Overstimulation
Hello! Here is a lovely post about overstimulation.
There are different types of overstimulation. However the two I want to focus are "Emotional overstimulation and "Social overstimulation."
Emotional Overstimulation ( EO)
I personally find it difficult at times to identify what I am feeling. This is possibly "related to the finding that the brain of an individual with an autism spectrum disorder exhibits decreased long-range connectivity, in particular between the limbic system (where emotions originate) and the prefrontal cortex (where they become conscious) (Geschwind, D.H., and Levitt)." I often sense a meltdown occurring when asked to verbalize my emotions.
Many people on the spectrum experience and absorb emotions differently then neurotypicals do. I experience angry outbursts or crying fits when people don't understand me or why I am overstimulated. Perhaps in part because people on the spectrum "cannot easily access our emotions, we cannot easily regulate them."
"Emotional OS may be sparked by any number of everyday occurrences: rooms on cups that have too many people in them, mods or commods not understanding the differences between neurotypicals and nuerodiverse, listeners not knowing how to work with autism, a scary movie, a sad book, an intense psychotherapy session, a troubling lecture, a thorny conversation. Even joy – especially unanticipated joy, as in pleasant surprises – can be overwhelming in its intensity. All this makes me so so hesitant and in fact closer to a meltdown and angry moment.
Social Overstimulation ( SO)
Social interactions are challenging with rapid exchanges of verbal (intellectual) information, ever-shifting nonverbal (emotional) messages, and loud voices ( caps).
The multimodal nature of social intercourse makes it supremely challenging for those on the spectrum. "There is so much to process at once – and it all moves so quickly!" Interactions that flow intuitively for most neurotypicals can leave me unsure of what to say next or how to react. Often what I most need to say is, “Slow down! Wait for me! Or I need you to stop, read the overstimulation post and come back to me.
everything in quotes is from https://autismspectrumnews.org/four-faces-of-overstimulation/
Relateable for us ADHDers too! Thanks for sharing.
@jovialButterfly6752
I didn't know this was relatable towards adhd as well :o I thought it was only towards autism. Thanks for teaching me.
I'm mostly talking about sensory overload and emotional dyresgulation. People with ADHD often experience more intense emotions which shift rapidly, and also they might feel overwhelmed by too much sensory stimulation. They also sometimes seek sensory stimualtion when feeling understimulated.
Thank you for sharing this post it helps me understand my daughter a little better .she is 11 and on the Autisim spectrum. She struggles with her emotions and like you gets very upset.
@Kingfisher101 Glad to hear it 
I appreciate that you're trying to understand here better 
I read that 50 percent of people with autism have alexithymia, which is difficulty recognizing and describing emotions. I have alexithymia. I don't have sensory overload like you all
@Gel1989 I'm not sure about that statistic but yes, autistic people/people on the spectrum can have trouble identifying, expressing, delineating or differentiating their emotions. Sensory sensitivities can be hyper (overreactive), or hypo (underreactive), so you might be less sensitive to sensory stimuli - that's also possible though as it is a spectrum, not everyone has sensory sensitivities.
@sunshinegiraffe123
This is so informative and helpful, Allie. I think education is the way to improve how we best support people, and I am so grateful for you for taking the time to write this to try to raise awareness and educate more people 💙 What an amazing post! Thank you so much 🥰 *hugs*