Add tinnitus in there and it never really goes away.
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"Just give me like 15 seconds. I'm feeling a lot right now and I need to steady myself."
This is universally understood or misunderstood
"Sorry, feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. Just need some time to myself."
Say it in a friendly tone that doesn't invite undue concern, and you're golden.
A "friendly tone" when my body is telling me to fight, fly, or freeze? I get you wanna help but that's not a reasonable option in most of my cases of overstimulation. If I'm composed enough to say that in a polite tone then I'm not bothered enough to address the situation.
Was just sharing what works for me. Didn't mean to downplay the difficulty of dealing with overstimulation.
I get that it's not always easy (or even possible), but I also find that causing concern or distress in others only exacerbates the issue for me. Nothing helps my overstimulation less than having someone act like I'm having a medical emergency. So I do my best to mask and give as short and honest of an explanation as possible.
But I get that not everyone has the same response. If your overstimulation gets so bad that you can't manage to avoid causing concern in others, then you will obviously need your own solutions. And if you find one that works, feel free to share.
This is my wife...
I literally just became aware that my bare feet were touching each other and I had to reposition my legs because ew
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