Written by:
November 17, 2019

Sensory Sunday #4

Last updated on October 9, 2021

It’s Sensory Sunday! This week’s sensory question is:

What physical or mental symptoms do you get
as a result of being overstimulated?

My own physical and mental symptoms depend in part on what kind of overstimulation we are talking about. Let me address one here.

Sensory overload

Type: sensory overwhelm

When I visit stores, the amount of visual information I process often becomes too much for me to handle, and the details of objects become piercing. Yesterday, Natalie and I stepped into a warehouse, and after half a minute I said, “I am already not feeling well. I will wait outside.”  What happens is that I see so much detail that I am quite literally getting sick. I experience a headache, and when it really gets too much, I become nauseous and start sweating.

There isn’t so much going on mentally in terms of panic or other negative states, except for a great desire to go outside, or to seclude myself in a dark room. Outside, there is more distance between me and other things, more openness, and a lot less piercing detail. A dark room can also be calming to my senses, because when there isn’t as much light coming into my eyes, there aren’t many visuals to process, so my brain won’t get overwhelmed. And in the dark, we see less detail, so that helps as well.

In the post below, I cover two more types of overstimulation.

The autistic experience of overwhelm

What are your bodily sensations and emotions
when you experience overwhelm of any sort?

To explore the whole Sensory Sunday series,
have a look at the Sensory Sunday index:

Sensory Sunday series

References

This article
was written by:
martin-silvertant
Co-founder of Embrace Autism, and living up to my surname as a silver award-winning graphic designer. Besides running Embrace Autism and researching autism, I love typography and practice type design. I also fight dodecahedragons during sleep onset. I discovered I’m autistic when I was 19, and was diagnosed at 25. PS: I am trans, and Martin is my dead name. For articles under my current name, have a look at Eva Silvertant’s content.

Disclaimer

Although our content is generally well-researched
and substantiated, or based on personal experience,
note that it does not constitute medical advice.

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Land acknowledgement

Embrace Autism recognizes and acknowledges the traditional lands of the Indigenous peoples across Ontario. From the lands of the Anishinaabe to the Attawandaron and Haudenosaunee, these lands surrounding the Great Lakes are steeped in First Nations history. We are in solidarity with Indigenous brothers and sisters to honour and respect Mother Earth. We acknowledge and give gratitude for the wisdom of the Grandfathers and the four winds that carry the spirits of our ancestors that walked this land before us. Embrace Autism is located on the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We acknowledge and thank the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation—the Treaty holders—for being stewards of this traditional territory.

A First Nations symbol, consisting of a Sun surrounded by four Eagle feathers.

Land acknowledgement

Embrace Autism recognizes and acknowledges the traditional lands of the Indigenous peoples across Ontario. From the lands of the Anishinaabe to the Attawandaron and Haudenosaunee, these lands surrounding the Great Lakes are steeped in First Nations history. We are in solidarity with Indigenous brothers and sisters to honour and respect Mother Earth. We acknowledge and give gratitude for the wisdom of the Grandfathers and the four winds that carry the spirits of our ancestors that walked this land before us. Embrace Autism is located on the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We acknowledge and thank the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation—the Treaty holders—for being stewards of this traditional territory.

A First Nations symbol, consisting of a Sun surrounded by four Eagle feathers.
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