04-27-2014, 11:39 AM
My boyfriend of 3 years has had mental health struggles all his life, and only recently I have been learning about Sensory Processing Disorder.
He is a recovering alcoholic with nearly a year sobriety, and while he was drinking, everything got lumped under the "alcoholic" diagnosis--His depression, his panic attacks, his inability to relax in his own skin...
Now that he is sober, and feeling more positive and proud of himself, our lives are so much more manageable, and he doesn't seem traumatized by every little thing... But, he still is noticably troubled by sensory things. He can't touch things that are wet with his hands, he is stressed out by the sound of people or animals eating, he is jumpy about being touched (although can be very affectionate in the right mood), and when he is in a loud room with lots of people in it, he truly looks like he is under so much pressure he is going to blast off to outer space.
He is really in touch with these feelings, and has used alcohol and cigarettes as some sort of coping mechanism, and is trying to find new, healthier coping skills.
I want to learn how best to support him, but I also need some support myself in coping with some challenges to our life, and especially our intimacy, which is very effected by his sensory-overload attacks.
I hope to meet some people who can share some experience and coping ideas with me!
He is a recovering alcoholic with nearly a year sobriety, and while he was drinking, everything got lumped under the "alcoholic" diagnosis--His depression, his panic attacks, his inability to relax in his own skin...
Now that he is sober, and feeling more positive and proud of himself, our lives are so much more manageable, and he doesn't seem traumatized by every little thing... But, he still is noticably troubled by sensory things. He can't touch things that are wet with his hands, he is stressed out by the sound of people or animals eating, he is jumpy about being touched (although can be very affectionate in the right mood), and when he is in a loud room with lots of people in it, he truly looks like he is under so much pressure he is going to blast off to outer space.
He is really in touch with these feelings, and has used alcohol and cigarettes as some sort of coping mechanism, and is trying to find new, healthier coping skills.
I want to learn how best to support him, but I also need some support myself in coping with some challenges to our life, and especially our intimacy, which is very effected by his sensory-overload attacks.
I hope to meet some people who can share some experience and coping ideas with me!