Do Sensations like Light or Sound Cause You Suffering? You Might Have Sensory Integration Disorder.

---This post is a bit long but the subject demanded a longer piece---

Do clothing labels bother you so much that you have to remove them? Do you find many different foods repulsive? Do loud, sudden, or piercing sounds startle you? Do you need to wear sunglasses even on a cloudy day? Do you feel panicky going down an escalator or driving through a tunnel? If the answer to many of these questions is yes, you may suffer from sensory defensiveness, a common but often a misdiagnosed condition that results from adverse reactions to what most people consider harmless sensations.

Thus reads the back-cover of the book, "Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to Do If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World" by Sharon Heller, Ph.D. I got this book because I have no filter in my mind to screen out background sensations, which cause me great suffering. As if that wasn't bad enough, those sensations are amplified to the intensity that they cause me to lose my temper, explode with anxiety, avoid people/situations and/or otherwise live in torment. I have talked about these things before but I finally found a book that better helps me understand what Sensory Integration Disorder means; and hopefully how to alleviate the intensity of the symptoms.

Random noises like a rustling bag, the sound of someone crunching potato chips, lawn care machines, whirling appliances, clanging dishes, and even the wind drive my anxiety through the roof. Light is often over-powering and I often wear sunglasses even on cloudy days or during the winter. Sometimes I wear them in the house!! It also isn't unusual for me to need to dim the lights inside my house at night. I'd be very happy living by candle light much of the time.

I am known for wearing loose clothing because buttoned shirts feel like straight-jackets, ties feel like nooses and tucked in shirts feel like I'm suffocating. This sensitivity to touch also means that an arm wrapping around my shoulders or linking around my arm (even holding hands) often feels like a rope tying me down. Walking on grass drives me nuts because it sticks to the bottom of my feet, which feels like walking in glue. Another common symptom of S.I.D. is sensitivity to temperatures, which for me, means the slightest rise in heat is oppressive and makes me sweat. That sweat then feels like being coated in sticky oil, which causes me to be really irritated, grumpy and uncomfortable until I wipe it off. So, summer is terrible for me--especially when you combine the increase in noise during those months.

As for food tasting repulsive, I have that too. Always have since I was a kid. I have always been a picky eater and the tastes of foods are often over-whelming. I am ultra sensitive to food consistency and smells too. Smells are so strong that they often make me dizzy, give me headaches and even gag. I find too much eye contact to also be overwhelming--like a person's stare, which often feels like it's pulling me toward them like a powerful magnet or "tractor beam" such as is depicted in the "Star Wars" movies. Going out in public is a nightmare as all the loud noises, bright colors and waves of perfume at the mall, (or any store) cause me great anxiety and the impulse to run for the doors.

Airplanes are a nightmare too because I hate feeling confided, so sitting in those airplane seats for hours on end feels like being in a cramped jail cell. By the time the plane lands, I'm nearly screaming with irritation and can't get off the plane fast enough. Even showers are stressful because I get too hot from the water--even mildly warm water!! The minute I dry off, I start sweating because of my high body temperature. And, taking a cold shower is just as bad--it feels like stinging needles. Most people with S.I.D will have other psychological conditions such as: learning disabled, ADD, autistic, schizophrenic, bipolar, PTSD and several others.

Why does this happen? People with SID are always at an ramped-up level and thus, over-react to stimuli. We are always stuck in "fight or flight" mode:

"The automatic pilot of the sensory defensives' nervous system is calibrated at a faster speed (breathing, heart rate). Like the fire alarm falsely tripped by boiling-water, their nervous system misperceives certain harmless sensations as dangerous. They hit with a bang, and what appears as a trickle in the normal nervous system feels a torrent. Behaving as they were designed, their bodies respond as if their very survival were at stake. If sufferers try to share their experiences, they find that often others tend to view their overreactivity as a personality flaw over which they should exert self-control. Despairing friends might advise, 'Chill out,' or 'Don't let stress get to you.' Overwrought family members might tell them to 'Get over it' or 'Stop being so neurotic," reinforcing the sufferers feelings of being different and misunderstood. Feeling crazy, they deny their feelings and struggle to fit in and appear normal, draining their energy."

The irony of the claims to exert self-control (which I've heard too often) is that we're trying to control our reactions with as much willpower as we have but the nervous system outweighs willpower. Anyway, this is a great book, so far, but I haven't yet gotten to the tips section, which is why I left it out in this post. I highly recommend this book if you can relate to the above symptoms--or, if you have a hypersensitive family member. The only thing that I don't like about the book is the colors on the cover, which are over-stimulating, in and of themselves. I might tear off the cover!! Good thing I bought the book used on Amazon.com!!

-hbw