Sensory overloads and coping skills

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Does anyone have any good coping skills to prevent sensory overloads?
I'm not talking just being aware of what causes them and avoiding it.

Tonight I almost lost something very important and valuable, because a car alarm went off, and the sudden loud noise sent me into overload. I was told that I needed to look up coping skills, because one way or another, I have to learn to stop doing that at sudden loud noises. No exceptions, no excuses. I don't even know where to begin, everything I've read and learned focuses on obvious stuff, like if you know that dealing with certain sights sounds and other stimuli send you into overload, avoid and eliminate them, but I haven't found anything that would help with sudden unpredictable and uncontrollable stimuli.

Any suggestions?

There just comes a point in life where you have to put up with it whether you like it or not.

Why don't you set off your own car alarm and listen to it for a few seconds?

Some of the newer therapies use "mindfulness" to help with stresses like sensory overload. My psychologist is currently using mindfulness to deal with my sensory issues (not exactly overload, but it is still applicable).

Here's an example (I haven't read this particular page, but there are plenty out there which mention "sensory overload"):

http://www.practicingmindfulness.com/

If that page doesn't help much, then google

mindfulness "sensory overload"

and start browsing.

At the moment when certain annoying sounds occur, I stop and focus on them and just listen as intensely as I can. Because the sound is no longer distracting me from other tasks, it stops annoying me. Admittedly, my sound triggers are not so much loud sounds as eating and drinking sounds. In any event, you can use mindfulness and deep breathing to reduce your anxiety levels, which will help a bit.

I don't have a car, and neither does the person who helps care for me.

And it's not a matter of getting used to it or putting up with it. I go completely into overload, I start crying and cover my head and panic when someone tries to get near me and help. Afterwords, I'm exhausted for hours, and go from verbal with an odd manner of speech, to almost non-verbal. It's learning a coping skill that helps me to not flip out. I've gotten to the point where the aftermath isn't me huddled and crying in some random corner of somewhere I ran and hid in for hours until someone finds me and calms me down, and I've gotten better at dealing with not blocking out background noises, even while shopping, although it does leave me frazzled afterwords. With time and work I'll get better at dealing with this, but I was hoping people might have coping skills they could suggest or other techniques they've used to help deal with sensory overload.


one-A-N : While I don't know if that will work quite well during a sensory overload from a sudden loud noise, it sounds like it will be helpful afterwords, or on bad days when I can't block out almost any background noise. Thank you.

I've been dealinng with sensory overload pretty well since I got diagnosed. I think it's because my parents (not my dad and step-mom) know not to put me in situations where I get upset.

Typically I do alright too. I can put on ear muffs if I'm having a bad day, and as long as I am trying my best, few people give me too hard a time on sensory things. But when it comes to the sudden loud noises, it can be a problem.

Basically, when I threw my arms up around my head when the alarm went off, I dropped an expensive electronic part that I can't replace at the moment onto a concrete walk way. It ought to have broken. It didn't, but there was no reason why it shouldn't have.
The other day, a car honked at me while I was riding my bike to the store, and I went into overload, veered off the sidewalk, and ran into a bush.
These kind of situations aren't preventable, but my reaction isn't acceptable, and could lead to more serious consequences in the future. What if the next time it's not an electronic part, but a knife or a gun? What if it's not a bush I run into, but a car?

I need to learn coping skills that help deal with sudden, unpreventable, unpredictable overloads, before I, or someone/thing else gets really hurt.

My problems with sensory overload are much smoother, I think. Loud noises upset me only a little.

Hmm, perhaps this idea of mindfulness allows an insight to the core of the problem. I've noticed that my mind is somehow "preset" to certain types of smells and noises. For instance, the smell of cigarette is much worse to me than the smoke that an open fire produces. The former makes me upset, almost angry in small quantities, while the second is only unpleasant. Perhaps, because the cigarette smoke reminds me of ignorant and mean behavior of people in the past. Noises like creaking sounds from the window similarly upset me when I'm trying to sleep. Older windows didn't do that, so I suspect the higher sensitivity might be attributed to the perceived contradiction in it.

