Mental Health and Neurodivergence: Sensory Processing

The body requires energy built up by nutrition, exercise and rest in order to heal itself. The mind and body connection goes both ways; once one feels better, the other one does too. Neurodivergence influences both as it is tied to the electrical body - both the brain and the nervous system. Human senses are simply specialized neurons collecting information about our environment and our body for our brain to process. If this process is atypical or disrupted then it can be difficult for our brain to figure out how to respond to stimuli. For this reason, it is so important to take care of your sensory needs as a neurodivergent person first and foremost or else one may find themselves stuck in a state of overwhelm or shutdown, or in burnout. These states can look a lot like mental disorders in neurodivergent community leading to medical professionals treating only symptoms and not the causes, especially for women. If the body is stuck in a state of dysfunction then you will be unhealthy in the mind and body.

The first step in meeting your sensory needs is learning what they are and every individual's needs are different. Some people are sensory seeking whilst some are sensory avoidant, or both, like myself. I go through phases of seeking stimulation and avoiding it, although I am typically pursuing a mixture engaging different senses. Conversations around sensory processing are often focused on the five outer senses but there are three lesser known internal senses: interoception, propioception, and vestibular. It is particularly important to assess all eight senses when trying to meet the needs of a neurodivergent individual.

Taste

What are your favorite foods? Are they sweet, savory, bitter, salty or sour? What textures do love or hate? What foods give you energy or make you feel sluggish? Do you notice spice levels? Slowly begin to change your diet as you figure these things out.

Our taste receptors are concentrated in the tongue but it is the combination of the information processed from our tongue and nose (smell) that allow us to identify a diversity of flavors. Neurodivergent people often have comfort foods that they can turn to when feeling under- or overstimulated or just generally sensorily avoidant. A lot of our touch receptors are also located in the mouth, which is why the texture of foods is often very influential in determining our safe foods.

Smell

Do you hate perfumes? Love candles? Feel nauseous from cooking smells? Get headaches from chemical smells?

Our smell receptors are concentrated in our nostrils. Identification of odors helps us to avoid harmful things such as poisons and noxious gases such as smoke, smog or natural gas leaks. We are also attracted to smells of the fruiting bodies of plants such as flowers and fruits. There seems to be some instinctual knowledge of these things encoded in our DNA. Recognizing familiar scents also aids in developing and recalling long term memories.

Aromatherapy has really helped me calm my anxiety and has many additional health benefits if you want to do some research on what different essential oils effects are on the body. A lot of people hate the smells of sulfur and eggs but those don't really bother me as much as sickly sweet scents like those added to many candles, laundry detergents, and air fresheners. I often prefer to sit outside at coffee shops and restaurants in order to avoid smelling their cleaning agents even though the outdoor noise bothers me as well but much less. The former gives me headaches while the latter causes overstimulation - one has an immediate effect while the other one is slower.

Touch

Do you like or detest things that feel smooth, rough, slimy, dry, wet, crunchy, soft, hard, scratchy, sticky, fuzzy, fluffy, metallic, synthetic, or natural? Do you prefer clothes that are tight or loose? Do you prefer to be warm or cold? Do you hate having things on your head, hands, or feet? Do you prefer drinking out of glass, metal, ceramics, paper, or plastic? Do you like straws? Does the temperature of your food matter? Do you like being hugged or touched by others? Do you have a high or low pain tolerance? Do you avoid teeth brushing?

The skin is the largest human organ and its specialized nerves receive stimuli on pain, touch, stretch, temperature changes, and pressure. Touch receptors are concentrated in the mouth, hands, and feet and can help us determine if we are safe or in danger. There are also social components to touch as it helps to form bonds between a child and a caregiver and in determining who to let into our personal space when developing more intimate relationships as we age.

