what's being said.
 
Shoes and socks! I will go barefoot in the house even if it's winter and my feet get cold. I don't buy anything with laces, just slip-ons, like moccasins. I have a bad time with zippers. Don't like anything tight around my neck; wear cotton only. Noise - those monstrous car stereos - like being stabbed in the neck. Or a neighbor playing a radio just loud enough to hear the noise but not what the music is. During winter I'm often "desperate" for sunlight. I quit working in offices long ago: incessant noise, artificial light, fabrics, odors, etc. I feel trapped indoors, and feel like a wild animal being held in a zoo.

My "refuge" is the countryside near where I live. I "escape" a couple of hours each day. Totally quiet...

Oh - and some people's voices are so irritating -
 
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