Somebody tapping their fingers on the desk….tap…..tap….tap!!
A person blasting their music out of their car!
What about being in a really crowded area with no clear exit?
Or wooden cutlery in your mouth?
Ok worse one….the feeling of a dry towel?
I don’t know about you but these things seem to give me what I can only describe as a brain shake…it’s like me out of sync with everything else around me. This is more commonly known as sensory overload and it’s something that rarely gets mentioned alongside ADHD. It’s more commonly linked to autism. Yet let’s have a think for a minute! A common misconception of ADHD is that people who have it notice nothing. Actually, we notice everything all at once, which why we lack the ability to focus on just one thing or notice the smaller details.
“Sensory overload is not just something that affects people who are autistic.”
ADHD Girl
So if we notice and feel everything all at once doesn’t it stand to reason that we would get easily overwhelmed by one thing that stands out above all the rest. We’re not used to it and the thing that sets our teeth on edge is the one thing we just can’t shut out.
I absolutely love music! 80s pop and 70s disco are my favourites, but I can’t ever listen to them and write at the same time. The reason is I love it so much that I just get lost in it and I can’t block it out. When I was a university student I would frequent the silent study section of the library, and I would absolutely lose it when people were whispering informing them it wasn’t the quiet section, it was literally the no noise whatever section. Maybe you think that’s rather petty but it’s just how my brain works when having to really focus.
Though it’s not something that you associate with positivity, it can have it’s good parts too. Getting into a freshly made bed, for me, is absolutely bliss. I get so happy that I do a little bed dance (I have no shame!).
-Whatever it is that overloads your brain, remember be kind to yourself and realise it’s just a part of being you. Again, it’s not what our ADHD do to us-it’s how we manage it that makes the bigger difference!
