Too Much Information, Sensory Overload, Meltdowns.
Updated: Jun 27, 2020
Now’s the end of a very difficult week. Today I even had the thought when is it 2021, thinking that this week in 5 days has felt more like 5 months. Stress every day, managing it, hiding it, while it builds. Today its culminated into a semi-meltdown. Was going to write this yesterday, but thought to be positive about the new year. But today I realised that’s just hiding something wrong under a positive, (albeit falsely) facade.
So, I want to talk about sensory overload. For me, this week, I had a eureka moment, I was thinking about all the little things that piss me off, like royally, and if you know me then you might think from what I have said these things annoy me, but I mean they ANNOY me. Had the nagging thought this morning that I was so bothered by lots of little things cumulatively across the 5 days (specific memories over the 5 days) I wanted to punch a brick wall so hard that one of two things would happen; either the wall would break, or every bone from my finger-tips to my ribs would. Luckily for me, this didn’t happen. I also thought back to past meltdowns, starvation, suffocation and lots of other terrible things. Even thinking they would be the last straw and I would meltdown as soon as I got home, as always I hide it until I’m alone at home and all the stress comes out, taking its toll one way or another against my body. To which, maybe morbidly, the release of the stress is actually or feels, but the mind doesn’t understand as ‘enjoyable’ (?).
But back to the beginning. Let me talk about sensory overload.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPknwW8mPAM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMn2o9EYa08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAehvcnFjmI
These are really good videos that can simulate a lot of it for you, especially the first two which apply to me more strongly, the first the ‘attention to details’ small things in the scene noticed, small sounds, noticing other people’s reactions to you or things around you, the suddenness of everything. It’s taken me months to find that first video since I first saw it and knew it depicted how I experience things (minus the meltdown at the end, I hide it and hurt myself when alone in the worst cases).
The second captures the more cognitive, where things people say stay with you, good memory of what people say when they say it etc. and how it can follow you. For example this week for me, one thing one person said unknowingly set off a week like this and I’ve been thinking about it from Monday-today vividly in my mind. (sidenote: If I know you, then I could probably recall a quote I remember you saying sometime in the distant past that’s become associated with you, but I couldn’t prove you said it so I don’t pay it much attention anyway).
The third captures more about thoughts, the constant questioning of what people expect, people all too often, and I would say 400% more times than they know, do not mean what they say or don’t say what they mean. The quote I thought to myself today was lying to humans is almost as essential as breathing, and learnt just after they learn to speak, it’s very ingrained into human development, see numerous studies into the young age children learn that others have other perspectives from their own and hence can be ‘duped’ and lied to achieve a goal. Often when asked things, I question myself do you want ‘the’ truth or ‘your truth’. I do not mean this in any way like I know the totality of truth. More commonly people I have heard phrase it ‘do you want to be told what you want to hear’.
Now these videos, although they paint a good picture of particular aspects, I would say I’d be very lucky if they depicted how I see things. They depict things slightly worse than a ‘good’ time. However, the worse times get much worse. Imagine your own thoughts intruding like the voices in the second video, repeating, shouting. Imagine thoughts so loud that the thinking processing of 7 people are going on in your brain at the same time, seeing every particular detail, every job you are missing to do because you can only be in one physical space at any one time to do them, but your brain is shouting at your about each and every single one. Then there’s another level, the level that’s thinking, or thinking about thinking, then there’s the level of anxiety where you’re wondering is someone going to point out you’ve missed a job, or you remember something you forgot and need to go and sort. Imagine when you are in this state, there are so many thoughts that each thought gets slower because there are so many competing for the mind’s attention. So much so, that someone could ask me ‘what is 1+1’ and it could take a couple of minutes for me to answer, or a couple of tries because I need the question repeated because I didn’t hear as another thought commanded attention because you couldn’t speak the question faster than the time I’ve given 20 thoughts attention each.
