How do you respond to Sensory overload?

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One of the most frequent ways I get overloaded is when 2-3 or more people are trying to talk to me at once.Especially if they are fast talkers it makes it even worse.I find that when I get overloaded it almost seems that I go mute,and can't really respond or say anything even if I try to force myself.

If the awkwardness continues for too long I'll find myself start being very irritable with big mood swings and anxiety.Also I start to tear up sometimes,even though I'm fairly good at hiding it.
I don't like showing these kind of reactions at all,especially ssense I'm 28yrs old and a guy.

How about people on the forums,how do you react to excessive stimuli?

If too many people try to talk to me at once, I usually say so and request they go one at a time. Being unable to follow thirty conversations at once is usually understandable, and those who don't are usually complete pricks and I wouldn't want to talk to them anyway. (I'm fine in group conversations as they're not trying to talk to me specifically.)

I do tend to get overloaded in certain social occasions if they get far too chaotic (example, a family reunion where there are five conversations in the room trying talk over each other, the TV, and the pile of screaming 4-year-olds (almost literally) running around underfoot). When that happens, I try to find a way to excuse myself and close myself in an empty bedroom or bathroom for five or so minutes for my brain to recover.

If I get overloaded at a public event where I'm not exactly free to leave at a moment's notice, I usually can listen to my MP3 player loud enough to drown others out, occasionally pausing the music for a few seconds so I can tell if anyone's currently trying to talk to me.

Really, if I had 2 or 3 people talking to me at the same time, I'll go into a meltdown straight away. No, this is not true, I will try first to make them talk one at a time (as I will experience symptoms of shutdown straight away), but as it is very likely that this won't happen. I will try hard to integrate the conflicting information - and probably fail. Meanwhile I'd agree to anything they say - just to get away from them, even at great personal expense.
And yes, I know this does not work.

If 2 or more people try to talk to me at once, I just hold my hand up in a "stop" gesture and say
"One at a time, please; I can't hear you all at once."

i tend to freeze and then have to ask them to repeat what they said one at a time. I also do this when one person asks me to do multiple things at once. Up to about 3 things, I am fine... but past about 3 things on the list and I need to write it down

when i'm with 3 people, and i feel overloaded, here's what i do.

i look one of them in the eyes, and talk to him/her.

the other two should be understanding that i have a message directed to that one person.

i would say to that person that since theres several people, i have to divide my time, and i'm making sure you get a fair amount of attention from me.

after, i would talk to person 2, and person 3.

If there's more than one person talking to me at once then I usually block them out, let them finish, and then tell one of them to repeat themselves

I like to stay quiet but my family is completely opposite, they just ramble on and on so to protect my sanity I developed an amazing ability to ignore people ROFL
Funny but True

in such situations i usually go into a lockdown, killing all sensory input; most of my friends know i do this (although none of them really understands how or why), and if they said something that is relevant to me, they'll repeat it clearly to me a bit later

I always end up missing everything that was said, because i don't have the presence of mind in the moment to say "Wait - one at a time." I end up looking blankly/confusedly (or so i interpret it) from one to the other.

The only sensory overload thing I really struggle with is loud noises. I instinctively clap my hands over my ears, without even thinking about it. I get laughed at because of this, and make jokes. When you're a teenager, all your NT friends want the music cranked up to the max

When I get overloaded I loose complete track of what is going on. Worst cases I usually am thinking, the radio is on or an mp3 or watever and I am thinking while litsening to the music, then my roomate starts talking to me, or to her husband and then they expect me to follow conversation about like, their homework while the music is playing and I am trying to do mine and I just . . . pack my ethereal bags and walk out of my head. WHen I get back I have no idea what was said and when asked I usually end up saying something terribly off the wall. My roomie usually says things to me when I do this like, why did I lie, why dont I ever litsen? Why am I so self-centered? Sometimes I feel like saying "LADY i am AUTISTIC, you are lucky I can remember what kind of cereal i am eating while I am concentrating" but I dont because most NTs feel like they know more and that you should see things their way, blah blah. I dont say anything because people usually claim we use excuses to be selfish.

But multi-tasking is horrible for me, unless it involves my interests, therefore I totally have to be selfish.

I tend to do that, in some cases, I've outright ignored people and walked out of parties and because of this. If you really have to attend social events, the best thing to do is take 5 minute breaks to clear your mind and process your surroundings, if you can rationalize how you're feeling and make sense of it, you're more likely going to be able to cope.

If lots of people are talking to/near me at once I usually go 'AAH!', make a stressed face and ask them to do one at a time, or alternatively I blank out and stim. My close people are used to this now. I can't talk to people with background music on (or even the TV- high pitched electrical noise, whatever programme's on, someone talking AND my own thoughts- very stressful!), it makes me quite distressed and my speech gets really disjointed. I suck at parties.

When I get overloaded, no matter what the cause, my brain just kind of shuts down and I get really disoriented. For example, when I'm in a mall and there are a lot of people walking around and talking loudly, I can't concentrate on ANYTHING except the ground in front of me and where I'm going. I'd love to be able to look at the other people or the shops through the windows, but I get too disoriented.

If possible, I go to a place where there are the least amount of people and noise.

I usually have total sensory overload whenever I go out for dinner. Food (good food) is
one of my biggest passions/obsessions so the whole restaurant think is a tricky one.
I tend to always disappear and hide in the bathroom for a while when I go out for dinner
with a group of people. It got to the point a while ago where some close friends were
worried that I had bulimia! lol
I dont like being in the centre of a crowd, I NEED to be on the outskirts or very back/front/side.
Sensory overload usually turns into an anxiety attack later on, as I tend to try and
hide that I am overwhelmed. It'll just build up until I am alone and then I totally shut down.

"AAAHH! MY EYES! MY EEEEEEEEEYES!"
Heheh, just kidding. Sorta.