Spicy-brained friends, I would like to propose an update to the very useful ‘if you hate everyone, eat, if everyone hates you, sleep, and if you hate yourself, shower’ mantra to live by
Have you suddenly become a petty, hateful little gremlin who thinks people should face the firing squad for (checks notes) leaving teabags on the counter, breathing loudly, or daring to exist in the same space as you? Perhaps mundane and reasonable requests like ‘hey, we agreed to hang out now, let’s hang out’ make you want to scream and move to a yurt in the woods.
You. Are. Overstimulated.
People talk a lot about being overstimulated, and the physical/mental effects of it. What I haven’t seen is people talking about what it does emotionally, and it took me an embarassingly long time to link up those nitpicky, resentful emotions with the state of overstimulation/meltdown/shutdown.
These feelings do not mean that you’re a bad person! They probably aren’t how you actually feel about the people around you. They probably do mean that your nervous system is at its absolute limit and any request/demand/stimulus is Too Much and taking you into fight or flight territory.
Go lie down in a dark room for an hour, or find somewhere safe and familiar to stim for a bit. If it’s happening a lot, schedule yourself regular low-stimulation shutdown time
Signed: someone who moved in with their nearest and dearest only to have a massive crisis of faith about Suddenly Hating All of Them. I don’t hate them, it’s just overstimulating living with people. If I can spare anyone else a similar 9 months of suspecting that they may actually be a bit of a shit person, then this post is worth it!
Forget me not - Ingrid Smuling, 2010.
Dutch, b. 1944 -
Oil on panel , 13 x 13 cm.
“You are not a reflection of the people who can’t love you.”
— Unknown
A Checklist Of Possible Reasons I Am Upset, To Review When I Can't Seem To Figure It Out:
did not eat
new hyperfixation and no time for it
have not done a creative in 24 hrs
Bad Sounds
clothes are touching my body
cold
people
one (1) comment is stuck in my brain like a popcorn kernel
last time I drank water was ??????
nervous nervous nervous nervous
got a Slightly Worse grade than expected
last hug was ??????
slept a full 45 minutes
lonely ............
guts are shredding (again)
have not seen sunlight in 24 hrs
stuck inside
too much screen time
Yay Overwhelm
room is disaster area
have not talked to Person in a while
bored
imposter phenomenon (again)
no current routine
how long have I been working???
Too Much Socialization
and then. and THEN. I may consider:
something is actually wrong
Seattle Public Library is doing this awesome program called Books Unbanned that allows teens and young adults (ages 13-26) access to their collection of e-books and e-audiobooks from anywhere in the USA. All you need to do is fill out a simple form and you get their Books Unbanned card. Please share this information far and wide. I know they're not the only ones to have done this, but the more the merrier!
Hello! I'm just here for random things that make me happy - art, nature, fandom memes
276 posts