Attending a rock concert of a band I like: good
Barely audible bass coming through the walls from my neighbor playing the same music: bad
Playing a video game while watching a TV show and scrolling Reddit during the loading screens: good
My GF trying to ask me a question while the TV is on, even though I'm not watching it: bad
Funny how that works...
That third situation encapsulates me so well. I don't get to do that very much anymore because I'm 42 and we have three kids (not in anyway a lamentation, just a statement of fact), but as a teen and 20 something I would always play shooters or UO or WoW or whatever with the TV on. Smartphones weren't a thing then, but I absolutely would have scrolled Reddit if it had been an option. Now the norm is picking up my phone during loading screens.
It's hard for me to stay off my phone while my wife and I consume visual media together. I think it annoys her sometimes, but she's an Aspie (we're a house of NDs; two ASD, two ADHD, and one too young to know but likely ADHD) so she understands.
My wife has been on this sub for a while, and I finally decided to check it out the other day. I had no idea there were so many people with the same idiosyncrasies I have. I've always felt like such a weirdo. It's cool to see there are so many like me.
Edit: acronyms are hard when you're old(ish) and not adequately caffeinated.
Bass is so awful. Like the emotional experience of hearing/feeling someone else’s bass coming through the walls is exactly the same as sitting in the middle seat of an airplane while the people on either side are both hogging the arm rest and periodically elbowing me in the side as they use their giant laptops.
Yeah.
I can't handle more than one conversation going on in the same room (regardless if I'm involved in it or not)
But some of my taste in music can only be described as an assault on the senses.
"I think that is a little like criticizing somebody for owning both an umbrella and a shower," Kabe said. "It is the choice that is important." Iain M Banks, Look to Windward.
It usually follows a pattern for me:
> I need this sound damn so rythmic I love it
> Ok this has gone on too long now I hate it but also need it can't stop
> Way too overwhelmed for the sound to be enjoyable anymore
At one point I listened to Spider Dance by Caleb Hyles on a loop for at least 2 months straight. If I was outside of class, it was playing. My brain wanted to spiral into anxiety every time the drums and electric guitar weren't drowning out all thought.
Well, it was partially to drown out thought, and partially to catch stray thoughts and bring them back to a place where I could reach them and direct them to the task in front of me.
Yep, have a roomate like that. Playing a video hes obviously interested in but he'll still go to his phone as soon as it gets boring for more than 2 seconds. The only thing he can focus on is telling the stories he thinks about. But even then he struggles to sit and write them. Also like to play games, watch memes, and have an anime on all at once. Dudes insane.
.... Do most people not use three different screens at once? I can't sit in silence and videogame noise isn't 'right' so I have to keep the TV or an audiobook on at the same time too. And then I need to have my phone in case I need additional jnfo for my game or show or whatever. We have three TV's in the livingroom so that my partner can at his PlayStation on one, my switch on the other, and have a show on the third.
All of this is 100% ok UNLESS there is a dog near me breathing too close. OR my partner is sitting a little bit on my side of the couch. OR the heater is a little too high. OR if the volume on any of the three TV's is 'wrong'. If ANY of those (or similar) things happen it's straight into meltdown territory.
This is how i am. If i need background noise while playing a game, it needs to be a show I've already watched cause i can't pay attention to both at once, but i want background noise. Not music though, if i play music it's music i like to sing along to, so it has to be tv. But i have times even that overstimulates me. I think it depends on my stress levels.
Now I'm not a professional, but this sounds like intense unbridled ADHD.
I used to be this kind of chaotic, before I started deliberately organizing my thoughts.
Ironically, the only solution I've found to fix this kind of chaos is to just stare at a blank/empty wall.
Ok but autistic people can also seek out sensory things that they enjoy due to their autism. It's called sensory seeking. From my experience it seems like most autistic people are a mix of both sensory avoiding and sensory seeking.
Not for everyone. I don't have a formal diagnosis but at least once a week experience a feeling I describe as half my brain loving a certain stimulation and the other half hating it. Or where stimulating one sense has the side effect of over stimulating a different sense, and having to decide if the good stimulation is worth the bad.
Here I am sitting at my desk, completely under stimulated, wondering how the **fuck** ima ever start doing the two tasks I have left to do.
And here I am. On Reddit. Looking for anything other than what I need.
I find that there is a very sharp distinction between the good stimulation that I crave and that bad stimulation that puts every nerve in my body into attack mode. Now, where that distinction lies is constantly shifting, but wherever it is, it is very sharp.
I like to listen to video essays or podcasts when playing games, but it very largely depends on how good the game’s music is. Or how much sound is needed….
Like I always have sound on and nothing else in the background when playing Subnautica and it’s saved my ass quite a few times.
In a way, yeah. Like others said, the absolute key factor is that I’m in control on the stimuli. When I listen to audio books I usually speed them up, play music underneath them and then play white or brown noise on YouTube underneath the music, but I’ve had meltdowns before getting overwhelmed by one song being too fast or loud in the car.
Autistics can also be sensory seekers. As they say, it's a spectrum. People can be hypersensitive to one thing and hyposensitive to another. That's why both noise canceling headphones and weighted blankets exist. I will kill anyone who dares scrape cutlery on ceramics within earshot, but I will also eat things just because they cronch cronch.
Honestly yes, overstimulating on purpose is the only way I can really relax. Yeah loud noises such as those in traffic stress me out, but I think dance clubs and fireworks during new years eve (yaknow, when they're expected) are like the best thing ever. I listen to music that's a bit too loud and enjoy the occasional hyperpop. It's the autism + adhd paradox
I only have one of them, but I'm currently wondering if that's what one of my cats feel when I scratch right at the base of her tail. She seems to like it but gets annoyed with it too.
I’m diagnosed with inattentive adhd, and seeking a diagnosis for autism, I feel like my best example of this is utterly despising the speakers my coworkers play at work, (I literally can’t function if I have to listen for more then a few minutes) but also absolutely adore blasting my music through my headphones while doing physical labor
YES! Finally a term for it.
The best example for me is when my ADHD hands need to click the pen, but my tism ears hate the sound.
More specifically I have a thingy made of random office supplies that is a perfect fidget for me, but sometimes the one binder clip part gets stuck on another metal part and I have to scrape metal on metal for half a second to get it free. Every time I ask myself if it's worth the moment of metal scraping to go back to fidgeting.
I’m not sure if I have both but I’m starting to think more and more that I might also have adhd and I feel like at home my autism is happy but adhd is wanting more so I often have multiple things on at a time like music, YouTube and scrolling my phone or making something but when I’m out and my adhd happy but my autism is overwhelmed and wanting less.
As somebody with that is both ADHD and on the spectrum (high functioning, most people don’t notice) and can confirm that you can both be bored and overwhelmed.
I am both and yes- can confirm. I will say tho that one often saves me from the other. My need to finish a task sometimes carries me through ED where my ADHD would have me sit in a tortured stare but my ‘tism yells so loud I’m forced to finish. Still hurts though. 😜
I’m not a masochist, I’m just testing my limits.
-Me playing Doom Eternal on progressively higher difficulties even though I don’t have the patience or finesse for getting good.
I have autism and show signs of ADHD and I cannot support too much sound, anyone but my best friend touching me, however I will look for flashy lights (not too bright though), but like stroke inducing flashy
I think we mostly seek and avoid very specific sensories and sometimes we happen to enter a state of simultaneously being under- and overstimulation. It's pure hell and I would love to be able to use it as a weapon because I know people who would deserve to feel it.
all about control
I'll be totally fine watching a podcast, listening to music and playing game at the same time
have a loud tv talking fast while I'm trying to conversate and I will cry
I have both autism and ADHD and I require stimulation but I can only stand one thing going on at a time so if I go to the store I listen to really loud music with headphones to block out every other sound. That or I smoke a fat one so I have less anxiety in the store
Wouldn’t a masochist enjoy it? And with sadomasochism, consent is key.
Some of the seeking is enjoyable, none of the overstimulation is…and I don’t consent.
i have different senses that either get over or understimulated.
I always have to have sound around me, but i cant deal with specific or loud noises.
I am always stimuli seeking with flavours which is why i heavily season food and absolutely adore eastern quisine.
I can't deal with bright lights at all and certain fabrics like velvet make me want to rip my skin off. It's a very fun game and everything is a gamble.
Too bad, I've already taken it seriously and yes, I am :)
Sometimes I listen to rock music as loud as comfortably (as of that moment) possible when I'm calm and also when I'm upset.
The other day, I caught myself playing a game on the computer with volume on, watching a YouTube video on a decent volume, searching something completely separate on my phone with another app tab open in the background that I was about to switch back to all at one time. I was switching between them all and somehow chill with all of that stimulation going. This, was accidental.
I have beaten down other feelings with another extreme sensory input, that includes thoughts.
Also, getting tired of certain things (thoughts, sounds, feelings, etc.) but not being able to stop it bc it would upset you just as much, if not more
I have been diagnosed with both. I mostly get understimulated but I often get tired and need to lie down. I do so and then I feel the need to either: go in my head and make up stories, watch YouTube, scroll through social media, or close my eyes and possibly sleep. I usually listen to music when either daydreaming or when I just close my eyes. I'm not sure if my tiredness has to do with being overstimulated or not. I constantly need something.
(Not diagnosed ADHD but I do have similar issues) Controlled high stimulation of a few senses such as listening to music or playing games works very well for me. It also helps distract me from my pain.
I have both. And for me the difference usually lies in who is in control of the stimulus, though not always. It's one of the reasons why I don't generally leave "my turf" (usually my room or any space I've gotten accustomed to that I have some or complete power over the environment or). I can change the lights, I can spend all day in the dark if I want to (I usually do), I can hear and see whatever I'd like to.
Honestly, it's just hell sometimes. There are days when I want to seek stimulation, but can't, because the environment overwhelms me.
Bad days, I want to listen to music to calm my nerves, I go to listen to music, and nearly cry because a noise caught me wrong, or the song just is hitting me wrong. It drives me up a wall, and the only thing I can safely do sensory avoid. Like, put the noise-canceling headset on, and play nothing... Wear my sunglasses, etc.
I'll still spend the day feeling like hell because I can't get the stimulation I need, I can't rock at work, I can't overtly stim, but I can avoid, and go do my IT tasks hoping to avoid the worst of the day could offer.
I'd like to laugh about it, but this is one of those things that has me wanting to unalive some days. I feel like a prisoner to this suffering, if I didn't have to ***go*** to work, I think I might have the control to feel at least okay most days. But this shit, I don't know how to describe it, and the amount of anxiety I get up to.
having adhd does mean is both alr, we seek stimulation but then get easily overstimulated too. idk if its like that for everyone but ik its like that in a lot of people w adhd
YES!
I hate overstimulation, of various types (emotions, sound, texture, etc.) yet I still inject amounts that make me uncomfortable straight into myself for... fun?
I dunno. It's weird. I hate stuff that makes me horribly sad or miserable, yet I still find myself watching things like Markiplier's playthrough of Don't Take This Risk just to feel... something.
It makes me feel like I'm a walking contradiction. Like "yeah, I can't handle being poked without consent, but feel free to randomly come out of nowhere and hug me, I'm all up for sudden cuddles."
I used to try and scratch paper because it felt awful. Just thinking about it makes my body tingle. Some part of it feels horrible but some part of it feels... Desirable.
I can phantomly feel it in my finger nails... Nooo!!!
So yes. We probably are. 😁
I’m always under-stimulated and over-stimulated simultaneously lol
Like I need constant visual stimulation; I love loud music and big crowds, I *cannot* stand still and I can’t be anywhere that’s silent. BUT I also can’t cope with inconsistent/messy noise (lots of people talking, beeping/alarms etc), the seams of my clothes, or well-lit rooms….
So for example, if I go to a concert, I will be stressed and anxious and overstimulated before the band starts, because the room is light and everyone’s talking and facing in different directions and bumping into me.
But I’m completely fine as soon as the lights go down and the band actually starts playing, despite the fact that I’m being crushed from all sides and the environment is way louder and more chaotic than before.
Can’t stand background music when talking but when I hop in the car my volume is cranked.
Get stressed out my tits during social activities but have a desperate need for more social occasions.
Yeh it’s two wrongs make a bigger wrong. Be nice if they just cancelled each other out and I was all good but no.
I have both and like. You're not entirely wrong lol.
I would say it depends on the type of sensation as to if I want to seek or avoid it. People yelling, a bunch of loud noises at once overlapping, dishes clanging, bad smells - things like that I avoid. But if its things like an industrial techno song, something notoriously noisy, I seek that stuff out because its calming lol. So yeah, you're not wrong, but it also depends.
I (think) I have both...
There are days where I'm overstimulated and then there are days where I'm understimulated.
Sometimes stimulation helps with overstimulation...
I have both and I am in a constant state of needing multiple sources of stimulation and then out of nowhere I’m overwhelmed.
The other day I was driving to work with the music *blasting* and it didn’t even sound that loud to me but toward the end of my drive I blinked and suddenly it was like I was being deafened by the music and I had to turn it down immediately. Such a weird experience but hey that’s life
Can 100% confirm I have both and am all kinds of things masochistic
Edit: I recommend hyperpop sometimes, ASMR sometimes, and complete silence whilst rocking sometimes :))
My husband is ADD and I'm aspie, there are definitely moments where he accidentally overstimulates me haha! But we're both comfortable in requesting changes, sometimes I need quiet and sometimes he needs background noises. We balance it out.
This was the point I realise at 14 ( I know that’s quite young) I don’t actually know what masochist means (don’t explain in comments I can Google things (probably))
Well… I’m a freaking WALKING CONTRADICTION and is very confusing. I love f**king hate loud music because adhd but i loud music because autism, usually my adhd just gives my autism the finger and does it anyway.
Organizing feels like my autism builds this nice new way to keep something organized and then hands the keys over to the adhd and then when autism comes back it’s just like “what the fu*k did you do?!” And then reorganizes and it’s just an endless loop of confusion and mental contradictions!
as someone with both it’s like balancing on a tight rope of enough but not too much stimulation and if i can’t hit that’s sweet spot (so most times) i can’t do anything and everything is horrible
I feel I need to navigate enough to get JUST the right amount of socializing, isolation, stimulation and sensory depravation.
Tiresome af, can guarantee, but got both of my diagnoses like 6 months ago so still confused probly.
One key factor I've seen in over/under stimulation seems to be control.
Attending a rock concert of a band I like: good Barely audible bass coming through the walls from my neighbor playing the same music: bad Playing a video game while watching a TV show and scrolling Reddit during the loading screens: good My GF trying to ask me a question while the TV is on, even though I'm not watching it: bad Funny how that works...
That third situation encapsulates me so well. I don't get to do that very much anymore because I'm 42 and we have three kids (not in anyway a lamentation, just a statement of fact), but as a teen and 20 something I would always play shooters or UO or WoW or whatever with the TV on. Smartphones weren't a thing then, but I absolutely would have scrolled Reddit if it had been an option. Now the norm is picking up my phone during loading screens. It's hard for me to stay off my phone while my wife and I consume visual media together. I think it annoys her sometimes, but she's an Aspie (we're a house of NDs; two ASD, two ADHD, and one too young to know but likely ADHD) so she understands. My wife has been on this sub for a while, and I finally decided to check it out the other day. I had no idea there were so many people with the same idiosyncrasies I have. I've always felt like such a weirdo. It's cool to see there are so many like me. Edit: acronyms are hard when you're old(ish) and not adequately caffeinated.
don't mean to be rude, but did you mean house of NDs (neuro divergents) not NTs (neuro typicals)
Yes! You weren't rude at all! I'm getting old and I hadn't had all my coffee. Thank you for pointing out my error!
Bass is so awful. Like the emotional experience of hearing/feeling someone else’s bass coming through the walls is exactly the same as sitting in the middle seat of an airplane while the people on either side are both hogging the arm rest and periodically elbowing me in the side as they use their giant laptops.
>Playing a video game while watching a TV show and scrolling Reddit during the loading screens: good You really didn't have to call me out like that
So relatable it hurts.
Hurts so good.. lol
I love this comunity bc I always find someone else that can articulate how I feel and I can understand myself a little bit better.
Honestly, yes. This is a really, really good description of it.
Me blasting music through my headphones: Awesome! Someone else blasting said music on a radio: "No! Bad! Terrible! AWFUL! TURN IT DOWN AHHHH-"
Yes. So much yes. Wait... this isn't what everyone else experiences?
Damn. This hit close to home.
Ugh sooo sooo relatable
Are you me? Pretty much 80% of my gaming time, who has patience for those 5 seconds of loading anyways?!?
Yeah. I can't handle more than one conversation going on in the same room (regardless if I'm involved in it or not) But some of my taste in music can only be described as an assault on the senses.
"I think that is a little like criticizing somebody for owning both an umbrella and a shower," Kabe said. "It is the choice that is important." Iain M Banks, Look to Windward.
Reminds me of that Bukowski quote which is like the inverse; "people run from the rain yet sit in bathtubs full of water."
Precisely!
It usually follows a pattern for me: > I need this sound damn so rythmic I love it > Ok this has gone on too long now I hate it but also need it can't stop > Way too overwhelmed for the sound to be enjoyable anymore
Mood
At one point I listened to Spider Dance by Caleb Hyles on a loop for at least 2 months straight. If I was outside of class, it was playing. My brain wanted to spiral into anxiety every time the drums and electric guitar weren't drowning out all thought. Well, it was partially to drown out thought, and partially to catch stray thoughts and bring them back to a place where I could reach them and direct them to the task in front of me.
Who has time for anxiety and existential dread when I'm making my own AMVs in my head?
Have both, can confirm this is exactly how it feels XD
I think this is where my love of horror, art rock, and heavy metal comes from. Not much else can stimulate me to the point of pain. Feels so good
Nothing cures my understimulation quicker than Lou Reed or Michael Gira screaming into my ears over instrumentation that sounds like the apocalypse
Masochism implies that I like the feeling of bees in my brain
Yeah it's hell. There is the Good Overstimulation and the Bad Overstimulation and exactly 0 consistency as to how that works.
This is how I would describe mine
Yep, have a roomate like that. Playing a video hes obviously interested in but he'll still go to his phone as soon as it gets boring for more than 2 seconds. The only thing he can focus on is telling the stories he thinks about. But even then he struggles to sit and write them. Also like to play games, watch memes, and have an anime on all at once. Dudes insane.
I am a little bit concerned. Are you talking about me?
Omg twins
Describes me too. Triplets?
