SPD Support Forum

Hey guys,

My name's Dave and I'm a 23 year old student living in the Midwest. After about a year and a half of suffering and a failure to understand my hypersensitivity, anxiety, panic, and depression, I believe I've found something that actually fits the bill. From the time I was a child I always had a ton of anxiety, and it was harder for me to pick up things than most kids. I've always felt I've thought differently than most, and the smallest things bothered me or haunted me. For awhile it got better, but as I got older I believe it began to get worse and I would avoid situations or things that most people would laugh about. About a year and a half ago I suffered a breakdown I'd call it, and it was a sensory overload. Since then I've been suffering and cannot find a solution. I'm absolutely clean of drugs and alcohol, pretty healthy, and young, yet I focus on physical symptoms constantly like I'm living inside my own head. I refuse to take medicines (Minus Paxil and Ativan) because I'm afraid of the effect they may have on me. If anyone can relate to this, please let me know as I truly need extra help. It's painful to say, but sometimes it feels as if there's no hope and I'm just confused and searching for answers anywhere they may lie. Thanks for listening, I hope to hear from you all soon.

- Dave

Hi, Dave. Welcome. I hope that you'll start to find your way with what you read on this board.

(06-02-2013, 09:21 AM)Rinne Wrote: [ -> ]Hi, Dave. Welcome. I hope that you'll start to find your way with what you read on this board.

Thanks Rinne.

Welcome Dave.

Hope you find some answers as you read through threads on this forum. It's not a very active one so it might take time for people to respond here.

If you can, try to get in to see an OT. Also look for and fill out symptoms checklists for adults to take with you. It sounds like this is having a negative impact on you, so it might be worth looking into getting some help.

All the best

(06-03-2013, 04:30 AM)Kate_M Wrote: [ -> ]Welcome Dave.

Hope you find some answers as you read through threads on this forum. It's not a very active one so it might take time for people to respond here.

If you can, try to get in to see an OT. Also look for and fill out symptoms checklists for adults to take with you. It sounds like this is having a negative impact on you, so it might be worth looking into getting some help.

All the best

Thanks Kate.

I filled out the checklist the other day and will be taking it in with me to my doctor.

Hope it gets you started on the right path to getting some answers and help

Please let us know how it goes?

(06-04-2013, 07:49 AM)Kate_M Wrote: [ -> ]Hope it gets you started on the right path to getting some answers and help

Please let us know how it goes?

I sure will.

Hi there Dave. As someone with SPD and anxiety issues, I can certainly relate to your story in several places.

I am curious, what anxiety disorders, if any, have you been diagnosed with? Do you believe your hypersensitivities may have existed throughout your childhood? Perhaps they got milder for some time but then came flaring back up?

As a child, they were checking me for a few things, including OCD. They didn't know what to make of all of my symptoms really, and I ended up going without drugs or treatment from a psychological health standpoint. Once I learned about SPD, I discovered that a good number, if not all, of my anxiety issues suddenly made a boat load of sense.

Obsessing over things? Well, yeah, when your nervous system fails to calm you down about the signals you are receiving from your environment and your own body, you tend to hyper-focus on sensations. Separation anxiety? Agoraphobia? Yeah, when it seems like the whole world can hurt you so easily, it's pretty easy to get attached to the few places or the only people that seem to help you feel safe. Social anxiety? Mhm... hard to feel confident interacting with other people when you're never sure what you're going to be able to handle sensory-wise on a day-to-day basis and the many small things people would want to do in your company can cause you sensory overload issues.

Of course, it's also possible that the anxiety issues can preclude the sensory issues, like a sort of chemical imbalance, but I actually believe the sensory-based approach makes a lot of sense to those of us who have SPD.

I agree that you should try to find an occupational therapist, and I support you in those endeavors. It can be a challenge to find an OT who is willing and able to work with adults, and many doctors either haven't heard of SPD or are skeptical of whether or not it's real or that OT can even help. It's best to ignore that skepticism, though, if you think SPD may be effecting your life. I would say your life is being effected a good deal, no matter what the root issue may be, just based off of what you said alone.

As other people do, I certainly wish you the best as you begin this journey. I hope you are able to get the most out of your time on this site, so please feel more than welcome to post around and get to know people. The more of us there are sticking around and posting, the better this place becomes. Welcome.