

Life
Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight
About 15% of the population can’t tune out harmless sensations and react to them with irritation, anger, or alarm
Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to do with you’re sensory defensive in an overstimulating world, by Sharon Heller, Ph.D is a remarkable book for those of us who, given the choice, would have opted for a quieter world with fewer distractions. Here are my notes and excerpts from the book:
Sensory Defensiveness
Some 15% of the population can’t tune out harmless sensations and instead react to them with irritation, anger, and alarm.
Common symptoms of sensory defensiveness include recoiling from light, being startled by loud or sudden sounds, being unable to shut out constant noise, wanting to remove tags and labels from your close, avoiding tight-fitting clothes or belts, and avoiding jewelry or anything that hangs from your neck.
Trending on PolitiCrossing.com: This is hilariously idiotic
Also, being upset when someone touches you unexpectedly or from behind, feeling hot or cold easily, seeking to avoid situations where your senses will be stressed, becoming easily frustrated, and feeling anxious much of the time.
Overloaded
Modern life overloads our eyes, ears, and nose, and robs us of touch and movement. Some people, with a low sensory threshold, quickly reach their saturation point and are overstimulated by sensation. To avoid over-stimulation they direct their attention inward appear restrained and inhibited. Defensive reactions to sensations include:
* being irritated standing in line
* being fussy about rough or synthetic textures in clothing
* frequently adjusting one’s clothes
* over dressing to minimize skin exposure
* avoid touching certain textures
* being excessively ticklish
* bothered by creams or lotions
* picky about food
* under reacting to pain, or
* overreacting to pain
* easily cold or easily hot
* annoyed by vibration
* unnerved by loud bass sounds
* easily distracted by ambient noise
* hearing sounds to faint for others to hear
* annoyed by objects too close to your face
* overstimulated by eye contact
* smelling odors before others
* becoming light-headed or nauseous from chemical smells
* disliking certain food smells
Self-Preservation
Each of us acts in accordance with the information our senses receive. If we feel overwhelmed, we seek to defend against over-stimulation and preserve the self. Even when our sensory defensiveness is mild, coping with sensory invasion creates layers of problems that, in unsuspected ways, affect every aspect of life and prevent us from knowing the full range of human experience.
Wired from stress, we might seem fidgety, agitated, short tempered, impulsive, patient, or volatile. Needing to withdraw from stimulation we might appear preoccupied, unfriendly, or reclusive and such behavior compromises relationships.
A sensory diet might include brushing your skin daily at specific intervals, listening to music that help you to better integrate sensor sensory processing, dancing freely to music, doing breathing exercises, and practicing yoga. Also, jumping on trampoline, bouncing on an exercise ball, and swinging in a hammock.
Calmness at Last
After, you might feel a calmness that you never previously knew. And, when you feel grounded, you are less inclined to be irritated by sensory overload.
– – – – –
We'd love to hear your thoughts about this article. Please take a minute to share them in the comment section by clicking here. Or carry the conversation over on your favorite social network by clicking one of the share buttons below.
Join the conversation!
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
PolitiCrossing Founder Chris Widener talks with Dr. Steve Turley of Turley Talks to discuss a new study about happiness. Check out their interview and be sure to pick up Chris Widener’s new book they mention, Four Seasons. The purchase of the book gets you 20+ hours of personal develop audios to celebrate the launch of the book. Get Four Seasons by clicking HERE. Check out the discussion below:
Want to influence others like Jesus did? New video series shows you exactly how. Click here for more.
Trending on PolitiCrossing.com: This is hilariously idiotic
About Turley Talks:
Are we seeing the revitalization of Christian civilization?
For decades, the world has been dominated by a process known as globalization, a secularizing economic and political system that hollows out and erodes a culture’s traditions, customs, and religions, all the while conditioning populations to rely on the expertise of a tiny class of technocrats for every aspect of their social and economic lives.
Until now.
All over the world, there’s been a massive blowback against the anti-cultural processes of globalization and its secular aristocracy.
And it’s just the beginning.
I believe that the secular world is at its brink, and a new conservative age is rising.
Join me each week as we examine these worldwide trends, discover answers to today’s toughest challenges, and together learn to live in the present in light of even better things to come.
This is Turley Talks.
Life
The Four Horsemen of Aging Baby Boomers
The prospect of being cold, broke, and alone can haunt some baby boomers in their senior years
To be old, cold, broke, and alone are the four horsemen of aging baby boomers. Aging has been a fact of life since life itself appeared on the planet, and no one has ever doubted that they would age as time passed. It’s the combination of aging with the prospect of being cold, broke, and alone that’s terrifying for some boomers as they head into their senior years.
Out in the Cold
Miracle breakthroughs in energy production, foreseen in the 1970s and 80s, are clearly not here yet. Despite current price fluctuations, the long-term trend in heating, lighting, and relying upon energy to run one’s home can only point upward for the near future. Prices will be only climb as boomers face the ends of their careers, retirement, and years of living on a fixed income.
Going for Broke
With falling housing prices, fears of a retracted recession, and government debt rising to astronomical heights, the long-term savings of many a boomer has taken a big hit. Boomers close to retiring don’t have sufficient time to recover, and even those who are five, 10, and 15 years from retirement will face rocky roads. The prospects of going broke, or at least having to live out one’s days on far less than anticipated, are real and alarming.
Trending on PolitiCrossing.com: This is hilariously idiotic
Home Alone
For several decades, one in two marriages in the U.S. has ended in divorce. This doesn’t mean that one out of two people get divorced, because first-time divorcees are unfortunately prone to being divorced again and perhaps again. In any case, the number of single adults above age 45 is at an all-time high and growing. More people heading into their “golden years” are alone than at any other time in U.S. history.
Finishing one’s life cold, broke, and alone is not a pretty picture. Yet, significant numbers of boomers face this prospect. While individually little can be done about macro-economics, the rising cost of energy, or declines in property and investment values, for aging boomers there are more potential partners today than ever before. Online dating services and a variety of local social groups all but ensure that those who don’t want to face their senior years alone, don’t have to.
Old, cold, broke and alone need not be your fate.
– – – – –
-
Tucker Carlson2 weeks ago
The only people who liked Jeffrey Epstein were his friends, and some of them are clearly happy he’s dead
-
Tucker Carlson2 weeks ago
Antifa is back in force
-
Business2 weeks ago
Smart Move in a Rough Economy: Help Your Boss to Shine
-
News2 weeks ago
Six Dozen One-Sentence Tips on Reducing Stress
-
Faith7 days ago
The Left Is Fueling a New Racism
-
Tucker Carlson7 days ago
Undercover Video Exposes Pfizer
-
News5 days ago
Mini-Movie Reviews, 6
-
News7 days ago
Rap is Crap