I felt irritated at a little thing, and a nameless fire immediately rose:
When riding public transport, you may feel uncomfortable with the smell you don't like;
During the meal, the habit of others to pout can cause discomfort and lead to irritability
If the clothes you wear are a little uncomfortable, you will focus all your attention on this detail, and it will be difficult to calm down;
Sitting in the room, the light is slightly harsh, and you can't help but want to change the light bulb immediately;
Even waiting in line for a traffic light can be frustrating ......for a few seconds
Some people who have had similar experiences will even constantly fall into self-doubt:
Why am I so entangled in small things that others don't care about at all?”
Am I really too picky?”
They always complain that I'm overreacting, but I just can't control it, what should I do?”
Actually, it's usually not your problem, it's just that you might be experiencing it"Sensory overload"
In the field of psychology, sensory overload is when one or several senses receive an overloaded load of information, causing physical and brain discomfort, such as a computer processing too much data and causing it to crash.
At this time, the sound, light, taste, and touch will make you more uncomfortable.
When your senses are overloaded, you may feel extreme anxiety or fear, and even have a physiological reaction of rapid heartbeat, headache and tiredness.
When these stimuli are too intense or too frequent, our bodies and brains feel stressed, triggering sensory overload.
If you find yourself with the following four things, you need to pay more attention:
Allergic reactions, easily irritatedWhen the senses are overloaded, they are more likely to be affected by multiple stimuli, resulting in overactive neurons and a greater sensitivity to stimuli.
Impatient or emotional about things around youSensory overload can make you more impatient than usual, more easily irritable, emotionally uncontrollable, tantrums, and even innocent.
Tiredness, unbearable headaches, difficulty sleepingSensory overload will put you into a state of "readiness" in an instantAdrenaline and cortisol are secreted wildly, making it difficult to relaxIt is easy to be disturbed by noise and light, affecting sleep, aggravating fatigue, and the body may enter a vicious circle after being in such an environment for a long time.
Chronic stress and tension, difficulty concentratingWhen your sensory system is dysfunctional, mental stress multiplies, anxiety and tension, difficulty concentrating on things, and falling into chaos in life.
If you find the above symptoms, it is better to stop and think: Have you been receiving too much external information recently, beyond the scope of self-tolerance?
In a fast-paced and stressful life, sensory fatigue is super common! Everyone can come across it. However, there are two types of people who need to be especially careful and need to be more careful to avoid sensory overload:
People with anxiety disorders
Compared with ordinary people, the brain of people with anxiety disorders is particularly sensitive to sound, light, and other stimuli, and they are always easily frightened. This is because their preparedness systems are easy to turn on and ready for emergencies.
Highly sensitive populations
The so-called "sensitive constitution" is also called sensory processing sensitivity in academic circles. To put it simply, their meaning officials (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) are particularly powerful.
If the nervous system has more sensitive points, they can understand deeper feelings and situations, and they are super observant and empathetic, so they are easily affected by the environment.
Similarly, being stressful, tired, or staying in a noisy or stuffy place can also be sensory fatigue.
However, it is important to note that the symptoms of sensory overwork are not always related to a specific group of people, and everyone reacts differently to environmental stimuli.
In short, as long as you find yourself feeling these things, it must remind you to take care of yourself - you are too stressed, you are too demanding of yourself, take a break, relax yourself.
Sensory overload is a real problem, and it affects almost every detail of our daily lives. But in fact, for us, there are good and bad.
Interpersonal relationships are prone to conflict
Sensory overload makes us feel bad and lose our temper.
Walking in the social arena, if you are not careful, you will step on the sore spot of others or yourself, and the quarrel will be endless.
Because I can't concentrate on listening, it's easy to misunderstand with others and cause conflicts.
In fact, many times, we don't have that much malice towards others, but are just affected by sensory overload.
A double whammy to physical and mental health
In a state of sensory overload for a long time, our body's self-healing ability will gradually weaken, and we will become more and more prone to illness;
At the same time, the nervous system can also be messed up, easily feeling tired and anxious, and even emotionally disturbed, with the risk of depression. In severe cases, it may also evolve into a mental disorder.
Therefore, our own tolerance is very limited, so don't let yourself be in the predicament of sensory overload for a long time.
Enhance creativity and innovation
In the moment when our senses are overloaded, all sorts of outlandish ideas and inspirations pop up in our heads. It's like a brain refresh that helps us think in new ways to do more creative and innovative things.
For example, one of my classmates relied on this method to complete his final assignment. At that time, he was under a lot of pressure, and as a result, his brain was full of holes and he had a lot of ideas. In the end, his work won high praise from teachers and warm applause from his classmates, and he also won several awards in municipal competitions!
Unexpected sensory impacts, sometimes not only not bad, but can bring you unexpected good luck!
Improves reaction speed and concentration
Faced with numerous stimuli, our brains need to process and sift through information fasterAt this time, the sensory overload is actually helping us exercise our brains and improve our reaction speed and concentration.
While this may be exhausting, this workout comes with a more robust body and deeper thinking.
Of course, the premise of this benefit is a moderate feeling of overloadIf you have a long or excessively strong sensory overload, it will cause dizziness, stress, distraction, fatigue, and depression, which will inhibit your creativity and innovation!
If your anxiety and depression are more severe, and there is almost no improvement on your own, then you can tell me about your situation, I have many years of clinical experience in psychiatry, ** countless people, I hope my experience can help you with this kind of problem.