A car alarm went off near you might be something that you don't want in the first place, and if it happens, you feel offended by it. You are more sensitive to it than others, and this alone makes you feel uneasy. And what if someone else notice this "weakness" of yours? Car alarms can not be changed at once to your favor, people don't intend to hurt you with it. Yes, it can startle you, but then you would release the stress, and walk on, without being to heavily affected. Hope I could help, please don't take it as an offense.

Have you considered earplugs?

I think occupational therapists have some techniques, and Temple Grandin talks about gradually exposing yourself to sounds that cause distress, which may work.

OJani: No that is really quite helpful, thank you. The thought process after reading it when something like this (except not in words...): I've always had an issue with loud noises, fire alarms, sirens, honking, car alarms etc., it doesn't seem to be related to any particular offensiveness of it.... It just seems to override everything, unlike when I deal with lots of background noise and can't take it, or when I get frustrated with communicating and have a meltdown. Typically during those I have an opportunity to think, and make small choices. Pulling away from someone helping me is bad. Sitting or standing still and letting them do there thing may not be as good as actively working with them, but it will work if I can't actively work with them (like if I need to explain what is wrong to help them, but can't verbalize). I also retain my ability to communicate through written word, even if I am having trouble verbally.

When the sudden noises happen, it's a good 10 seconds at least before I have an opportunity to think, and it can be some time before I regain the ability to think complexly, or translate thoughts into words, whether written or spoken. I suppose what I really need to work on is lessening that 10 or more seconds, so that I can at least regain some thought. If I can get it down to less than a second or so, then it ought to be enough time to avoid doing anything damaging... it at least gives me a clear idea of what I'm looking to do, and narrows down my goal, so thank you.

Verdandi: On days when I'm having a hard time blocking out background noises, I use lawnmowers ear muffs. Normal ear plugs seem to make things echo. Unfortunately, I can't wear them all the time. They are helpful afterwords though, when I've usually been pushed over into not being able to handle background noises too.

I would be interested if you find anything helpful to deal with this issue! I used to live in an apartment building for disabled and elderly. For some reason, their fire alarm system was set at an extremely high level, meaning instant overload for me when it went off. I would be extremely embarrassed later, but it was very hard not to react this way. If there had been an actual fire, I don't like to think of what would have happened. One thing I learned to do in that particular situation, was to always have a pair of ear plugs on my person. The minute that alarm went off, I would shove in the ear plugs even though I was trembling and hyperventilating. It made a huge difference in being able to collect my thoughts, grab my purse and leave the building with dignity.

I'll let you know if I figure anything out. I have a pair of ear plugs, but to me they seem to make things echo and sound louder... it's weird...

I found this to be the case with earplugs too, but only for particular noises. I sleep in earplugs every night, because unexpected noises can jolt me out of sleep and make it difficult to go back to slumberland.

There is at least one loud noise that can make me be stupefied for seconds, it's the double-horn of trains, one small and one big, so the sound interference pattern make it sound louder than it actually is. When a train virtually sets off its horns while nearing a railway crossroad and I'm somewhere nearby too, I'm unable to do anything for a couple of seconds. Imagine I was right on the rails. Perhaps this was the reason why the state railways dropped this mandatory horn using at every crossroad.

I wake up to noises in the night sometimes. I know it isn't easy to get back to sleep, but I'm certain by practice this can be improved to a degree. Virtually you have to allow the bad feelings a noise causes pass through yourself instantly by conscious mental work, and let the slumber take place peacefully in your mind again as soon as possible. Imagine it as a virtual lightning rod.

I remember in my childhood I could wake up from a dream consciously, and then go back into the same dream, if it was a pleasant one. The key is to avoid the sudden harsh feeling of need for waking up.