Worst sensory issue?

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Which sense is most sensitive? For me, it's a toss up between smell and taste, but I would say smell because tastes I don't like are more avoidable. Anyway, my order of most sensitive to least sensitive goes:

1. Smell (Seriously, I was in a washroom at school that had a little bit of stink to it and I gagged so much I almost threw up, I had to go out)

2. Taste

3. Touch

4. Sound

5. Sight

I am talking about physical senses, otherwise, yes, emotional feelings would be way up there in sensitivity for me.

I would say light because I get a migraine if I don't wear sunglasses on a clear day or if I see flashing lights.

But sounds can be horrible too. They cause most of my meltdowns. They feel painful and confuse me and make me quick to anger.

My sense of smell is sensitive especially the smell memories (synaesthesia) but it's not always sensitive. I have touch sensitivities too but not always. When I have them they feel so very uncomfortable.

Visual clutter is bad too. I think all senses combined are enough to shut me down or have me uplifting tables.

Wow I forgot taste too. I only need a bit of flavour to just get an explosion of it in my mouth. I'm not fond of spicy food for this reason. But because of it I really do enjoy some meals rather a lot. People can be eating some everyday food and I'll be like OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER TASTED!

Last edited by pensieve on 04 Mar 2012, 12:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

From most to least:

1) Light/Sight (Seriously, I often wear sunglasses indoors. I just cannot be in a bright room, or outside on a sunny day without my sunglasses, it feels as though a layer of my eyes are peeled off and the light is ATTACKING my eyes and brain and damn it's just PAINFUL.) Not to mention, I notice the details in just about everything, and being an OCD neat freak just makes it all worse. I cannot stand clutter, chaos, disorganization.

2) Sound (I walk around with earplugs or my iPod playing ambient soothing noises 90% of the time. It's at it's worst when I first wake up, phones ringing, the water from the shower, people talking, it feels to me as though a rocket is going off in all different directions and once again it is just damn painful).

3) Smell (I can smell lettuce being cut. Incense and candles and perfume gives me headaches. Public restrooms make me want to vomit.)

4) Touch (I don't like being touched at all. I don't like certain fabrics or tags on my clothes. This probably has something to do with my asexuality.)

5) Taste (This does't bother me much for some reason. Although I only eat certain foods and I am OCD about this, it has to do more with health reasons/my ocd/than any textures bothering me.)

Last edited by JesseCat on 04 Mar 2012, 12:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Touch is the one that bothers me the most
Sound can be irritating to, but usually it isn't to bad
Light does not usually bother me
Taste- I would say I am a picky eater but other wise it doesn't bother me to much
Smell- I don't have much of a sense of smell so I could care less.

I'm not asexual and I don't like to be touched. I don't like light touching which is how people touch you when they know you don't show the slightest interest in being hugged. I like deep pressure touch though.

1- Light: Especially sunlight when indoors. My parents always open the curtains in my room, despite my complaining about it explicitly and repeatedly. I prefer to stay in relative darkness when I can. When I am anxious, I will close all light in my room.

2- Touch: More recently, it has been a huge problem. I can't stand it when my skin rubs against my skin, elsewhere; for example, with my thighs. I can use several different pieces of underwear just to keep every piece of skin isolated from the others.

3- Temperature: It isn't one of the traditionnal 5 senses, but it is uses different sensors, so I put it in. I can't stand heat; I find it unbearable. During the summer, I will constantly seek shelter under the shade -- though this is also because of extreme sunlight. I can take up to five showers a day just to cool me down.

4- Sound: It is hard for me when there are many people talking. I find that very uncomrtable, especially when I am not doing anything. I will put music if I can, or I will press on my ears, and generally try to shut myself from the noise. I can get very anxious. Otherwise, nothing worth mentionning, but I think I am more sensible to disturbing sounds than other people.

5- Smell: I hardly smell anything, so I have no problem.

6- Taste: Idem.

Last edited by enrico_dandolo on 04 Mar 2012, 12:44 am, edited 2 times in total.

It's a tie between Light and Sound for me. Some days it seems as if I can hear every little thing, the volume of almost every sound making me nauseated. If too much sound bombards me all at once I sometimes get a massive, splitting headache. And when those massive headaches start, everything becomes too bright. So bright that sometimes I might have my face stuffed into my pillow for what seems like hours. Not fun at all.

It's hard to pick between light and sound. They are both really bad for me. I voted light, because light seems to have a faster stimulus--->shitstorm effect. Smells can be bad too, with their lingering...

