My sensory overload plan totally fell apart at a family dinner last Sunday

I had it all worked out. I brought my noise canceling earbuds, sat at the end of the table near the door, and even ate my food before everyone else so I wouldn't have to deal with the chewing sounds. But then my cousin brought her new baby and he started crying nonstop. The pitch just cut through everything. I tried to focus on my plate but the mix of crying, 8 people talking, and silverware clanking got me so overstimulated I had to leave the table after 20 minutes. I ended up hiding in the bathroom for like 15 minutes just breathing. Has anyone else had a carefully planned coping strategy just completely fail when something unexpected happened?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomas1051d ago

Did you catch that podcast on sensory stuff where they talked about how the brain can't filter out new sounds it hasn't prepped for? That crying baby sound is basically designed to bypass all your defenses.

elliot_grant381d ago

Did you ever find a way to explain to your family why you had to suddenly leave, or did you just tell them you weren't feeling well?