Place blind?

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Me too. I need a map instead of written instructions, because I can't visualize them enough in my head to make sense out of them. If I get turned around somewhere, I can usually see myself from a birds-eye view in my head and figure out where I need to go. That being said, I have bad ADHD so I can easily get lost in thought while driving and end up missing my exit, etc. and no way can I find my way somewhere while carrying on a conversation with someone.

I wonder if some folks with severe direction problems are actually experiencing a form of sensory shutdown from being overstimulated by their surroundings while they're driving or in crowded areas like malls, and this is preventing them from finding their way. One poster mentioned that taking celexa helped them with this somewhat, and another poster mentioned that they did well navigating through a hotel (maybe they were on vacation and maybe less stressed and rushed at that time).

Anyone else think this is possible?

I wouldn't say that my problem with being directionally impaired has a basis of being overstimulated, but it does lead to being way overstimulated. For me the problem originates with not being able to multi-task in my head. I can't watch where I'm going, while trying to access directions from memory, while watching traffic, while telling my hand to do one thing, my foot to do another, ect... I will never ever be capable of driving in a busy downtown area of a city.
The last time I had a shut down while driving was a few months ago. My husband neglected to tell me that a bridge was out to another town that I had to get to. That's the only way that I know how to get that town. My cell was out, so I had to drive all the way back to my house to call him at work, so that he could give me different directions. I don't like surprises, and I abhor driving different routes. I did make it to the meeting that I needed too, but by the time I had gotten there I had barely any coherent thoughts. I had to take the paperwork with me, because I couldn't even remember my address. Thankfully, I very rarely have these kinds of shutdowns.

I would tend to think this is not the case, since I easily get lost even in my department's building, when the building is quiet and no one else is around, so I doubt that in those cases I am overwhelmed by sensory stimulation. In addition, testing has revealed deficits in my visual-spatial processing and memory, that seem linked to the way my brain encodes the information, rather than problems with recall.