Sensory Overload Zones

I am super sensitive to stimuli and given the right conditions I go into Sensory Overload. Some places really do it for me. Like the afternoon I spent in hell at a public pool. high-pitched shrilly screams echoing echoing echoing all over, splashing, movement all around, heavy chemicals and I don't want to think of what is floating in the water. That was one of the worst.
Anyone else with sensory overload zones?

Better question would be: Anyone without sensory overload zones?

For me just about everywhere there are people, noise, lights. Horrific nightmare, suicidal thoughts:

a packed rockconcert with lasershow,

I mostly stay indoors or go into the mountains on motorcycle. Around here the plantlife is overabundant so you drive slowly over small mountain roads going from beautiful view to beautiful view with your nose full of all the flowers.

My favorite is a small low mountain encircled with tiny sleepy medieval villages completely filled to the brim with any plant that'll grow there. From the top you have a marvelous view over the Mediterranean with as only sorespot the buttugly town of monaco.

There i am at peace

i think my sensory overload is any where that someone is popping gum. i just go into almost a panicked state when i hear that or even look around and see someone chewing cause i know i will hear it at some point. if someone comes to my house, i do not allow them to have gum in their mouth. i like going out to eat because everyone is eating and no one has gum in their mouth. but then occasionally, there is someone chomping or smacking their lips. that is not very often though.

I have sensory overload in both ends. Places packed with people talking, the turbo on my diesel car and... the silence in a shop that sells bed stuff and carpets (It was so silent I felt I went blind).

Shops are my weakness. 20 - 30min is any shop/mall I am ready to kill ppl or go running screaming out.
I really get anxious, then my fight or flight response kick in. Have had a few full on panic attacks.

Wife thinks I am just being difficult, keeps telling me to just chill out.
I avoid shoppes at any cost, Christmas really sux for me. I search online find what I want, phone make sure they have it the quickly run in and get it and get out.

The city. I live in the woods but go downtown in the city near me for some of my doctors. I can't take it! I also just got back from Disney and that was not fun at all. Not only are there many screaming children, being all sweaty and having people touch you. I shudder. My kitchen with my father who is hard of hearing and won't wear his hearing aid so he bangs pots and pans, my two kids who say Mom literally every other second and the dogs barking and my mom ragging about something.

Roads, can't stand the sound of cars, vans and lorries speeding by. I just want to shut my eyes and go indoors or where ever. Double or triple ply tissues or toilet roll too. If I feel the different layers rub together, I shiver and want to throw up

Casino's or gaming places - flashing lights, noise, too many voices.
Not a fan of an outdoor crowded pool either - partly because i don't like being damp/sweaty, etc., and partly because of noise, crowds, direct sun.
To a lesser extent, some clubs and bars too. I tend not to walk into places that look crowded and unpleasant, unless i am with a group that i can't really walk away from.

-- Thu Jul 28, 2011 8:21 am --

petrossa wrote:I mostly stay indoors or go into the mountains on motorcycle. Around here the plantlife is overabundant so you drive slowly over small mountain roads going from beautiful view to beautiful view with your nose full of all the flowers.
My favorite is a small low mountain encircled with tiny sleepy medieval villages completely filled to the brim with any plant that'll grow there. From the top you have a marvelous view over the Mediterranean with as only sorespot the buttugly town of monaco.
There i am at peace

That sounds really nice

Thesosi wrote:Roads, can't stand the sound of cars, vans and lorries speeding by. I just want to shut my eyes and go indoors or where ever. Double or triple ply tissues or toilet roll too. If I feel the different layers rub together, I shiver and want to throw up

Roads for me as well. I used to not have AC in my car and I'd always have my windows down. Those semis are sooo loud. And why are motorcycles allowed to be so loud when cars get fined for being over a certain decible level?

I really dislike motorbikes, especially when you are walking along right next to the road and one passes by. The noise literally makes me shudder inside and causes my awareness to "freeze" for a few seconds. I can recover pretty quick after they have driven past, but if I was exposed to a revving noise, I probably would not be able to compose myself too well.

The other main thing is loud music, as in concert level loud, or what teenagers (like my dad and sister who will both be deaf in the next few years I'm sure !) Like the volume to be on their iPods. I can remember one time on holiday when eating out, we went to a restaurant that had a group playing. For whatever reason, as time went on, their music got louder. Eventually, I was too distraught to sit their comfortably and begged that we go, but my family did not pay too much attention as I was not in the best of moods at the time. Another problem area is the car, when the music is too loud, mum usually has to remind above mentioned family members to turn it down as I cannot really function in such a noisy enclosed environment.

In general, I don't think my sensory issues are as bad as some others here. I also dislike certain sensations such as nail files (SHUDDER) and certain pressures of touch. The main smells that cause me problems are fresh paint and nail varnish. They just make me feel groggy.