wakanda forever 2

Last night the family minus kyleigh went to see wakanda forever, kyleigh stayed home to watch her new puppy jarjar binx, so the movie had some fun audio sounds that hurt my ears, I had to plug them 😢I was in severe sensory over load!!!

Well here's what sensory over load means to me, too many people in one place at one time, auditory noises can be ear damaging, I can feel my anxiety rising and my fight or flight engaging. ✈️ 

Sensory overload happens when you’re getting more input from your five senses than your brain can sort through and process. Multiple conversations going on in one room, flashing overhead lights, or a loud party can all produce the symptoms of sensory overload.

Anyone can experience sensory overload, and triggers are different for different people. Sensory overload is associated with several other health conditions, including autism, sensory processing disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and fibromyalgia.

I have both PTSD and fibromyalgia. Which makes things extra difficult for me to respond with the necessary things to adapt to my surroundings.

Symptoms of sensory overload vary by case.

 Some common symptoms include:

difficulty focusing due to competing sensory input

extreme irritability

restlessness and discomfort

urge to cover your ears or shield your eyes from sensory input

feeling overly excited or “wound up”

stress, fear, or anxiety about your surroundings

higher levels than usual of sensitivity to textures, fabrics, clothing tags, or other things that may rub against skin

Your brain is like a beautiful complicated computer system. All trying to function at once, but when there is sensory input and information sometimes it can feel like "getting stuck" or a bug in the internal system. Your brain cannot prioritize what the information is trying to tell you!

Your brain then sends your body the message that you need to get away from some of the sensory input you’re experiencing. Your brain feels trapped by all the input it’s getting, and your body starts to panic in a chain reaction. 

Here's the skinny on sensory overload!! coping can be difficult at times but if you listen to your body when you feel like your senses are being overwhelmed, you can do certain things to bring yourself back from this feeling, I sometimes with find a way to "ground" myself, i.e. Box breathing, using a peppermint to distract myself and just take in the flavor of the piece of candy.. there are many different ways to cope.. you can google how to cope with sensory overload, or look it up on Psychology Today.com