Sensory Overload - not related to Autism or Aspergers

Hi

I was just wondering if anyone else gets times when they feel like their brain temporarily shuts down?

It's happened to me a few times now. Sometimes it's after a very full on or bad day at work or on other occasions it's happened where I've been in an environment where the are competing noises. This has varied to just being at home with everyone talking at once & the TV on to an open plan environment where I was trying to hold a conversation & concentrate on that with music playing next to me from someone's ipod via a speaker with other general office noise & chatting going on.

On all occasions I suddenly feel that I have lost the ability to communicate or process things properly. So for example I'll read a text & have no ability to formulate & type my reply & yet the reply is a simple yes/no & maybe a short explanatory sentence in support of my answer.

The only cure I've found so far is to remove myself from everyone & find a completely silent place & close my eyes. It takes betwee half hour & an hour for 'reset' to occur & me feel normal again & be able to resume communication. Sometimes I have to sleep in order to fully shut the world out.

I've tried looking this up but all of my research has led me to pages aimed at those who have Autism/Asperger diagnoses. I don't.

Does anyone else experience anything similar? How do you cope? Is there a quicker way to reset? How do you explain it to people either to pre warn them that this is a thing for you or when it's happening? My family don't understand & I've not found a way to explain it to them. I have one friend so far who gets it and now when it happens if I say to them 'I can't do words' they know what I mean.

Thanks

Hi..I don't know what medication you are on..but you possibly need to address this with the Dr.

I do all the same things and my psychiatrist says I am easily distracted and hyperfocused....like I focus on one thing and everything else gets lost..so if I'm having a ruminating thought I am doing all the things you describe.

They are trying to manage mine with medication.

Thank you for your reply Missy2. I am not on any medication. I have seen my GP for anxiety & depression issues and was referred for counselling which I did but that has long since finished.

I have sensory processing disorder but it never gets this bad for me, for me I get extremely irritable and angry and can break down crying if I gets to bad. One of the things I do is avoid the thing that overloads me (which is kinda hard for me when you have a loud family that talks over each other with the TV on). I read somewhere that you can set limits for the thing that triggers sensory overload. But it is true that sensory overload doesn't just come from autism it can come from ADHD, GAD, PTSD, and a couple others

I really think it would benefit you to get on some medication.
Even if it is just anxiety medicine...preferbly a benzo....slows down the brain (mine anyway).

If you can't get to a Dr....I have resorted to Magnesium Citrate...and L-Theanine..over the counter they really do soothe anxiety..not as good as benzos...and subtle..but if nothing else....and you get desperate..try these.

I have tried MANY herbs that claim to curb anxiety..those 2 after about 200 dollars on supplements seem to work for me.

If this thing that happens to you is creating problems it would be good to be evaluated by a professional. However I also think that some people are just sensitive to over stimulation. Our modern life with a tv or music always on, people talking back and forth and over each other, etc. is an unfortunate reality. That doesn't make it normal and some people understandable just can't handle it.

When I'm at a party or big family get together I sort of wander off and go away out in the yard or even walk down the street a bit to calm down. I do it about once an hour for about 15 minutes. No one has never asked me about it so I don't think they even notice.

Thank you all for your replies. I appreciate your time.

I do take myself off when it happens at home. At work it's more difficult to be missing for more than a few minutes.

When I'm home I try & get out and go for a walk or come up to my room. Unfortunately my family don't understand why I need that time and either one of them insists on coming out with me & talking all the time which is the last thing I need, or I get accused of hiding away which just adds to the stress. The truth is they don't understand because I don't know how to explain it to them. Even explaining the effects of depression was met with what felt like almost a lack of belief.

I think I will make an appointment to see my Dr maybe they can help, or at worst maybe it'll help me explain things to my family.

Thank you all again. Sending you all warm wishes ��

I was going to say possibly sensory processing disorder too. Also, not a sensory thing but sounds like you are spacing out and that could be dissociation. Not sure if sensory input can trigger dissociation or not.

I have this problem. Here's something I wrote about it, in case that's any help. I get violently angry when overloaded, but when I'm en route to be overloaded, I have verbal communication issues similar to what you describe.

I'd suggest looking into Sensory Processing Disorder for self-help topics, but unfortunately, that may not be a useful angle for professional help. The condition is not recognized in the DSM or ICD, it's considered "controversial" diagnosis, and when it is used, it's diagnosed based on manuals like "Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders in Infancy and Early Childhood." Most of what I've heard about the treatments for it sound incredibly useless for grown-ups anyway. My doctor couldn't figure out what I was talking about.

The Highly Sensitive Person concept might also be a useful resource.

I haven't tried it out yet, but I considered making a 1-to-10 for communicating my current state of overload to friends and family. (You have to tell them about the scale in advance, when you're feeling good, then you'd just say a number later when you're feeling icantwords.) Not sure how well that would go over in a work environment.

It's hard to tell, but I think my ADHD meds (mixed amphetamine salts aka Adderall) help somewhat. If so, it's a fairly small difference.

Yes, I occasionally experience this. It seems to be directly linked to my Anxiety. The more stressed and anxious I am the more I am significantly affected by those things going on around me.

I spent most of Boxing Day in a hospital emergency room and suffered a bad case of sensory overload. I sat there during all that time exposed to a litany of things and noises going on around me. I became irritable and extremely uncomfortable as I grew more and more sensitive to smells, sounds, sights, and the behavior of others. By the time I was finally seen hours and hours later I was extremely frazzled from the overload. I found myself willing it all to stop - unsuccessfuly.

Abladeinthemeadow... here in my location what you posted is called normal stress reaction. its how the brain normally works to keep someone healthy. it happens to babies, children teens and adults, it happens to people who are doctors, therapists, psychiatrists, teachers, actors, firefighters, you name it in every work profession and everyday life there are times when human beings get to a point where they need to sit back, take a break , rest, nap, meditate, because their life or jobs have then stressed out, work overload, burned out, overwhelmed, over stimulated (which ever word your location uses for stress. )

how do I deal with this is making sure I get the right amount of sleep, eat the right kind of foods, and make sure I have leisure activities that can relieve those stressful times, like rowing my canoe on the lake, yoga, walking, .... sometimes my wife and I take a college physical activity, art or other leisure type class together as a way to de stress from our lives and have "me time, we time" my wife and I also encourage our children to have their own "me time" things to do when normal life situations can set them on over load. (every parent can understand those times in a grocery store and a child normally gets over stimulated by all the colors and objects that they can not have and a temper tantrum ensues, to where they have to walk the child through how to calm down and relax, take a break, breath....) my children's favorite activities for de stressing is their favorite toy, blanket, swimming, throwing balls in a box, ...

my suggestion is talk with your treatment providers, they will be able to help you to develop a plan to de stress, calm and relax you when life starts overwhelming you and your brain might not have to shut down on you as a way to tell you to take break.

Thank you all for your responses I have found them all very insightful & helpful. I feel less worried & the resources are useful. Thank you again for taking the time to reply

I might be kind of late to the thread but I get similar symptoms. It usually happens to me when there are multiple people, noises and conversation going on around me. It most often happens during family gatherings. I usually have to go outside to collect myself to be able to cope with all the different things bombarding me.

I have looked into high sensitive persons before and some of the information is very helpful.

I have learned Progressive Muscle Relaxation helps me a lot. Youtube has some My psych made one with me. I also make sure I'm only talking to one person at a time and never where you know someone has a loud projection of there voice. Family gatherings they know I have this so they are pretty cool about it.