How Do You Manage Sensory Overload in Daily Life?

HI. If possible, I retreat and hibernate. I like sensory deprivation. At home it can help me to get in bed, have complete darkness and a calm meditation or gentle relaxation music playing lowly to give my mind one thing to hold on to/focus on - so I don't start ruminating.

I think removing light, colour, movement, people(!) and having simple reassuring sound and one texture is good for me. It's nice having something to focus all your attention on so there's not room for negative thoughts/catastrophising etc. a happy distraction from the chaos. 

I have hat, sunglasses, earplugs. I have packing lists for different types of day out. Planning and knowing things are in place helps me go into an overwhelming setting with a bit of confidence. 

Me-Time is how I cope.

On-the-spot stress is a major issue, in my life. Prayer helps. Trusting in the God of my understanding gets me through. It's his efforts, not mine.

Hi njsmith, 

Thank you for posting to the community. I'm sorry to hear you struggle with sensory overload. 

The NAS website offers some advice and guidance on sensory overload which may be useful to you: 

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/sensory-differences/sensory-differences/all-audiences#H3_3

I hope this helps. 

Gina Mod 

Sadly I think avoidance has been my method to date for managing much of this  - I can work from home (officially I should be hybrid) although I do my best to ONLY visit my contracted office 2-3 times year.  Shopping likewise I don't go - other than a quick pop in and out, during a quiet time.  If I go out to eat - then prefer a small group 1-3 others.  I go for a walk every lunchtime - but my chosen route usually means I met less people and few  dog owners especially with dogs off lead, so I stay away from their favoured walking spots.

I understand this approach may not be good long term for my anxieties so is something I need to be mindful about, going forwards.

At home - yes noise cancelling headphones (when I just want a 1-2 hour break from noise from family in the house and noise from outside), music on constantly on my Echo dots/show around the house, loop earplug (I'm trying as I will use for my daughter grad ceremony in July - but not 100% sure these work for me as I suffer tinnitus), fidget toy and also juggling balls too.  I've also removed all social media from my phone

njsmith said:

I’m curious how others here deal with it.

I use a form of meditation and steady desensitisation to get over it - the meditation helps me change the focus from the sensory inputs and keep the exposure up until I am able to accept it as part of the background "noise" in an environment.

It took years of practice to be able to do it on demand but it works well for me now.

Still getting to grips with some of these things. After listening to a podcast I have put together a rucksack with a few things to help alleviate some of these triggers. In my rucksack I carry sunglasses, headphones noise cancelling, ear loops, a puzzle book, stress ball thing and some snacks. Seems to be helping and at least feels like I’m prepared. My biggest issue is touch really. I do my best to dodge people but not always successful, not sure what can be done about this?

I battle through it, then go home to a good book and a good cat, I often find a walk with my dog helps too, providing its somewhere quiet, I'm fairly lucky, living in a rural area, I can usually find somewhere peaceful to go.