Oftentimes, sensory overload is only talked about among children. However, sensory sensitivities is not something that individuals will grow out of. It is not uncommon for adults with diagnosed sensory processing disorders to experience a sensory overload response, too.
Many adults describe the feeling as being assaulted, attacked, or invaded by everyday experiences. They are bothered by sounds or textures that most people don't hear or feel. These experiences can become physically and emotionally unbearable and extremely distracting.
Everyone experiences sensory overload at some point in their lives. Some children and adults, however, experience it regularly. For these individuals, everyday situations can be challenging.
Common symptoms of sensory seeking include: Watching as others move around the room. Constantly touching people or objects. Being unable to sit still.
Adults can have sensory processing disorder symptoms that present as sensitivities to specific sensations. Some adults are more sensitive to specific sensations than others. This can be so much so that the sensitivity interferes with their daily life.
Sensory processing challenges are usually treated with occupational therapy or at-home programs known as “sensory diets.” Though parents and adults can create sensory diets on their own, working with an occupational therapist may result in a more targeted treatment plan; a child who can't discern tactile sensations, ...
Sensory stimulation offers adults with learning disabilities or dementia a way to express themselves without the need for words. Certain objects can help an individual to ask questions, respond to verbal cues, and remain calm in a stressful situation.
Sensory issues are considered a symptom of autism because many people on the autism spectrum experience them. But not everyone with sensory issues is on the spectrum. Some have ADHD, OCD or developmental delays. Or they may not have a diagnosis at all.
SENSORY OVERLOAD IS COMMON FOR PEOPLE WITH ADHD OF ALL AGES.
Some of the symptoms of ADHD—such as self-regulation and trouble paying attention to what's going on around you—may themselves induce sensory overload. When you're not tuned in, sensory information can sneak up on you.
Trauma greatly affects sensory integration, drastically altering survivors' responses to sensory experience. For example, they have emotional reactions they did not have prior to trauma to certain sensory experiences of hearing, seeing, smelling or touching things.
People who have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or both can be vulnerable to experiencing sensory overload in intense situations.
Autistic people are neurodivergent, which means they exhibit atypical behaviors compared to neurotypical folks. One such example is what's known as an “autism meltdown,” which is an emotional response to sensory overload. While a meltdown can be upsetting and overwhelming for autistic people, there are ways to cope.
A meltdown is where a person with autism or Asperger's temporarily loses control because of emotional responses to environmental factors. They aren't usually caused by one specific thing. Triggers build up until the person becomes so overwhelmed that they can't take in any more information.
Sensory processing problems may differentiate ADHD from normally developing children. However, it does not mean that it is specific to ADHD. The sensory profiles of children with ADHD may be similar to other disabilities such as autism.
Sensory overload can occur as a symptom in people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Sensory overload occurs when one or more of the senses becomes overstimulated in some way.
A sensory overload may often trigger agitation, irritability, or violent responses (attacking the nearby person, shouting, throwing things) in some people. Sensory overload is when the brain is not able to process the sensory information taken in by the five senses: smell, taste, hearing, sight, and touch.
3. Can it become worse as one ages? SPD becomes worse with injuries and when with normal aging as the body begins to become less efficient. So, if you always had balance problems and were clumsy, this can become more of a problem in your senior years.
Sensory overload, such as feeling like your nervous system is being bombarded and overwhelmed by visual, auditory, taste, touch, and smell stimuli, is a common symptom of anxiety disorder. This article explains the relationship between anxiety and sensory overload symptoms.
Children are more likely than adults to have SPD. But adults can have symptoms, too. In adults, it's likely these symptoms have existed since childhood. However, the adults have developed ways to deal with SPD that let them hide the disorder from others.
“In the majority of people, sensory issues resolve on their own, or become significantly milder and less interfering as a child grows,” explains Wendy Nash, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist.