I have trouble telling what the pain in my stomach is telling me, so I pretty much only just realized how bad my body hates certain sensory and social stuff. It’s as though my insides were on fire and the only way to slightly affect it is to cry (and obvi get away from the noise). I thought it was just anxiety or under stimulation before, but no, those are separate things. I have spent hours today doing various self care type stuff (meditation, being in nature, exercising, mindfully eating, yoga nitra, massage, taking a bath, fun things on the internet, positive stimulus of other sorts, zoning out), and the feeling’s still there. I don’t even mask. How do you deal with having to be in a sensory hell for hours of the day? How do you calm down? Please don’t say drugs.
Context: ADHD often makes people struggle with interoception and being able to relax.
Keeping it in check is one of my greatest struggles and I would be lying if I didn’t say that I self medicate with THC. However, I know that is not the answer you wanted. I do a lot of other things throughout the day to help calm my brain.
Frequently changing scenery even for a few minutes helps, like I’ll go take a walk around the office or outside around the building.
I also use my Air Pods religiously at work when I am not expected to be engaging with my coworkers. Having a queue of podcasts lined up, or a good playlist helps to detach myself from the environment I’m in and focus on whatever I need to without the office distractions.
Nothing helps it 100%, but it tends to be a mix of various things normally stimulating in some way.
Yeah, that’s the kinda stuff that I want to but can’t do when I’m in the worst of it and then when I’m out I’m too tired and overstimulated even for it.
Yeah I get that. It’s a balancing act a lot of the time.