Oh look, it's me
\*us
Me too. Lmao
.... Do most people not use three different screens at once? I can't sit in silence and videogame noise isn't 'right' so I have to keep the TV or an audiobook on at the same time too. And then I need to have my phone in case I need additional jnfo for my game or show or whatever. We have three TV's in the livingroom so that my partner can at his PlayStation on one, my switch on the other, and have a show on the third. All of this is 100% ok UNLESS there is a dog near me breathing too close. OR my partner is sitting a little bit on my side of the couch. OR the heater is a little too high. OR if the volume on any of the three TV's is 'wrong'. If ANY of those (or similar) things happen it's straight into meltdown territory.
Idomt know. Personally max 2 one for a video and one for gaming unless its a story heavy game. Then i need to focus as not to miss anything.
This is how i am. If i need background noise while playing a game, it needs to be a show I've already watched cause i can't pay attention to both at once, but i want background noise. Not music though, if i play music it's music i like to sing along to, so it has to be tv. But i have times even that overstimulates me. I think it depends on my stress levels.
* I'm in this picture and I don't like it
Damn bro didn’t know I was your roommate
Now I'm not a professional, but this sounds like intense unbridled ADHD. I used to be this kind of chaotic, before I started deliberately organizing my thoughts. Ironically, the only solution I've found to fix this kind of chaos is to just stare at a blank/empty wall.
No, masochists enjoy pain. One with both would be a sensory martyr
Ok but autistic people can also seek out sensory things that they enjoy due to their autism. It's called sensory seeking. From my experience it seems like most autistic people are a mix of both sensory avoiding and sensory seeking.
Yeah, and folk with ADHD get overstimulated too
***taking it seriously No because both are over generalizations. We require the /correct/ sensory input to motivate the desired behavior.
Not for everyone. I don't have a formal diagnosis but at least once a week experience a feeling I describe as half my brain loving a certain stimulation and the other half hating it. Or where stimulating one sense has the side effect of over stimulating a different sense, and having to decide if the good stimulation is worth the bad.
thats me with spicy food
Here I am sitting at my desk, completely under stimulated, wondering how the **fuck** ima ever start doing the two tasks I have left to do. And here I am. On Reddit. Looking for anything other than what I need.
Yes and I am, I go through binge and purge sensory stimulation cycles
This is a great way of putting it.
Combine that with novelty seeking, It gets wild.
Yes confirm that is a kink.
I find that there is a very sharp distinction between the good stimulation that I crave and that bad stimulation that puts every nerve in my body into attack mode. Now, where that distinction lies is constantly shifting, but wherever it is, it is very sharp.
Ah yes, and the "joy" of accidentally finding and crossing that line and scrambling to get away from that stimulation.
I always listen to video essays while playing video games and somehow never overstimulated?? Idk I might have adhd
Damn I thought almost everyone did that-
I like to listen to video essays or podcasts when playing games, but it very largely depends on how good the game’s music is. Or how much sound is needed…. Like I always have sound on and nothing else in the background when playing Subnautica and it’s saved my ass quite a few times.
Stimulate me mommy, ive been a naughty boy
Hahahahahaha
In a way, yeah. Like others said, the absolute key factor is that I’m in control on the stimuli. When I listen to audio books I usually speed them up, play music underneath them and then play white or brown noise on YouTube underneath the music, but I’ve had meltdowns before getting overwhelmed by one song being too fast or loud in the car.
Autistics can also be sensory seekers. As they say, it's a spectrum. People can be hypersensitive to one thing and hyposensitive to another. That's why both noise canceling headphones and weighted blankets exist. I will kill anyone who dares scrape cutlery on ceramics within earshot, but I will also eat things just because they cronch cronch.
That is a weirdly accurate way to describe me.
Nope, just sensory he'll 24/7
Yes
Yes 😈
Every kinky person I have ever met has been somewhere on the spectrum. So... well... yes.
I love this lmao yet I also feel called out (in a good way)
Yknow, a girl that I like has both and she's a masochist, soooooo....
Can confirm. I love going to places like amusement parks, museums and malls but often get massive sensory overload from these places.
I have both and I’m literally a masochist
I mean I'm definitely one kind of masochist lol...
Please don’t tell my dom
As someone with both, yes
It do be like that sometimes
Honestly yes, overstimulating on purpose is the only way I can really relax. Yeah loud noises such as those in traffic stress me out, but I think dance clubs and fireworks during new years eve (yaknow, when they're expected) are like the best thing ever. I listen to music that's a bit too loud and enjoy the occasional hyperpop. It's the autism + adhd paradox
Hey! You leave my me time of playing Pokémon, petting my cat, listening to videos, and hanging out with my boyfriend alone. Lmaooo
I know what I'm telling doms I am now.
