Sensory triggers list

[リンさん]

I'm currently trying my best to not go into another meltdown second day in a row, so I decided it'd be a fun idea to distract myself by listing things that trigger my sensory issues.

Feel free to list your own, I'd love to read it.

1. Chewing sounds coming from animals or humans; drinking sounds; breathing that I can hear. Once had a meltdown on the train because I could hear someone eating.
2. Sticky things in general, but mostly floors. Feeling the floor that isn't perfectly clean with my feet.
3. Hair touching my body. I have on multiple occasions screamed and cried because there were hairs on my face that I couldn't immediately remove.
4. Even worse, feeling dirty hair on my head.
5. Being dirty in general, feeling my face and body being oily and gross.
6. Bright light. Going out on sunny days, opening my blackout curtains, turning on overhead lights. I can only have one thing emit light at a time, usually my lamp which is turned on the lowest brightness.
7. Too many sounds at once. Too many people trying to speak to me (usually more than one).
8. Touching my own face. I can't do it. I'm so thankful for washcloths, because I can only wash my face with them.
9. Sometimes when I feel that things are already starting to go downhill, feeling clothes on my skin becomes unbearable.
10. I like to keep my nails long sometimes, but it's the absolute worst to have something stuck underneath them.

All I could think of for now. There's probably more, but those are the most prominent and frequent triggers of mine.

 

[Gleysson]

I'm sorry these things cause you so much distress. Hope it gets better over time.

It's funny. I'm not much of a trigger guy. I live around gore and crowded hospitals and ER, so lots of screaming, beeps everywhere, many people talking at the same time, sometimes to me, strong lights everywhere. Not much if nothing makes me sick. Don't engage in agressive behaviour. Have no problem with touch (except my butthole, and my eye, of course), light snoring, smells.

But I absolutely cannot stand the feeling of a dirty mouth. Sometimes after I eat I feel my teeth more "coarse" and it just makes me so ridiculously uncomfortable I can't think straight it's physical. If I come to a shift, or go on a trip or something, and forget my toothbrush, the day is just over. My tongue has to slide when I pass it over my teeth. It's not a problem with taste (except when I eat wheat-based things and that acid taste lingers until you brush) but with texture.

Another thing. At first, I don't have many preferences in deciding where to seat, which of the rooms in the clinic I'm going to take, which side of the bed I sleep. But once it is chosen, wherever I end, it's mine. And I feel profoundly uncomfortable and very annoyed/angry when someone takes "my spot". I go to the same restaurant, order the same things and seat on the same table. If I go to a new restaurant I like to try something new, though.

And the idea of laying in my bed without taking a shower first is just impossible. Absolutely nothing makes me more uncomfortable that laying a greasy head on my soft, clean pillow.

Finally: my brother chewing or drinking something. Nobody other than him. I don't know why. He makes so much noise. He glugs water like the Krakatoa. He chews in a squishy and moist and loud way. I hate it (I love him, though). For comparison, my gf drinks water loudly as well and breathes hard inside the cup, like a child. But I find this so cute and funny (and sometimes make fun of her).

Yeah. I guess I'm a trigger guy. Hahahaha

Fun fact: when I was in my lowest I basically gave up on those things. I was a zombie. Didn't shower, didn't brush teeth. I would just go where was available and easiest.

But I have a pretty severe ADHD so I forget about basically everything in about two minutes, but the uncomfortable feeling lingers and I don't know why. It's hell.

 

[ClaudeCTTE]

Here are my sensory triggers:

1. Dog barking: I hate dogs; every time I go out on the street, there's always a dog that starts barking at me. Their barks are so loud that they always startle me. Whenever I see a dog, I cover my ears.
I wish I were deaf...

2. Heat: I hate living in a hot place.
I think it was one of the reasons I dropped out of college; the heat there was unbearable.
The heat makes my clothes feel damp all the time, especially at night. Sometimes, I feel like I'm rotting...

3. Dog feces: I'm supposed to leave my house to breathe "fresh air," but I end up smelling all the dog feces.
There are always stray dogs on the streets, and they defecate wherever they want. What's worse is that it happens with dogs that have owners too, because they are so irresponsible that they allow their dogs to make the streets dirty.
Whenever I went out, I would always end up with shoes full of dog feces.
And you know what's the worst?
I've even had to endure the smell of COW DUNG...
There are so many farms where I live that cows roam the streets. Sometimes it makes me think I live in India, but no, it's Latin America...

4. Itching in the ear: Since 2018, I've started to suffer from this annoying sensation.
I literally feel like there's an insect inside my ear, and every day, I have to endure this horrible feeling.

