Sensory Overload from an Adult Perspective

For years, I would become apprehensive before a big storm or a blizzard. I would feel shaky inside. I would be so irritable that I would snap at the least little thing that would annoy me. My husband couldn’t understand what I was so afraid of. Quite honestly, I didn’t know what I was afraid of either.

About four years ago, I received some insight from an unexpected source, my friend and neighbor’s two-year old son, Ben. Ben had just been diagnosed with Sensory Perception Disorder. As my friend and I would discuss the challenges of our day, we started to notice a correlation between Ben’s difficult days and my days where I was feeling fearful or anxious. Eventually, I was able to identify what was going on. I was confusing fear with being overstimulated.

Many things cause me to feel overstimulated. Crowds, the sound of cicadas, the drop in barometric pressure prior to a weather change, the beep from machines, the lights in certain stores. Even being too warm will cause me to start feeling anxious and overwhelmed.

Once the overstimulation launch sequence has started, there is no going back! No matter how many times someone tells me to calm down or tries to make me understand logic, nothing will stop my body from taking over. Actually, the more people try to calm me down, the more stressed I become.

And PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not touch me. When I am in this state, touch feels horrible. It is really difficult to describe, but the lightest touch feels like millions of tiny bolts of electricity surging through my body, or maybe head to toe needles stabbing me. Because overstimulation feels like other familiar emotions like fear or anger, I usually don’t realize that I am overstimulated.

I am still learning at age 50 how to respond to being overstimulated. The best that I can do is to remove myself from whatever is making me feel overstimulated. If I am in a store that has lighting that sets me off, I must leave. If I am in a crowd and people are bumping into me, I must find a less crowded spot. If I know that a storm is coming, I need to check the radar so that I can see how wide the storm is. It doesn’t really help me not feel overstimulated, but it does make me feel like I have some idea how long the storm may last and the severity. At times, there is nothing I can do but go into my room and get away from as much sensory input as possible.

Dealing with overstimulation as an adult is a challenging and frustrating experience. It is hard to identify since it feels like other emotions. It is hard to control my reaction. It is difficult to find a way to get my body to stop overreacting. The hardest part of all is conveying to others what is going on so that they can understand my reaction. I have an advantage as an adult because I have life experience to look back on. A child doesn’t have this advantage.

I doubt I will ever know why I experience overstimulation. The best I can do is try to determine what is causing the situation and find a way to make a change.

Kimberly Sullivan is the CEO of the Sullivan Family where she manages her husband, son, nurses, and two dogs. Her hobbies include sleeping and chocolate. She details her experiences as the mother of a son with Spinal Muscular Atrophy on her blog, Please Don’t Pet the Special People at ksully357.blogspot.com.