People often may notice, I jump conversation from current back to one maybe a few hours ago, to even a few days ago, this shows the thoughts in my mind are not only most of today's but go back decreasing exponentially into my past. Again. Another level on top of what I guess you may, from the aforementioned parts thought to be too much. Imagine getting home, sitting in darkness not knowing what task you were going to do next, thinking of the next thing you want to do for a task but remember and forget it 6+ times over, and by the time you can remember and retain it long enough to keep it in memory 1 or 2 hours have passed of you sitting in darkness not noticing the time.
If you’ve waited for me to do a task and ask about it, walk off, and come back to check if I’ve done it, (even if you never speak to me, especially, especially if you think I haven’t noticed) newsflash, both I have noticed if you think I haven’t and this splitting of my attention to you, my overthinking and noticing, and commenting on your impatience in my mind and overthinking on many levels all is making this task take longer.
Going back to a point, earlier, about being natural for humans and my aversion to this, aversion, more like repulsion/hatred. My best friend, over many years, would lie and lie to me often when drunk many times when not, small lies, worth-nothing lies, I always notice if you say something and do another, if you do it I’ll notice, if you say it I’ll notice. What hurts as the lies mean nothing is the fact that you lie to me. Why? Especially when you know me more than any human, that I am averse to lies, I prefer shit truths than happy lies, always have been this way, even if I wish I wasn’t. Imagine a scenario, your friend saying they’re going to leave the club as they’re tired, they leave and club with other friends in another part of the club leaving you alone without anyone there apart from the alcohol to keep you company (my inspiration for my favourite Project Empathy photo), I, know they lied to me before they ‘act out’ the lie. I am left to watch them act out the lie I know they told and just wish they do otherwise. Get depressed and meltdown hard after this. Imagine this going on every weekend for months with a lot of self-harming each time, yet every time you hang out with them hoping they’ll prove that you’re wrong, that you don’t know them (this is the inspiration for a poem I wrote, called ‘I Know You’. Now to make things worse, imagine this best friend is more to you than family or any other human on this godforsaken planet. How losing this friend brought me the closest ever to intentional suicide (as opposed to just ‘a meltdown gone wrong’, worse still is knowing that you know this friendship was like this for years and years but you just put it out of sight all along). Think I've mentioned the worst part yet? I wish upon this person the greatest pain, the cumulative pain all life past, present and future can offer, but then I don't, I realise, I don't hate them, it's the opposite, I care about them so much, I would give my soul up for them but, I was, am, so hurt it's expressed in anger as it's easier (the basis for a poem called 'Hidden By Anger'. I then wrote a poem today, about how I'll accept and walk through Hell alone, as always, it's what I've grown accustomed to, and will do with my diagnoses, meltdowns, overloads and all, how I have life to fear as Autism means I'll be abused, misused, misled, miss out, left out and shunned, it's called 'I'll Just Burn Alone', because I wouldn't want anyone there burning with me, despite wanting others to know how it feels, I change my mind and say I'll go alone.
“I Know You”.
I know you, I know the promise you break before you make it.
I trust hoping what I know is wrong.
Knowing I won’t be.
Knowing I won’t be.
I know you.
I know and try to believe the lie.
I believe it anyway.
I know you.
Better than you think.
Knowing the promise would be broken.
Know how your words pierce,
As you lie not knowing it.
But I know you.
Know what you do.
Before it’s done.
Before it’s a thought in your mind.
But I know you.
Hoping always I’m wrong.
But always knowing I’m not.
“Hidden By Anger”.
Don’t be,
Too truly fooled.
By the masks and false façades,
The feelings faked to hide others.
How we shed a smile to hide the tear,
The anger to hide pain.
It’s all too simple to see the mask,
To think you’re seeing the face.
To miss the lie before your eyes,
Hiding truth just inside,
Under that cold surface;
That sadness and pain.
A nag outward to fool,
But care inside.
A snarl,
Hiding deep pain unfurling.
Shock falsely to misdirect From coming to terms with an unwanted truth.
It may be funny,
That we hide the soft truth, Under a harsh exterior.
To protect our own tender insides.
To fear the vulnerability and show the fist.