Sensory overload and anger

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Maybe try this: If there's alot going on around you at once & hectic try to focus - you are real, everything going on outside yourself is unreal. Like a computer game or a movie. Computer games & movies are noisy/chaotic yet they tend not to lead me into a stressful state as I know they are not real only an imagined circumstance. Maybe act like there's a solid glass bubble wall around you. Then you will feel more secure. You need to mentally try hard to convince yourself that you are removed in some way from that environment. I find that works for me. Maybe focus on your breathing cycle or have some music/earphones with you. Sometimes I just count in my head so that I have to focus on something neutral & comforting.

I've been diagnosed bipolar II.

I'm currently taking a cocktail of antidepressants, antianxiety meds, and a bit of an antipsychotic. It has helped with the rage I get worked up into but has not taken it away completely. When I'm overwhelmed I tend to mentally check out, like a fuse blew or something. I can be rageish simultaneously, but disconnecting keeps it at bay.

My approaches to avoiding sensory overload consist of pharmeceuticals and physical isolation. I'm currently taking SSRI antidepressants and low dose benzodiazapines. The combination of the two drugs keeps me functional, but just barely. I am fortunate that my job permits me to work from home some of the time. Also, I live way out in the country in rural Oregon where there is no one nearby to disturb me. In a few months I'll be moving to the Bay Area, where I have had an architect-designed house built with my particular needs in mind. It has 12" steel reinforced concrete walls, double pane windows, and is located in a remote mountain area. Even the interior walls are acoustically isolated.

Now that I think about it, I have spent an inordinate amount of energy and money insulating myself from an uncaring and hostile outside world. Fortunately, I have the means to do this. Otherwise I probably would have retreated to some remote cave and lived like a hermit.

It definitely doesn't work for everyone (nothing does) but I'm someone who keeps about half my sensory overload under control through no casein & no gluten. The rest I minimize through zero stimulants (yes, caffeine, I'm also talking to you), avoiding as much sensory as I can (sorry, Cirque du Soleil; away from me screaming children on the bus), and just general self care (sleeping right, eating right, etc). It's taken me 30 years to figure it all out, but all that minimizes maybe 75% of my sensory overloads (unless I have huge stress from other sources).

The rest still flares up (thank you jerk neighbor with the stereo) no matter what I do, and my reaction is insta-rage with panic undertones.

To help those, I pace CALMLY, I self-talk, I remind myself that freaking out all over the neighbor/whatever has never done anything but made things worse.

I also use herbal tinctures like Lemon Balm and Passionflower (I can't use Valerian - I'm one of the people who get a jazzed up reaction, not sedate reaction, from it).

I also try earplugs, headphones with good masking music, a high quality sound machine (a good one let's you adjust the tone to match the offending sound so you can't hear it anymore), and moving to where the overload is less (like in my current apartment I can't hear the neighbor while in my bedroom.

If I'm with people, sometimes I just have to leave so I don't make a scene in front of them. Sitting in a bathroom stall is one place most people won't bug you, so when I'm having work stress sometimes I disappear into a stall and cup my hands over my eyes or ears and just breathe calmly.

What has generally worked for me is to intentionally expose myself to the sensory inputs that cause me to experience overload in order to desensitize myself to them. But, my situation may be different because most sensory overload situations would cause me to withdraw rather than get angry. If anger is your natural reaction to sensory overload, you'll have to be more careful if you wanted to try desensitization techniques.

It sounds to me like my son is more like you in that he tends to get very angry when he experiences overload. We are still working through this (he's only 11).

I get a mix of panic and anger when I have sensory overload. Changing my diet to exclude things that get me more ramped up or irritated (I have enough of that on my own - I don't need to add more) helps overall. But if something still gets me and I just can't take a noise or something I try earplugs or earbuds until it's gone, or I put a little Vicks Vapo-Rub under my nostrils to block a smell, and so on.

Otherwise I just try to breath and keep myself disconnected from what's going on in my head. Like I have a thing where if my shoes aren't tied to the same tension on both feet it can totally put me over the top. In fact, I used to have raging meltdowns over it. However, lowering my overall sensitivities and then just practicing being "disconnected" has helped a lot so now I just get a little panicky and frustrated but not raging furious.

I didn't realise the things mentioned in this thread were the kinds of things meant by sensory overload. I thought sensory overload was due to autistics having heightened senses in one or more modality and therefore experiencing things more intensely than NTs. Anyway, I notice I am much more prone to (restrained) irritation from sensory stimuli than most people, especially when it comes to any kind of noise, so I wear earplugs in public transport. If someone eats cooked food in a train or tram it makes me feel sick. The problem then is you can't wear noseplugs because you would suffocate .

I just had to post....wow this is an old thread!
I saw a post from me and it was before I had moved to France which was two years ago and before I was diagnosed with Ankylosing spondylitis. I actually was diagnosed in my twenties but no other doctor would believe it. I now have fused Sacroillac joints (I still have a tiny bit left to fuse). My neck is fusing and I had an operation. They put a artificial disk that Im told is twice the size it should be in my lower spine and it has caused my spine to bow inward so my X ray look like Im doing a back bend. I was also just diagnosed with Elhers-Danlos hypermobility syndrome which causes my joints to dislocate and tears my ligaments and more of my nerves. In in so much pain, I cant even explain it or type anymore as I already typed too much today.....they told me they will give me braces for my fingers so they wont fall out of place anymore and i may need surgery in many different areas.....also just found out my neck is fusing.

Anyway, I was going to say that severe chronic pain really really messes with your sensory functions. I can not handle noise or light anymore. I have to wear foam earplugs as my kids, who are both autistic, tend to be loud and its not their fault. I try to be the best I can be but its hard when i hurt so much.

About getting pissed off. I never really had someone not back down for their own safety! I haven't had any fights since middle school. I always make sure to retreat some way before I blow. Anger is one emotion I can't hide from others so they usually see it in my posture real well so they always back down.