5. Evenings: I hate the color of the sun in the evenings. That orange and warm color is repulsive to me. I always cover the windows with dark sheets. That color makes me feel anxious.
Even in open-world video games, I hate seeing the color of the evening...

2. Sticky things in general, but mostly floors. Feeling the floor that isn't perfectly clean with my feet.

6. I relate to this: When I was in elementary school, I remember sometimes putting my hand on the table, and it would feel sticky, as if a kid had left candy there. What a horror!
It was worse on the bus; sometimes, I would touch the seats or the bus poles, and they were all sticky... My soul literally wanted to escape from my body...

7. Oily objects: In addition to sticky things, I hate touching oily objects.
In my house, they don't know how to wash dishes, and whenever I grab one, it feels oily.
The worst thing is when I lent my brother my PS4. I remember grabbing the controller, and it felt completely oily...

8. Clothing with thorns: How I hate it when the fabric of shirts pricks my back as if it had thorns. I can't stand scratching all the time.

9. Loud laughter: The laughs I detest the most are the laughs of people with high-pitched voices. Their laughter is entirely unpleasant to my ears. I remember when I was in school, and everyone laughed; it was basically torture for my ears.

10. ＭＡＹＯＮＮＡＩＳＥ:
There is nothing worse in this world than mayonnaise.
Its nauseating smell is completely unpleasant to me.
Seriously, who came up with that horrible thing?
Whenever I make a burger, a hot dog, or a sandwich, I never put mayonnaise on them, just the bread and the meat.
Whenever I go to McDonald's, I only order french fries.
The worst is that my older brother is a complete psychopath...
He's literally obsessed with that abomination...
He puts mayonnaise on anything...

How many war crimes did I commit in my past life to end up in this world?

 

[リンさん]

Here are my sensory triggers:

1. Dog barking: I hate dogs; every time I go out on the street, there's always a dog that starts barking at me. Their barks are so loud that they always startle me. Whenever I see a dog, I cover my ears.
I wish I were deaf...

2. Heat: I hate living in a hot place.
I think it was one of the reasons I dropped out of college; the heat there was unbearable.
The heat makes my clothes feel damp all the time, especially at night. Sometimes, I feel like I'm rotting...

3. Dog feces: I'm supposed to leave my house to breathe "fresh air," but I end up smelling all the dog feces.
There are always stray dogs on the streets, and they defecate wherever they want. What's worse is that it happens with dogs that have owners too, because they are so irresponsible that they allow their dogs to make the streets dirty.
Whenever I went out, I would always end up with shoes full of dog feces.
And you know what's the worst?
I've even had to endure the smell of COW DUNG...
There are so many farms where I live that cows roam the streets. Sometimes it makes me think I live in India, but no, it's Latin America...

4. Itching in the ear: Since 2018, I've started to suffer from this annoying sensation.
I literally feel like there's an insect inside my ear, and every day, I have to endure this horrible feeling.

5. Evenings: I hate the color of the sun in the evenings. That orange and warm color is repulsive to me. I always cover the windows with dark sheets. That color makes me feel anxious.
Even in open-world video games, I hate seeing the color of the evening...


6. I relate to this: When I was in elementary school, I remember sometimes putting my hand on the table, and it would feel sticky, as if a kid had left candy there. What a horror!
It was worse on the bus; sometimes, I would touch the seats or the bus poles, and they were all sticky... My soul literally wanted to escape from my body...

7. Oily objects: In addition to sticky things, I hate touching oily objects.
In my house, they don't know how to wash dishes, and whenever I grab one, it feels oily.
The worst thing is when I lent my brother my PS4. I remember grabbing the controller, and it felt completely oily...

8. Clothing with thorns: How I hate it when the fabric of shirts pricks my back as if it had thorns. I can't stand scratching all the time.

9. Loud laughter: The laughs I detest the most are the laughs of people with high-pitched voices. Their laughter is entirely unpleasant to my ears. I remember when I was in school, and everyone laughed; it was basically torture for my ears.

10. ＭＡＹＯＮＮＡＩＳＥ:
There is nothing worse in this world than mayonnaise.
Its nauseating smell is completely unpleasant to me.
Seriously, who came up with that horrible thing?
Whenever I make a burger, a hot dog, or a sandwich, I never put mayonnaise on them, just the bread and the meat.
Whenever I go to McDonald's, I only order french fries.
The worst is that my older brother is a complete psychopath...
He's literally obsessed with that abomination...
He puts mayonnaise on anything...

How many war crimes did I commit in my past life to end up in this world?

I relate a lot to the heat thing, which is why I despise summers. Just being slightly sweaty is enough to drive me crazy. Thank god for winters!

I'm so sorry about the ear sensation. It sounds nightmarish. None of us deserved to suffer like this.