Overload

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Hi, I just wanted to know what an overload felt like. I used to panic and couldn't concentrate on what I was doing when there were a lot of people around. I told myself that there was just too much info to decode what was going on. With my new meds it doesn't bother me as much. Is this what an overload feels like?

I don't really know what an overload feels like.

However, recently in a Maths lesson, everyone was shouting, cheering and laughing over something ridiculous and I just sat at my table with my hands over my ears looking down at the table - as I couldn't take all the noise. I wonder if this has something to do with an overload.

an overload is when your brain just says "TILT!! !" and you just can't do anything until you get some downtime R&R. it is inclusive of being overwhelmed by obnoxious noise and confusion but goes way beyond. for more clarity, a good physical example is when a diabetic gets a low-sugar condition and goes into a foggy mental state just before diabetic shock, where he or she just cannot think straight or do much of anything until receipt of some glucose so the brain can function again. i am a hermit now basically to avoid situations where i would go into overload. when i am overloaded, i am like the aforementioned diabetic, in that i just cannot think or do anything but just lock up until the stress goes away. everything outside of myself just becomes a noisy obnoxious blur. this happens when too many people demand too much of me at the same time.
there are different types of overload, with different mixtures of stressors, and one that is unique to a relatively few people, is Stendahl's Syndrome, where exposure to great beauty [art, music, nature, magnanimity, etc.] causes some obscure emotional regulation thingie [possibly related to fight versus flight] in the brain to switch off, resulting in extreme emotional stress. there is very little written about Stendahl's Syndrome but that in no way diminishes its impact on those of us who have it.
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just my 2-cents' worth, adjusted for inflation

I've dealt with a lot of overload, in high school. It wasn't fun. I'm glad those days are over.

Being social for too long (mostly in groups of people) will wreck me. What happens is my mind will begin to sprint, like a track runner. Because of this, if I am stuck in these social situation (accompanied travel, dinner, family gatherings, etc..), my thoughts get more and more narrow until I am hanging by a shoe string and exhausted. When I shut down, I don't say anything and become unintentionally rude. The world is spinning and uncontrollable thoughts zip through my head as I am looking to evacuate. It is at this time that anything said to me is jibberish, meaningless - people just become talking heads. The only thing that will give remedy is solitude and silence. My prevailing interest is then used as a band-aid and life goes back to normal...

I really don't know if my experience is any more or less dramatic than this. Reflecting on my mannerisms is still new to me



-- I have edited because I am trying to more accurately describe my exp.

Your head starts to pound, you start to sweat yet you feel cold, sometimes you get tunnel vision but the most overwhelming desire is to JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE ! ! The last job I had before I retired was telephone tech support and twice I felt so bad that I went to the restrooms and just sat on the can with the lights out until the world seemed to be a little more reasonable.

The day I quit I felt sooooo gooood.

Vanilla_Slice