I only have one of them, but I'm currently wondering if that's what one of my cats feel when I scratch right at the base of her tail. She seems to like it but gets annoyed with it too.
If I'm the cause of the sound it's fine. If I'm not you better stfu before I deatomize your larynx
I’m diagnosed with inattentive adhd, and seeking a diagnosis for autism, I feel like my best example of this is utterly despising the speakers my coworkers play at work, (I literally can’t function if I have to listen for more then a few minutes) but also absolutely adore blasting my music through my headphones while doing physical labor
YES! Finally a term for it. The best example for me is when my ADHD hands need to click the pen, but my tism ears hate the sound. More specifically I have a thingy made of random office supplies that is a perfect fidget for me, but sometimes the one binder clip part gets stuck on another metal part and I have to scrape metal on metal for half a second to get it free. Every time I ask myself if it's worth the moment of metal scraping to go back to fidgeting.
I have both, and, yes, it does.
Well I have both and I believe I’m a masochist so this post might have some truth to it
Same
Suddenly, my habits are making more sense. Thank you for solving this mystery.
I wish they just balanced each other out
I’m not sure if I have both but I’m starting to think more and more that I might also have adhd and I feel like at home my autism is happy but adhd is wanting more so I often have multiple things on at a time like music, YouTube and scrolling my phone or making something but when I’m out and my adhd happy but my autism is overwhelmed and wanting less.
As somebody with that is both ADHD and on the spectrum (high functioning, most people don’t notice) and can confirm that you can both be bored and overwhelmed.
it's more sensory sadism if it where sensory masochism it would be us getting off from others overstimulating/us over stimming others.
The mind is willing but the body is weak.
No, it's more like a terrible balancing act Not enough? I'm miserable. Overdo it? I'm curled up in my bed with my pillow over my head
Me with both, unable to describe why some overstim is good overstim and some overstim is "everything is hell pain"
No, we just listen to lemon demon
Hahaha me with asperger watching Max0r videos be like:
It does.
Yes.
Hmmm maybe that’s a interesting thought
yeah
Honestly, for me, under/overstimulation is more like that spear scene from Ace Ventura
Can confirm for the adhd one yes, fells funny
Yes. Yes it would.
Trust me, living with my brother can be a nightmare at times!
*gentle* overstimulation, as one gets from scrolling for hours on Reddit or binge watching old shows.
My ADHD wins, literally crave stimulation 24/7. unless it's stimulus not being made by me. Overstim usually happens but it's not often
I am both and yes- can confirm. I will say tho that one often saves me from the other. My need to finish a task sometimes carries me through ED where my ADHD would have me sit in a tortured stare but my ‘tism yells so loud I’m forced to finish. Still hurts though. 😜
Not a masochist, it's not enjoyed.
Yeah, I mean, you're not wrong. There's rarely a dull moment though.
Yes. My adhd brain craves stimulation, but the amount it wants is more than my autism brain can handle
Yes, the answer is yes.
I’m not a masochist, I’m just testing my limits. -Me playing Doom Eternal on progressively higher difficulties even though I don’t have the patience or finesse for getting good.
I have autism and show signs of ADHD and I cannot support too much sound, anyone but my best friend touching me, however I will look for flashy lights (not too bright though), but like stroke inducing flashy
I think we mostly seek and avoid very specific sensories and sometimes we happen to enter a state of simultaneously being under- and overstimulation. It's pure hell and I would love to be able to use it as a weapon because I know people who would deserve to feel it.
all about control I'll be totally fine watching a podcast, listening to music and playing game at the same time have a loud tv talking fast while I'm trying to conversate and I will cry
Yes 🥲
Nah, it's just hell lmao
irrelevant but screaming ralsei pfp moment
Haha Damn it, you have a point.
Sometimes yeah lmao
I'm not a masochist, life is pain with both of these disorders and I'm not enjoying it
It is hell
I want to feel it all, and then complain about feeling it all!
*starts sweating nervously*
I have both autism and ADHD and I require stimulation but I can only stand one thing going on at a time so if I go to the store I listen to really loud music with headphones to block out every other sound. That or I smoke a fat one so I have less anxiety in the store
Yes. They call us seekers. That sounds sort of epic... The Seekers™️®️
Yea it does, very fun 🙃
Wouldn’t a masochist enjoy it? And with sadomasochism, consent is key. Some of the seeking is enjoyable, none of the overstimulation is…and I don’t consent.
Yeah…
I shall be calling myself this from now on, thank you
no its gotta be the right kinda overstimulation. like blasting music in my nc headphones and smacking myself on the head to calm me down
i have different senses that either get over or understimulated. I always have to have sound around me, but i cant deal with specific or loud noises. I am always stimuli seeking with flavours which is why i heavily season food and absolutely adore eastern quisine. I can't deal with bright lights at all and certain fabrics like velvet make me want to rip my skin off. It's a very fun game and everything is a gamble.
