Can anybody on here kinda relate to this diagram?

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I notice that most people can handle environmental input a lot easier than me. Their world seems to be less "noisy"/busy and slower. So the average person seems to have a better filter (thicker boundary). Also with emotional social stuff I don't like for most people to get too close to me because I feel like they're intruding into my body. I feel like I have a thinner barrier. I notice other people can hug and stuff and feel comfortable with it. Same with sensory input. I feel like I'm carrying an amplifier. I'm assuming that some people are on the opposite end of me where the environment input hardly stimulates them. For them the world would go quite slow and they would get bored quite easily and would be risk-takers to get that excitement. Myself, I get excited/over-stimulated way too easily. I think a lot of introverts feel this way.



I put a question mark because I wasn't sure about this either. I would suspect that some of us are more sensitive to certain stimulants, maybe not all. The worst thing for me that drives my sensitivity/irritability is lack of sleep and stress.




Yes.

The diagram made me smile, because I've drawn similar diagrams. I believe it's possible to increase tolerance, but maybe not by thickening the barrier. It could be made much more porous, and much wider, with many points of contact, each one a positve,, non-overwhelming contact.

If you guys have any diagrams describing your relationship to the "outside" world (especially social one) please post them. I think they might be very useful for many of us. I know I learn much better with diagrams/figures than with words.

Didn't make any sense to me either.

I think I know what you mean about a 'thin barrier'. I describe my experience of the world being as if 'I haven't got any skin', all raw nerve endings just exploding on contact with the stimuli.

I won't put that into a diagram, it'd look a bit like a dissection drawing

That's exactly how I feel.

Well I think... for me, it's a lot like the diagram shown above, yes. The 'barrier' between me and the 'world' is too thin and I keep getting bombarded by stimuli. But I also feel like an overflowing dam that keeps building and building and building until I just... snap. Like trying to fill a glass that's already filled, the water overflows and gets spilled everywhere.

I've spent the last few days trying to figure out how to upload my diagrams (I use a mind mapping app called Thinking Space on my android phone), and I can't...so I've sent you a pm, Kon, I can email my diagram to you if you'd like.

For anyone who's interested, mind mapping is like making an old-school flow chart, a visual representation of various processses, and for some it can be a useful way to plan. I think there are a number of mind mapping programs availalble,, definitely for smart phones, and also for PC I'd imagine.

Ah... I suppose my barrier looks more like a strip of bacon.
Thinner in some subjects and thicker in others?

I've uploaded a simple mind map ( http://img857.imageshack.us/img857/9418/mindmap2.png ) on a media site (thanks for the link, Kon). it's a bit of a mess, I'm not the most organized person. Hopefully it will make some sort of sense to somebody, or may inspire someone to make something of their own that makes more sense

Basically, it's a little flow chart that leads from me in the isolation in my own head to the great big world outside. In dark green bubbles closest to the middle are things that I think are essential for a happy and fulfilling life. Surrounding those are ideas/quotes/realizations that reinforce my beliefs. Surrounding *those* (in light green bubbles) are actions that I do/can undertake to interface with the outside world. All the little arrows going back and forth show ideas that are linked. It's a bit weird, and analytical in a mr. spock type of way, but it works for me. When I'm unmotivated to do something (work out, socialize, etc) my little diagram can help me focus and keep in mind why I want to do these things.

I'd be interested in seeing other peoples' pictures or mindmaps or what-have-you, sometimes a simple diagram is worth a thousand words

Yeah, I cam relate to it. It makes sense to me. The way I see if I have poor sensory filters. Other people can filter things to more selectively than I can. This is very much like "intense world" theory of autism.

Oh yes, I understand it now. I feel the same way too. Invading the body...that is a very interesting and true description.
I usually have sensory overload in supermarkets but when on medication I was just angry. I was angry at myself because I planned to take control over what to buy but my mum was the one in control. I suppose I need more practice at it.

Me too. I love diagrams because you get a lot of information in a little space.