Saturday, September 15, 2012

How Sensory Overload Feels to Me

My job at the grocery story was particularly challenging this past Sunday.  The workday started out alright enough; I was talkative and even joked around with friends and coworkers.  However, as the day went on, I began to have sensory issues, even though I did not recognize them for what they were at first.  Over my lifetime, I have tried to find reasons for the sensations that accompanied sensory overload.  I've tried to tell people that I was just tired, I had a headache, things like that.  My most recent reasoning for sensory overload was that I was empathetic and was reading the emotions of others.  Finally, I have not only identified when I am having a sensory overload, I can also describe how it feels.  It is sort of like a hard, pressing feeling in my head that came in waves and becomes increasingly painful.  This is what it feels like for me to have a sensory overload.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing. Very insightful. What do you do at work when this happens? Are you able to take a break to recoop?

Anonymous said...

Good description, I feel like it's a kind of pressure in my head too, but it never occurred to me that it was sensory overload - I just thought it was a reaction to stress :-}

Ryan said...

Sometimes, but not always. When I can't get away I don't make any eye contact and try to talk as little as possible to minimize how much external stimulation I let in.

Anonymous said...

to me a sensory ovrload is painful an i cnnt dscribe the pain it feels inside as ur tryimng tu cope an goit thru it wth out having a melt down -sensory ovrload needs mor awareness out bout this caus it maks life a living hell

Ryan said...

By raising awareness we will eventually be able to greatly reduce the misunderstood pain that many people have to endure on a daily basis.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Ryan for helping me get some deeper insight to how my boy feels!

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