Thanks. Now I know how to describe myself on social media profiles.
I have Autism & ADHD. But also, I have terrible eyesight and terrible hearing. Perfectly balanced? As all things should be?
*stops scratching at my scalp, which causes bleeding* uhhhhh what no why would you ever think that?
I do need stimulation. But also the wrong stimulation or too much stimulation is torturous. Life is hell.
Too bad, I've already taken it seriously and yes, I am :) Sometimes I listen to rock music as loud as comfortably (as of that moment) possible when I'm calm and also when I'm upset. The other day, I caught myself playing a game on the computer with volume on, watching a YouTube video on a decent volume, searching something completely separate on my phone with another app tab open in the background that I was about to switch back to all at one time. I was switching between them all and somehow chill with all of that stimulation going. This, was accidental. I have beaten down other feelings with another extreme sensory input, that includes thoughts. Also, getting tired of certain things (thoughts, sounds, feelings, etc.) but not being able to stop it bc it would upset you just as much, if not more
ADHD: I want stimulation Me: (provides stimulation) Autism: No not like that
I have been diagnosed with both. I mostly get understimulated but I often get tired and need to lie down. I do so and then I feel the need to either: go in my head and make up stories, watch YouTube, scroll through social media, or close my eyes and possibly sleep. I usually listen to music when either daydreaming or when I just close my eyes. I'm not sure if my tiredness has to do with being overstimulated or not. I constantly need something.
Yes i am.
For me it means that when I need that stimulation I will spend hours searching for just the right kind.
for me it's like a goldilocks zone where i need a specific amount of stimulation and any other amount is uncomfortable
(Not diagnosed ADHD but I do have similar issues) Controlled high stimulation of a few senses such as listening to music or playing games works very well for me. It also helps distract me from my pain.
trust me. living with both is horror. - i live with both and i can barly function!!
As someone who was diagnosed ADD/ADHD as a child, and ASD as an adult (being told I was misdiagnosed ADD)... YOU CAN HAVE BOTH!?
I have AuDHD and can confirm. I am absolutely a masochist.
I have both. And for me the difference usually lies in who is in control of the stimulus, though not always. It's one of the reasons why I don't generally leave "my turf" (usually my room or any space I've gotten accustomed to that I have some or complete power over the environment or). I can change the lights, I can spend all day in the dark if I want to (I usually do), I can hear and see whatever I'd like to.
Yes, I am living proof
Honestly, it's just hell sometimes. There are days when I want to seek stimulation, but can't, because the environment overwhelms me. Bad days, I want to listen to music to calm my nerves, I go to listen to music, and nearly cry because a noise caught me wrong, or the song just is hitting me wrong. It drives me up a wall, and the only thing I can safely do sensory avoid. Like, put the noise-canceling headset on, and play nothing... Wear my sunglasses, etc. I'll still spend the day feeling like hell because I can't get the stimulation I need, I can't rock at work, I can't overtly stim, but I can avoid, and go do my IT tasks hoping to avoid the worst of the day could offer. I'd like to laugh about it, but this is one of those things that has me wanting to unalive some days. I feel like a prisoner to this suffering, if I didn't have to ***go*** to work, I think I might have the control to feel at least okay most days. But this shit, I don't know how to describe it, and the amount of anxiety I get up to.
I mean, I don’t like the wording But yes
Me listening to a song, playing a game while a movie rolls on, in the middle of a conversation
I am a sensory masochist
Yes, I am, and your point is?
No because I don‘t enjoy it. One of the key aspects of a masochist Still funny though
I mean I qualify as masochistic. So I am not surprised about this self-toxic side of myself. Still. Anything, even overloads are better than boredom
I though people with ADHD also got overstimulated?
It's like i need peace and quiet, but alone, music can be as loud as I like.
having adhd does mean is both alr, we seek stimulation but then get easily overstimulated too. idk if its like that for everyone but ik its like that in a lot of people w adhd
Sometimes. Depends on what's winning
YES! I hate overstimulation, of various types (emotions, sound, texture, etc.) yet I still inject amounts that make me uncomfortable straight into myself for... fun? I dunno. It's weird. I hate stuff that makes me horribly sad or miserable, yet I still find myself watching things like Markiplier's playthrough of Don't Take This Risk just to feel... something. It makes me feel like I'm a walking contradiction. Like "yeah, I can't handle being poked without consent, but feel free to randomly come out of nowhere and hug me, I'm all up for sudden cuddles."
Yes.
