I hope my family and friends never fully understand over-stimulation.
For them to fully understand would mean they also have a brain injury, not something I would wish on anyone. They can experience it for a few minutes in different venues but for many of us it is not something we can walk away from and it is fine after that. We wake up with the potential for it to happen and if we are lucky we make it through the day with our thought process in whatever version of intact exists for us.
Sometimes I try to explain but often it is met with a lack of understanding. They can't concieve of having to wear earplugs in a restaurant and stare at the tabletop because the sound and movement is disorienting. The sound of ice cubes in a glass is overwhelming I used to try to go to lunch or dinner with friends but it was too hard and I was always the one who remained outside the conversation. There were even times I fled rather than experience what I knew was about to happen.
Through all this my wife has been steadfast in her support and she understands a great deal about how things affect me,but trying to explain the explosion of color in the cereal asile is something you can't find words for. If we are lucky they just embrace those things we say 'that would be too much' and work with us to find a way to get through it.
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