If Sound and Light Grate on You Especially, and People Wear You Out

"Things that used to be nothing now all grate on me."

A child's voice makes your hair stand on end, the mart's lighting stabs your eyes, and being in a crowded place drains you. And then you add: "I think I've become oversensitive. It must be a personality problem."

I do not see it as a personality problem. The body's threshold has come down.

The Senses Have a 'Threshold'

Our body does not accept every incoming stimulus equally. It raises the important and holds down the less important.

Even as you read this now — the feel of clothing against your skin, the sound of the air conditioner, the sensation at your toes — all of it is coming in, yet you do not notice it. Because the body is filtering it for you.

When this filtering power drops, everything that should have been filtered comes up. Sound is heard loudly, light feels intense, and each and every word someone speaks scrapes at your nerves.

It is not that the senses have grown sharper, but that the power to filter has grown weak. These two are different.

Why Does the Threshold Come Down

First, the body is continually in a state of alertness.

In a situation where danger must be watched for, the body deliberately lowers the sensory threshold. It is trying not to miss even a small sound. That in itself is a normal response.

The problem is when that state does not switch off and continues. When you have been tense for a long time, been ill for a long time, had a great fright, or had continually shallow sleep. The body gets no chance to lower its guard. (The autonomic nervous system is the body's regulatory valve)

Second, recovery does not happen in sleep.

When deep sleep comes at night, the body tidies up the signals raised during the day. When that tidying does not happen, the threshold comes down a little more each day. If you are not refreshed even after sleeping, it means that tidying is not happening. (If sleep never refreshes you and your days feel heavy)

Third, when pain becomes long-standing, the whole circuit grows sensitive.

This often appears in those who have hurt for a long time. When the pain circuit grows sensitive, it is not only pain that becomes sensitive but sound, light, and even smell along with it. Because they share the same circuit. (If it hurts at the mere brush of a touch)

Fourth, the body's baseline is shaken.

When blood sugar swings, when the baseline of inflammation is high, or when the gut has collapsed. In such states, the nerves cannot stand on a stable floor.

So the Things That Come Together

Those in this state usually have these things together.

• After going to a crowded place, an entire day is consumed
• Easily startled by sound, heart lurching at a sudden noise
• Hard to fall asleep, and waking often even after falling asleep
• Eyes tiring easily and finding it hard to look at screens
• Sensitive to smells, head aching at the scent of perfume or detergent
• Irritated by trivial things, and hating oneself for it

I especially want to speak to the last item. This is not a problem of character. It is a natural result coming from a body whose threshold has come down. Do not blame yourself.

The Order in Which I Look

First, I rule out. Thyroid function, anemia, blood sugar, the effect of medications. I also check whether you have migraine. These things can appear as sensory hypersensitivity. If needed, I recommend testing first.

Next, I find the condition that lowered the threshold. Whether it is sleep, long-standing pain, the gut, or a state of tension that will not release. The place to touch first differs from person to person.

I start with what can be reversed. I usually look first at sleep and breathing. These two are closest to the switch that turns off the state of alertness, and often when this turns over, the rest follows. (When you breathe, does your pelvis move along with it)

I adjust the environment together too. Reducing stimulus is not avoidance but part of treatment. Lower the lighting, reduce the noise, and briefly reduce crowded settings. Until the threshold rises, the body must be protected.

Cases Where You Must Go to a Hospital First

• Sensitivity to sound and light that arose suddenly, especially with a severe headache
• Fever with a stiff neck and being greatly dazzled by light — go to the emergency room at once
• One ear suddenly not hearing, or tinnitus worsening severely
• The field of vision narrowing, or objects appearing doubled
• Dizziness so severe that walking is difficult

Finally

Many come blaming themselves, wondering "am I being strange."

You are not being strange. Your body is simply unable to lower its guard right now. And that guard does not come down because you resolve to bring it down; it comes down only when the conditions in which it can come down are met.

I will make those conditions together with you. In a quiet room, slowly, start by telling me your story.