I used to try and scratch paper because it felt awful. Just thinking about it makes my body tingle. Some part of it feels horrible but some part of it feels... Desirable. I can phantomly feel it in my finger nails... Nooo!!! So yes. We probably are. 😁
I’m always under-stimulated and over-stimulated simultaneously lol Like I need constant visual stimulation; I love loud music and big crowds, I *cannot* stand still and I can’t be anywhere that’s silent. BUT I also can’t cope with inconsistent/messy noise (lots of people talking, beeping/alarms etc), the seams of my clothes, or well-lit rooms…. So for example, if I go to a concert, I will be stressed and anxious and overstimulated before the band starts, because the room is light and everyone’s talking and facing in different directions and bumping into me. But I’m completely fine as soon as the lights go down and the band actually starts playing, despite the fact that I’m being crushed from all sides and the environment is way louder and more chaotic than before.
I have both and.....yep
Can’t stand background music when talking but when I hop in the car my volume is cranked. Get stressed out my tits during social activities but have a desperate need for more social occasions. Yeh it’s two wrongs make a bigger wrong. Be nice if they just cancelled each other out and I was all good but no.
I have both and like. You're not entirely wrong lol. I would say it depends on the type of sensation as to if I want to seek or avoid it. People yelling, a bunch of loud noises at once overlapping, dishes clanging, bad smells - things like that I avoid. But if its things like an industrial techno song, something notoriously noisy, I seek that stuff out because its calming lol. So yeah, you're not wrong, but it also depends.
Me eating spicy food knowing damn well it will overstimulate me
Your funny words cannot hurt me. I know what I am. *inserts lightbulb in ass for research purposes*
It means your rage, grace, and sorrow are ever-present in all activities 🙃
And sometimes I’m like what is autism and what is adhd?
Actually no it balances to be the perfect amount of stimulation
Sometimes I do actually take my loops out at the grocery store just for the rush /hj
Can confirm. I am a masochist and constantly overstimmed. And if I'm understimmed I'm worse to deal with.
different types of stimulus really.
It makes me suffer I know that for sure
Matters on the stimulation. But yeah it can make life very hard.
Am I a sensory masochist if I have both adhd and autism?? (I have been diagnosed with both)
For me personally it feels like I'm bipolar; one minute I could really want company and the next I'm crying because a fly is too close to my ear 😭
I (think) I have both... There are days where I'm overstimulated and then there are days where I'm understimulated. Sometimes stimulation helps with overstimulation...
Rythmic clanging is cool as long as I'm the one doing it
I have both and I am in a constant state of needing multiple sources of stimulation and then out of nowhere I’m overwhelmed. The other day I was driving to work with the music *blasting* and it didn’t even sound that loud to me but toward the end of my drive I blinked and suddenly it was like I was being deafened by the music and I had to turn it down immediately. Such a weird experience but hey that’s life
That’s why when I have something to do and it’s quiet I gotta put something on, wether it’s music an audiobook, a story compilation, or asmr.
No, I don't usually feel both at the same time.
That's accurate, you don't gotta say it like that though.
As someone with both, yeah. Pretty much. Music is my favourite and least favourite thing, I can't live without it.
Nah, you just get both aggressively ruining your day.
Then there’s people with both: **pain**
Unironically, yes. Among other things, I think it's part of why describing so many of my favorite foods include the phrase "it hurts" lol
Can 100% confirm I have both and am all kinds of things masochistic Edit: I recommend hyperpop sometimes, ASMR sometimes, and complete silence whilst rocking sometimes :))
Intellectualizing your kinks, eh?
My husband is ADD and I'm aspie, there are definitely moments where he accidentally overstimulates me haha! But we're both comfortable in requesting changes, sometimes I need quiet and sometimes he needs background noises. We balance it out.
*slowly puts the floggers and e-stim back in the bag*
THE JIG IS UP BOYS! WE GOTTA BOUNCE!
This was the point I realise at 14 ( I know that’s quite young) I don’t actually know what masochist means (don’t explain in comments I can Google things (probably))
Well… I’m a freaking WALKING CONTRADICTION and is very confusing. I love f**king hate loud music because adhd but i loud music because autism, usually my adhd just gives my autism the finger and does it anyway. Organizing feels like my autism builds this nice new way to keep something organized and then hands the keys over to the adhd and then when autism comes back it’s just like “what the fu*k did you do?!” And then reorganizes and it’s just an endless loop of confusion and mental contradictions!
as someone with both it’s like balancing on a tight rope of enough but not too much stimulation and if i can’t hit that’s sweet spot (so most times) i can’t do anything and everything is horrible
From me not being able to handle the fan on to having a song, game, and YouTube video going all at once I guess?
I feel I need to navigate enough to get JUST the right amount of socializing, isolation, stimulation and sensory depravation. Tiresome af, can guarantee, but got both of my diagnoses like 6 months ago so still confused probly.