When I'm having trouble concentrating, calming my anxiety, or am having a meltdown I like to ground myself using one or several of the following methods:

-Being barefoot in nature

-Stroking a rough or fluffy surface (my trauma therapist introduced me to Calm Strips)

-Squeezing a stress ball or play-doh

Things I do everyday for my nervous system:

-Wrap myself in a blanket, sweater or hoodie

-Wear fuzzy bed slippers

-Drinking hot tea out of a mug

-Sipping water or a cold beverage out of a tumbler with a straw

As you can see a lot of these actions engage or protect the places on my body where the concentration of touch receptors are highest: my mouth, hands and feet.

Hearing

Do you ever find your heart racing after experiencing a certain sound? Do you zone out in conversations often? Do you speak too loudly or softly for others to hear? Do people have to call your name several times before you notice? Do you wear headphones often? Do you play music to filter out other noises? Do you concentrate better in complete silence or with background noise?

Sound is vibrational waves picked up by auditory receptors in our ears that are then translated into speech, noise or music by our brains. This auditory processing helps us to identify people and places we are familiar with and to communicate with language. Neurodivergent minds in particular can process more sounds simultaneously than neurotypical minds and therefore perceive the world of sound differently. This can be both beneficial and a hinderance. For example, I may find it hard to process verbal instructions because I am simultaneously processing the sound of the air conditioning cycling on. I may also be able to tease apart the different instrumental contributions to a symphony thereby further enhancing my auditory experience. Music is enjoyed by most, if not all humans, and is known to reduce stress and improve memory.

Other neurodivergent experiences may involve sound tolerance conditions like hyperacusis and misophonia where one has negative reactions to sounds. I have to plan ahead and wear Loop earplugs when I go outside on most days because I experience such discomfort from loud sounds that they can lead me to overstimulation quickly. I also wince during conversations with someone speaking too loudly but find it very easy to listen if someone has a deep, raspy voice. I therefore wear my earplugs in conversation mode when socializing.

Sight

Are you sensitive to light? Do you see very well in the dark? Do you see a wide or narrow spectrum of color? Do you like watching things in motion? How is your depth perception? Do you often get confused by visual instructions or infographics? Are you good at identifying faces? Are you good at the game Find the Differences? Do you like looking at bright colors or shiny objects?

Vision is processed information from rod and cone receptors in the eyes' retinas. It helps us to navigate our environment by allowing us to identify objects and people and also their orientation and distance from ourselves. Pattern recognition is also a part of visual processing and memory development.

A lot of my childhood my mom used to berate me for squinting saying that I'd get wrinkles early. It wasn't until I started investigating my neurodivergence a few years ago that I realized that I was photosensitive when in an overstimulated state. Since I often can't change the visual stimuli in my environment, I began collecting many different types of glasses that filter out different parts of the light spectrum in order to cater to my specific needs at a given time.

I also suspect I have color synesthesia because I associate specific colors with certain emotions as shown in my expressionistic paintings that have helped me to better process trauma. Synesthesia is type of neurodivergence in which color perception is linked to other senses like hearing or taste. It can also be tied to language or number processing providing further evidence of how unique neurodivergent mental processing can be.

Interoception

Do you often find yourself suddenly rushing to the bathroom? Can you tell when you're hungry or thirsty? Do you often forget to eat or overeat? Do you have an abnormally high or low pain tolerance? Do you have trouble describing your emotions? Do you have abrupt mood swings? Do meltdowns take you by surprise? Are you sensitive to temperature changes?

One of the questions my trauma therapist asks me when I'm retelling a difficult experience is, "Where do you feel tightness in your body?" I only gleaned that she was helping me to better identify my emotions when writing this post. Sayings like "a weight off my shoulders" or "butterflies in my stomach" are ways of describing the physical manifestations of emotions. However, neurodivergent individuals may have physical indicators of emotions different than the 'norm'. It is therefore important to do for yourself what my therapist did for me; push yourself to become aware of changes in (or outside of) your body throughout the day. When you notice a change, think about what was occurring at the time and guess at your emotions. Hopefully, over time you will increase in body awareness and be able to identify an emotion in order to calm yourself before it gets overwhelming.

