Question about Sensory regulation
Hi,
I have a question about sensory regulation. I have trouble coping with a daily dose of sensory overload. My regulation method is listening to either one of three albums (The Prodigy's Invaders Must Die, RATM's Battle of Los Angeles or Muse's Origin of Symmetry) while hitting my upper thigh with my eyes closed. It allows me to calm down and process the day.
The more stressful my day has been, the harder I hit myself in order to calm down. I sometimes have bruises on my legs after particularly stressful days. I never saw this as a problem.
My girlfriend's response when I told her yesterday, however, was one of shock. She suggested I find a new coping mechanism when dealing with sensory overload. She's afraid I'll hurt myself more seriously after severely stressful situations.
Do you have suggestions for coping with sensory overload? Does something like yoga or meditation work?
Cheers,
Niels
_________________
- Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage -
Professionally diagnosed with ASD, PTSD, depression and epilepsy
Maybe try something that is close to what you do now, but safer for your body. Like put a pillow in your lap first so you are hitting the pillow, but can still feel the rhythm of the hitting in both your hand and thigh.
You can also try incorporating small breaks throughout your day with stuff like breathing exercises from yoga practice, touching your fingers together one by one to a rhythm, etc to let off a little steam. If possible, go somewhere less stimulating for these short breaks (empty vehicle, back garden/yard, empty restroom, etc). If you can't physically leave, try to close your eyes or pick one point to look at and think about something that makes you feel calm and happy. The small breaks may take enough of the edge off that you don't need to expel as much stress energy at the end of the day.
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~AQ 32; not formally diagnosed.~
Thanks for the pillow tip, I'd never have thought of using a pillow. I'm very used to feeling skin on skin, but I've never tried putting a layer in between, maybe it'll have the same calming effects, but will be, like you said, safer for the body. I think also part of the problem for me is a high physical pain threshold. I always thought I needed to hit hard because of that, but I never thought about the factor of always hitting according to a certain rhythm. Perhaps it's the rhythm that calms me down at least as much as the physical sensation/pain.
I'll definitely try breathing exercises. There is one room at work where I can relax. It has very few stimuli in my experience. I can go there to take some of the edge off, especially on a particularly stressful day.
Thank you for the tips and the help! I'm going to try this tomorrow, see if it works.
_________________
- Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage -
Professionally diagnosed with ASD, PTSD, depression and epilepsy
Dear_one
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I find that meditation is difficult when I'm already stressed. It helps more if I take time to follow my breathing to the vast inner space when I'm not particularly distracted, and spend some time there. This gives me a reserve of calm not unlike the resilience of mood that good sleep produces. It also makes it easy to slip in a few deep breaths to chase away overstimulation during the day, as they resonate with your calm space.
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