Seeking Sensory Overload.

Post Reply New Topic

So, here I am listening to Nine Inch Nails on my mp3 player at work, and the volume of noise, distortion, everything that's going on kind of makes me want to curl up in a ball in the corner, there is just so much and the sounds grate and make me tense up. And here's the thing: I kind of enjoy it. I'm used to listening to music and processing everything that's going on, listening how the different lines and harmonies work together and interact, and with industrial music it's completely different, a totally different kind of noise that in many ways, it's impossible for me to process, I just have to let it wash over me.
Anyone else seek out these sorts of experiences, where it's just not possible to process everything? It's uncomfortable, I'm at a loss as to how it could possibly be valuable to me, and yet something about the helplessness in the face of the way the noise overwhelms my ability to process it is kind of liberating, like it's valuable to have something that you can't completely understand or assimilate.

I'm not necessarily asking about music here, just anything that goes past your ability to fully process it that you choose to seek out?

I can relate to the feelings that you feel from listening to my music, but usually Im able to "process" it. I still get completely consumed by what Im hearing though.

Yeah, I do that with really loud music (concerts or bar) or being in a bar with loud talking and music. It's akin to stretching and yawning, getting the dust bunnies out of your muscles or nervous system.
The only problem is the buzzing afterwards, especially if you're drinking.

Want some sensory overload?
Are you of age?
Do you know of any night club in your town that's reputed to be a "meet market"?

Go there, expose yourself to all that humpa-rumpa, all that action, and flirt with girls.

You never know

...and don't forget your swimming caps

Is it sort of a bragging thing, as in proving to yourself or others that you can handle it? That's sort of like me craving disasters and seeking them out. It's like a face-your-fears thing, like when teenagers party in morgues and deserted houses, and that.

Ive heard some of the best humor from this place since I got here

OK, I don't know if this is an Adults Only thread, or if my answer is going to be Family Friendly. I have been an Adult for years and years and never had much family, so it might not be appropriate, someone will have to tell me. It was just part of my life and it would be a shame if I couldn't share my life because I am inappropriate.

the most I have ever been past my ability to fully process is when we crushed 20 'blue Krishna' tabs of acid and mixed it with 3 grams of cocaine and split it between 5 people. And that was just to get into the party!
by the time the cocaine had us in the stars the acid kicked in and we were screaming across the universe.

Interesting thing, though. They were all laid out on the floor in various conditions of near cardiac arrest and I would be over at the mirror, cutting out a few more lines 'just to boost the high'.

I loved acid, and cocaine and took it for years in vast quantities. Always in control, though. even during a freak out. this guy tried to talk me down and I just popped out of the freak out and said ' oh, that's OK, I was just trying to see how far I could go into a tantrum." then went over and sat down. . and started reading a book toasted to the gills.

But it was booze that kicked my a**. Full blown alcoholic for about a decade. Have no idea why I am still alive, used to push the envelope there, too, walking into the Interstate 5 holding up my arms to stop the traffic, thinking I was Red Sonja. Oh, the traffic stopped alright. Screaming past me and screeching to halts and honk, honk honk. . .while I just strolled off the other side and passed out in the roadside bushes.

I won't go into other amazing sensory adventures, because I want to remain unbanned from this site.
(Hello my friends, MrMark and Calendale and TheMachine1 and special buddy, Quatermass. . .give me the word if this is too far over the line, didn't mean to tip the scales, OK?? I kept it clean!)

Merle

I don't know how you aspies got access to illegal stuff. I was always too scared of trying to buy something illegal and never had the social ability to hang out with people who did. I'm so scared when it comes to breaking the law. I hardly go above the speed limit when I drive.

About the worst I've done is get drunk. I found that alcohol is weird with me. I never get sick from it and it makes me feel really stimulated. I'll start having all these thoughts and insights about everything. I'll have insomnia because I can't shut off my brain even though I've been awake all night. Also my feet start to feel like I'm walking on cotton, like I can't feel the ground. I'm afraid these are signs that I would become an alchoholic if I drank regularly, so I only drink when I go out with other people, which is rarely.

I lived in Berkeley, CA, USA from 1969 to 1976. I would have had to be dead to not have illegal stuff accessible. Anyway no body suspected a GIRL! Honest! It was a whole different world, back then.

Merle

I don't think so, more an experiential thing, just seeing the way it affects you, and having something that you can't analyse. Sure, it's stressful, but in a way so is being unable to stop yourself from analysing everything else, it's a complete change of pace, the novelty's a different sort of stimulation.