One day it occurred to me that I was not only physically and emotionally exhausted from SPD, but also from my anxiety that was caused by my SPD. My body was depleted, from what I assumed was sensory overload. I'd come home at the end of the day and nap for an unreasonable amount of time, like 6 hours. (Fact: when the body is anxious, blood rushes to the main organs, leaving the extremities feeling cold and/or numb.)
Often, I bought myself a warm drink in an attempt to soothe my trembling body, which was trembling on account of being both anxious and also cold. My face hurt from a clenched jaw and the muscles in my back were sore from tension. I spent the large part of my day feeling enormously dizzy. Once I made it to school, I often had to give myself even more time to find a bathroom and change my shirt, which would've been soaked in sweat before my first class even began. There are no such things as coincidences in this magical sensory life. (I told you this was going to be an uncomfortable story.) I couldn't stomach food for hours…but, only on the days when I had school. My agonizing stomach cramps and bathroom visit occurred daily, without fail.
I've done this most recently through college, where every morning before my commute to school, I had to give myself extra time because of anxiety-induced diarrhea and nausea. I've always been told that the best - and perhaps only - way to conquer anxiety is to put myself into situations that make me anxious, and to push through it. The following is the true and slightly uncomfortable reality of my life: But first, it's time for a little story a short tale of my own experience with sensory anxiety to set the stage. But I would like to shed some light on the chaos that anxiety can cause when it's teamed up with SPD, and why it's different than non-sensory anxiety. The focus is always on the sensory part of SPD. Strangely, when we talk about sensory problems, anxiety is rarely part of that conversation. They play off each other, and create a spiral effect of symptoms. SPD and Anxiety work together to cause mayhem. Gosh! Even the word itself sets me on edge.įor people with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), anxiety comes as part of the package. Let's talk about something that nearly every single person with sensory issues has to deal with: ANXIETY.
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