Does listening make you cry?

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When I got diagnosed with ADHD, there was one test they gave me that was really stressful. They called out a series of numbers and I had to add each number to the previous number they had called. I couldn't do it - I couldn't even keep my mind on listening to the numbers, much less remember the previous one in order to add them. The numbers all ran together quickly so it was just a blur.

But it wasn't just that I couldn't do it. This test made me start crying. There were other tests I didn't do well on either, but I didn't cry over them. I didn't particularly care if I did well on any of them or not. It was frustrating not to be able to do such a simple task, just adding numbers, but that wasn't it. It was almost like if you could hit a certain nerve in my brain to make me cry, well that one particular task did it.

Well I've been noticing how I get this same feeling when I have to listen to someone talk continuously. It's like I can't process fast enough, so I start getting behind and I can't "add" the words together or add the previous comments to the current one. It all starts to run together and sound like gibberish. And I keep noticing that I will start feeling like I'm going to cry when this happens, and I quickly suppress it, although at some point if it goes on I might just fall apart and star sobbing.

And I guess I always figured it was WHAT people said to me or some other element of the interaction that upset me, rather than just the sheer overwhelm of trying to process the words. It's almost feels like a pure reflex - like that thing that can happen to people after they have a stroke, where they just cry or laugh for no apparent reason??

Does anyone else here experience this - does it make you cry when you have to listen to someone speaking and you can't process the words? Does this sound typical of autism or ADHD or auditory processing disorder? Or does this sound like some other kind of problem?

Okay I think this is what it is, I'm just not sure what causes it for me.

Pseudobulbar Affect
http://www.pbainfo.org/science


The Science of PBA

PseudoBulbar Affect (PBA) symptoms are frequent, uncontrollable outbursts of crying or laughing in people with certain neurologic conditions or brain injuries. PBA is not a new condition. In fact, it was first described in medical literature over 130 years ago by Charles Darwin.

PBA can occur when certain neurologic diseases or brain injuries damage the areas in the brain that control normal expression of emotion. This damage can disrupt brain signaling, causing a ‘short circuit’ and triggering involuntary episodes of crying or laughing.

Emotions That Don’t Match
PBA episodes can be described in two key ways:

PBA outbursts can be inappropriate
The crying or laughing episodes are inappropriate to the situation in which they occur. Sometimes these are spontaneous crying or laughing eruptions that don’t reflect the way a person is actually feeling.

PBA outbursts can be exaggerated
Another characteristic of PBA episodes is that though the crying or laughing may be appropriate for a given situation, they’re exaggerated – they’re more intense or last longer than the situation calls for.

PBA is Neurologic

One of the jobs of the brain is to figure out how we feel in the moment. That information is then sent down to the brainstem, also known as the “bulb.” The brainstem then sends signals to the face and other parts of the body that show emotion.

PBA is believed to be the result of a disruption of these signals. When people have certain neurologic conditions or brain injuries, it can cause damage in the brain tissue that creates a disconnection between the parts of the brain that express emotion and those that control emotion. The result is the frequent outbursts of involuntary crying or laughing known as pseudobulbar affect. If you break the term down literally, “pseudo” means false, “bulbar” refers to the brainstem and “affect,” describes how the body shows mood or emotion.
PBA is Different from Depression

PBA is not depression though it is frequently mistaken for it. Many patients, however, may have both conditions. If you have PBA and depression, it’s important that each condition be diagnosed and treated separately. Generally speaking, depression is an ongoing and continuous state of sadness or hopelessness that can lastover weeks or months, whereas PBA episodes are relatively brief, spontaneous eruptions that may not truly reflect what a person is feeling inside.

It's not really painful for me to listen; it's just that I just can't process more than a few phrases at a time.

Frequently, I have to ask the person to repeat what he/she said. This is even more true when I'm speaking to somebody on the phone.

I would say I probably have ADHD, Inattentive type and some sort of auditory processing disorder.

What you posted just before me is interesting. My post actually doesn't have much relevance to this thread.

I can't either. It just turns to gibberish and I have no idea what the person is saying anymore.

Yes! Not in that specific situation, as I rather like simple adding tasks. But anything where I've been bumbarded with too many small requests in a row without time to process will make me cry. Totally embarrassing. That's why we have the autism diagnosis.

I also have auditory processing disorder. I think this specific way of being neurodiverse might make this reaction more common. You can shut your eyes and stop looking, but the sound of someone making a demand on you will be there no matter what you do. Unless you run out of the room, but its surprising how often that is frowned on.

Listening does not make me cry, neither does anything else.

Listening to someone read the 'Diary of Anne Frank' on the radio made me cry once. But not the sorta thing you're talking about.

Yes, it happens when my auditory OR visual processing becomes overwhelmed.

Listening to Jimmy Fallon's monologue on the Tonight Show makes me cry, because my brain is telling me "it's too much torture..."make it stop!"
But ok, kidding aside listening doesn't really make me cry, but lying does. No sadness or emotion, but I do get teary eyed when I try to lie. Some kind of blockage?(there's definitely some neurological disorder going on there)

Seriously?

Thats fascinating that your brain gets so strained when you try to lie that you cry (im a poet, and dont know it).

We ASD folks tend to find it harder than NTs to lie. But with you lying is incompatible with your brain's operating system itself. Too bad everyone isnt like that.

Yes it's the same for me, if someone just keeps asking me questions rapid fire it will make me cry. Another one is if the person just keeps rattling off factual information too fast for me to process it. And certain accents get to me more than others - basically any accent that sounds staccato or percussive, rather than melodious. Being from the southern US, I am used to hearing people speak more slowly and/or with a drawl.

Recently I had to buy new glasses and I thought I was going to have a total meltdown talking to the salesperson. She was going over pricing and rattling off all these numbers so fast and it became nothing but gibberish. I asked her to write down the numbers but even then she was just talking so fast it didn't make a lot of sense. So it was kind of the same thing as that ADHD test with the numbers. I started getting that helpless feeling where I can't even formulate the words to say anything. I didn't cry, I was really close and somehow managed to hold it in but it was embarrassing anyway. I really feel like I need someone to go along with me for things like that but I'm usually stuck by myself, or else whoever goes with me is no help.

I feel like my brain basically short circuits whenever I have to listen to a rapid series of information and remember it, and it can either shut down my ability to speak or make me cry. I wonder why numbers in particular get to me so much????