Sensory defensiveness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sensory defensiveness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Symptoms

Common symptoms of sensory defensiveness include intolerance of high-pitched noises, intolerance of chewing sounds, intolerance of overhead lights (especially fluorescent lighting); experiencing a feeling of being attacked upon being touched (especially from light touch or sudden touch); intolerance of certain types of fabrics in contact with the skin; becoming nauseated upon smelling something that does not smell bad to neurotypical individuals; difficulty maintaining eye-contact; severe intolerance of foods due to taste, texture, or temperature; and generally becoming overwhelmed when exposed to a lot of sensory stimuli at once.
Intolerance in this context should not always be taken as unwillingness to be subject to the sensory stimuli in question; rather, intolerance is an inability to process the sensory stimuli in any way other than as over-stimulating, because the sensory stimuli provokes a fight-or-flight reaction. This is also known as sensory overload.
Sensory defensiveness can vary between individuals:
The senses that are problematic for one person may not be so for another. (Commonly, individuals report major issues with two or three senses and minor issues with the other senses.)
How easily and the way in which a particular sense bothers individuals varies (e.g. high-pitched noises may annoy someone, or they may hurt his/her ears; touch may provoke anxiety, or it can be painful).
The triggers for a particular sense vary between people (e.g. one person may be sensitive to the texture of mushy foods, while another may be sensitive to crunchy foods).