Sensory Defensiveness/Hypersensitivity

[Rearden Metal]

Sensory defensiveness is a condition defined as having "a tendency to react negatively or with alarm to sensory input which is generally considered harmless or non-irritating" to neurotypical persons.

Common symptoms of sensory defensiveness include intolerance of high-pitched noises, intolerance of chewing sounds, intolerance of overhead lights (especially fluorescent lighting); experiencing a feeling of being attacked upon being touched (especially from light touch or sudden touch); intolerance of certain types of fabrics in contact with the skin; becoming nauseated upon smelling something that does not smell bad to neurotypical individuals; difficulty maintaining eye-contact; severe intolerance of foods due to taste, texture, or temperature; and generally becoming overwhelmed when exposed to a lot of sensory stimuli at once.

(You'd probably have two or three of the above traits- not all of them at once in the same person.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_defensiveness
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I have no doubt that a disproportionately high number of ET members suffer from this shit, as do I.

Common treatment options include occupational therapy, vigorous exercise, and calming sensory stimuli... and even with all that, you're probably still fucked.

Alcohol tends to provide some temporary relief (but who the hell wants to go through life constantly drunk?), and weed just makes it even worse.

What I really want is the holy grail/magic bullet to knock out sensory defensiveness for good. So in the highly unlikely event that one of you actually knows what that solution might be, please feel free to share...

 

[Vespasian]

Reardon

Usually I enjoy reading your threads but this one is just wacky

 

[killthesunshine]

are saying you are scared of your own shadow?

 

[Rearden Metal]

Quote from Vespasian:

Reardon

Usually I enjoy reading your threads but this one is just wacky

Thanks, and I totally understand. If this were a thread about some semi-obscure psychological disorder that had absolutely no effect on me or anyone else I knew, I certainly wouldn't give a damn either.

However.... just wait and see the responses. I'm positive that quite a few ET members know EXACTLY what I'm talking about here- the hard way- from extensive personal experience.

 

[killthesunshine]

Being scared of fluorescent lighting is a luxury of the idle rich. i'm too busy making a living

go save a rainforest

 

[Rearden Metal]

Fear has absolutely nothing to do with any of this, genius.

Consider yourself fortunate that you're 100% clueless about the entire topic.

 

[FB123]

I don't particularly have this problem, but a very good trader I once knew was very hypersensitive to all kinds of minor stimuli... I always thought perhaps his hypersensitivity to minor details might have helped him in some way to see patterns in the charts that most normal people would miss.

 

[killthesunshine]

Quote from FB123:

I don't particularly have this problem, but a very good trader I once knew was very hypersensitive to all kinds of minor stimuli... I always thought perhaps his hypersensitivity to minor details might have helped him in some way to see patterns in the charts that most normal people would miss.

"hypersensitive" in what way? maybe he was just "focused" on the task at hand?

is he a scalper by any chance?

if i am in deep think mode, any extraneous sound or stimulus will startle me.

 

[sws2179]

Marijuana will help you with many of the problems such as over sensitivity, lack of appetite, and many of the annoying intolerances, marijuana will also slows down your thinking so that won’t be for day trading. I used to smoke weeds when I was young, now thinking back I tend to ignore my family and those around me… just me and my own world, there’s some negative and positive but I think it might help you with many of the medical conditions.

 

[rwk]

Sensory defensiveness was not in DSM-IV, and so far as I know has not [yet] been included in DSM-V. There seems to be some support building to include it. Psychological traits are often hard to identify, because they can vary in intensity, and can also be clustered with other traits (e.g. perfectionism).

Symptoms of sensory defensiveness might also imply high sensitivity. Are you familiar with that theory? Here is more information: http://tinyurl.com/yzm7foh

Another possibility is a milder form of Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's is most often diagnosed in children, but it appears to be genetic. People with Asperger's usually have much higher than normal intelligence, but are awkward in social situations.

To the extent that sensory defensiveness is genetic, the only things that would make much difference are drugs that change brain chemestry. Most of those have very unpleasant side effects.