Is it normal to feel everything all the time?

I feel things constantly, and no matter what I have tried over the years to numb it, or quiet it, or calm it - nothing seems to work. I've tried alcohol, cannabis, prescription anti-anxiety pills, the works! I've seen shrinks and therapists, tried hypnosis, meditation, read just about every self-help book I could find and nothing helps.

I am constantly in a state of being over-stimulated. It's like there is some filter other people are born with, which I didn't get. It's more than I can bear, when people are hurtful. When I love, I love intensely and can't hold back. Other people seem to be able to cruise through life and ignore all the hatred, jealousy, insults, attacks and other nastiness life dishes out, but it rips me to pieces.

Loud sounds, people chewing gum, grating noises drive me insane and I lose my concentration/focus. I hate when bars have the music on so loud that I can't hear what people are saying. I fantasize about spending a few months in an isolation chamber!

Voting Results
59% Normal
Based on 29 votes (17 yes)
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Comments ( 10 )
  • Possibly autism but don't take that as a diagnosis. People with autism have distorted senses. Sometimes hypersensitive and sometimes hyposensitive. I have aspergers but I'm more hyposensitive with most things but bright lights bother me a lot and I itch all the time and have difficulty sitting still. It effects everyone differently. If you also have clumsiness, difficulty understanding emotion, obsessions, don't understand social rules and cannot read non-verbal communication, that may explain the sensory distortions.

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  • There is a cool experiment out there to demonstrate how important the PNS is to the nervous system, and it basically deprives all of your senses.

    You are suspended in a tank of body-temp water, in the dark. Supposedly the lack of info going to your brain makes you hallucinate, but maybe this could be helpful and peaceful...?

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  • candybee

    I'm similar. Introverts' brains are wired differently than others. We take in much more information than other people do, and it can be mentally exhausting. My mom happens to be the most abrasive person in the world in the way she talks, eats, and breathes. For this reason, it is physically painful for me to be around her. I know exactly how you feel, I have fantasized about just taking a break from life. I am getting better as I get older, but sometimes in a novel situation, I will be so over stimulated that I can't handle it. It's so bad because no one else seems to understand. I'm trying to train myself to cope with being overstimulated better.

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  • IsitUnique

    I heard redheads are suppose to be slightly more sensitive. Are you a cat?

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  • Fugginanimal

    Sounds like low latent inhibition to me.

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    • RoseIsabella

      I just latent inhibition; sounds very overwhelming. I certainly see how that would drive someone insane. I imagine it would be easy to get lost among all the stimulus.

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  • Farvoyager

    Hmmm. And what if it isn't that something is "wrong" with me? Maybe I am just more sensitive than most people. If I can find a way to deal with it, it could be an advantage rather than a weakness. From what I understand so far, about 20% of people are like me, and our nervous systems are different than the other 80%, and that this also occurs throughout the entire animal kingdom and not just in humans. Maybe it isn't a "disorder"... maybe it's only seen as a "bad" thing because the majority of people can't understand it and decide to judge it instead?

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  • RoseIsabella

    Your second paragraph sounds a lot like Emotional Intensity disorder aka Borderline personality disorder and some of the other stuff reminds me of Obsessive Compulsive disorder. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some co-occurring neurological disorder as well. But all this is just my opinion. I'm sorry you're having this issue and hope your doctors can find out what's wrong soon.

    P.S. Maybe your body is sensitive to it's own adrenaline and or processes it differently than most other people?

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  • Farvoyager

    Nope, it's not autism. I had that checked. I was borderline Aspergers, but don't have that either. The closest I have come to understanding this is through the writings of Dr. Elaine Aron, author of "The Highly Sensitive Person." And no, I do not have difficulty understanding emotion at all. I am extremely sensitive to other people's feelings. Sometimes I mistake them for my own. Empathic, more like.

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  • Get your ears checked and as fat it goes for your feelings I think that you are just a very sensetive person.

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