Seconded. "Normal" light, brief hugs and touching bother me, but I really like the feeling of being wrapped tightly or having pressure.

Touch is probably my biggest sensitivity. Textures and physical feelings are very important to me, but the sense that bothers me most is sound. It's so easy for noises to make me jump or loud or unpleasant sounds to overwhelm me.

Sound is my worst. My ears hurt most of the time, and I usually want to reduce the volume of people by about two thirds. Im also unable to block out background noise that then competes for my attention.

1. Sound - very very bad.
2. Light - very bad.
3. Smell - bad.
4. Touch - eep do not touch me.
5. Taste - on the low end of bad.

Hard to say.

I have misophonia (intense hatred and distress at eating or drinking sounds) - some other Aspies have this too. I also find multiple conversations, train whistles, loud trucks or motor bikes, etc aggravating and wearing (sudden, loud, high-pitched sounds). I wear earphones while commuting to block out many of the offensive sounds.

On the other hand, I get annoyed by seeing small repetitive movements (eg a jaw chewing, a crowd of people walking in many directions, a jiggling leg). I also dislike the mixture of sunlight and fluorescent lights, and keep the lights in my office switched off (I mainly rely on the filtered natural light). When I walk through crowded areas, I usually look down at the ground or up at the tops of buildings and the sky, in order to avoid looking at the jostling, chaotically moving crowds. I snatch quick glimpses if I need to check whether I am about to bump into someone, but otherwise avert my gaze. I didn't even realise until recently that I did this - it is just so natural for me to look away from crowds of people moving through arcades or public squares.

These auditory and visual stimuli are my worst triggers.

I find citrous smells, such as oranges being peeled, quite intense and overpowering.

Some tastes affect me adversely (eg strawberry).

Heights are a real problem

I don't like sudden/unexpected touch.

1. Touch
2. Sound
3. Smell (although 2 & 3 are tied)
4. Light
5. Taste

Although honestly, my sensory issues can't be summed up quickly or with a list.

So THAT'S what it's called! I've always loathed the sounds of people masticating and that is one of the many reasons I cannot go to cafeterias/restaurants/etc. and I cannot be around people when I am eating, nor can I be around others when they are eating. It's just beyond appalling and when I hear people chewing/slurping/etc. I get an inexplicable burning anger in the pit of my stomach where I get a sudden urge to act violently (of course, I control these urges.) Gah!

Olfactory is the strongest sensitivity I have, and it affects my daily life.

I don't seem to have much of a problem with the others, although I do get social overload.

I'm more sensitive to other things though that I don't understand - At work, a group of us were moved from the ground floor of the building to the 3rd floor. I'm the only one experiencing vertigo, dizziness, and I can feel the whole floor shake when the elevator is used (my desk is further from the elevator than everyone else's). After asking around, no one else seems to feel these things.


Edit to add: I have that too : misophonia with eating and drinking sounds. Thank you, I never knew what that was called.


Also, I haven't experienced problems with fabrics as an adult because I've avoided all of the clothing that freaks me out - like anything wool, and anything uncomfortable, so I guess I still have this sensitivity, but it hasn't effected me lately.

Last edited by goodwitchy on 04 Mar 2012, 1:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

My absolute worst is sound. What is weird though is I can listen to music even if it on the louder side and watch movies in a movie theater. Movie theaters are loud but I am able to handle it with no problem. All other loud sounds is awful. I HATE screaming/ crying babies and kids. It makes me yell out "shut up" while holding my ears. Other sounds that are similar are very bad as well. Anything loud. I have a macaw at home and he is very, very loud. He screams at 105 DB. That can even damage a normal person's hearing! My rocking becomes worse if there are loud noises.

Sight is bad as well. I have to wear sunglasses outside but they don't help me. So, it doesn't really even make a difference if I wear them or not. The Sun hurts my eyes. Too much movement going on like a crowd bothers me as well. It can cause panic attacks.

Taste can be bad. Some tastes make me want to puke. So because of this I avoid things that I can't stand the taste of. This is the easiest because like I mentioned I can easily avoid foods or drinks I don't like. So, I can say this is the one that bothers me the least.

Smell well, sometimes its hard to smell and other times my sense of smell is so good that I even smell things that are not there. I smell things that are intense. Sometimes it also makes me want to puke and I have this phobia of vomit.

Touch can go both ways. When I am calm I am able to handle touch and hugging. When I am stressed, the slightest touch actually hurts. The only type of touch I can deal with is massage which I always look forward to.
So, in the end, my sensory overload can be with all senses.