  I mask my low interoceptive awareness (IA) by noticing what triggers tightness in my body, photosensitivity, or hyperacusis. Being in touch with one's emotions is the key to effective self-regulation. Some of my meltdowns are inevitable due to triggers in my environment that I can't control. However, turning to calming activities such as meditation or walks when I feel overwhelmed has helped me to improve my emotional regulation and offset crashes in my energy levels.

Vestibular system

Do you dislike ladders and being lifted off the ground? Do you love climbing high? Do you find rocking soothing? Do you get motion sickness? Do you love spinning or swinging your arms?

All of these feelings can be attributed to the vestibular system. Vestibular receptors are located in our inner ear and works with our vision to help us to find balance, tell how fast we are going in a certain direction, and what our body's posture is like. Stimming, or self-stimulating behavior, is a form of self-regulation that may be a reaction to sensory overload or a form of sensory seeking. Stims can be small movements like tics or leg bouncing or bigger like rocking or spinning engaging the vestibular system. Some stims may be self-harming and it's important to keep exploring movements to find safe ones that help you to regulate.

Proprioception

Do you often find yourself bumping into things? Do you clumsily drop things? Do you have sharp reflexes? Are you bad at replicating choreographed dances? Is your grip often too strong or too weak?

Proprioception is awareness of where your body is in space and is therefore responsible for coordinated movement along with the vestibular system. Its receptors are located in joints, tendons, and muscles allowing us to also feel changes in our internal organs. Body scanning meditations have helped me become more aware of changes in my body as I have a high pain tolerance and dissociate a lot. There are also physical exercises you can do to improve your proprioception. If you need a seated activity with more restricted movements try this exercise.

FUN FACT!

Some research actually identifies 10, 21, or 33 senses as shown below.

A table of the 10, 21, and 33 ways to label senses.

Source: Steve Draper (2019). https://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/best/senses.html

If you are prone to overstimulation in any of these eight senses you may often feel anxious and overwhelmed. You likely have meltdowns that may look like a shut down or a frenzied state. On the other hand, if understimulated you may seem disengaged and bored often. Both states may look like a refusal to engage, 'throwing a tantrum,' or running away from an activity and all are out of that individual's control. Instead think of it as an instinctive protective action much like a reflex. I fluctuate between these states multiple times a day like many AuADHDers (people who are autistic and also have ADHD).

Effective sensory processing allows one to readily engage in meaningful activities during the day and to rest peacefully at night. It looks like being able to filter out unnecessary sensory information while honing in on what is important. It forms the foundation of being able to make and maintain a good relationship with oneself and with others, and to sense and avoid danger. However, if you have a sensory processing disorder then you struggle with...all of it. If you feel like you need professional help with a sensory processing disorder seek out an occupational therapist. Here's a video from occupational therapists on activities you can do engage each of your senses:

Part of my unmasking process has been identifying when I am in a disordered state and taking action to self-regulate. This process is ongoing and especially difficult as I spent almost three decades in denial of my disabilities as a gifted perfectionist. Denial, or internalized ableism, is a hard habit to break but I find change is easier when doing it with a community. This article is my way of reaching out to that community and the process of writing it caused me to reflect on the changes I still need to make as I learn my sensory needs.

Additional sources

Twenty-One Senses (2021). About the Senses. Retrieved from https://www.twentyonesenses.org/about-the-senses/

Autism Together (2020). Autism and the senses. Retrieved from https://www.autismtogether.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/AutismTogetherSenses.pdf

Mahler, K. (2020) and Rogers, J. & Short, J. (2010). Sensory differences [Online Training Module]. Retrieved from www.autisminternetmodules.org. Columbus, OH: OCALI.

Safran, A.B., Sanda, N. (2015). Color synesthesia. Insight into perception, emotion, and consciousness. Curr Opin Neurol. (1):36-44. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4286234/