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Sensory/Crowd Issues Post-COVID

Luftmentsch

Does anyone feel like their capacity to cope with crowds or sensory overload has got worse since the COVID lockdowns? I seem to struggle with things like shopping centres and synagogue attendance much more than in the past. I was diagnosed in 2021 and I can’t work out if I’m just more aware of my sensory/peopling triggers now I have a diagnosis or if I’m actually struggling more now I’ve seen what it's like to spend months living in quiet with only my parents for company. Certainly my social anxiety has got worse since lockdown.

Parents

  • I’ve struggled with the move away from social distancing to be honest. Both at work and out ‘in the wild’. Everyone seems very happy, especially at this time of the year, to be very close to one another. It lead to a mini episode yesterday in fact. People are happy to be uncomfortably close in my eyes, just so they can reach over and grab those sausage rolls etc.

    At work, somebody moved all the chairs much closer together in the staff seating area because ‘we didn’t need to be so far apart anymore’. Everyone exclaimed how lovely that was, except for a few quieter people who much preferred the other arrangement. It’s taken me months to build back up to sitting in there again and only then can I do it if I’m wearing noise reducing earbuds to reduced one of the aspects of sensory input. It’s so alien to me to want to be so close to someone I only know as a colleague that it was a total surprise when the move was made and when everyone agreed that it was a good move. Some moments make you realise how different your view of the world is and this was definitely one of them.

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  • I’ve struggled with the move away from social distancing to be honest. Both at work and out ‘in the wild’. Everyone seems very happy, especially at this time of the year, to be very close to one another. It lead to a mini episode yesterday in fact. People are happy to be uncomfortably close in my eyes, just so they can reach over and grab those sausage rolls etc.

    At work, somebody moved all the chairs much closer together in the staff seating area because ‘we didn’t need to be so far apart anymore’. Everyone exclaimed how lovely that was, except for a few quieter people who much preferred the other arrangement. It’s taken me months to build back up to sitting in there again and only then can I do it if I’m wearing noise reducing earbuds to reduced one of the aspects of sensory input. It’s so alien to me to want to be so close to someone I only know as a colleague that it was a total surprise when the move was made and when everyone agreed that it was a good move. Some moments make you realise how different your view of the world is and this was definitely one of them.

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