There are plenty of symptoms to anxiety that are fairly obvious, and then there are some that are not so obvious. Unless a person has anxiety, he or she does not really understand these symptoms or how to handle them. One of these symptoms (which is one of the worst for me) is sensory overload. The term "sensory overload" is defined by Melissa McGlensey from The Mighty as something that occurs "when too much sensory stimulus is occurring at once." It occurs with many types of disorders, and it is basically when the sensory nerves in one's body cannot process the sensory stimuli in one's environment fast enough, and it all slams into him or her all at once. For me, it is probably one of the hardest things about dealing with anxiety, and it is also one of the hardest things for me to make people understand. I don't get major panic attacks often anymore, but when I do, most of them occur because of this.

Several occurrences of this sensory overload have taken place in my life in just the past couple of years alone. Once when I first moved into my apartment before starting college, there were about five or six people in my living room all talking at once in loud voices, and their words and laughter continuously echoed off the walls and down the hall until my brain started hurting and I had to excuse myself from the situation. Sometimes when I was listening to music and trying to do homework and someone else was watching television or playing a video game, my cat would start meowing loudly, and my brain could not process all of the information at once. In classrooms, when people were talking, playing on their phone, tapping their pencils, or flipping through pages while the teacher was talking, I would be driven nearly insane. Perhaps the instance that was the worst for me was when I was trying to take an online test and my roommate had people over to visit. They all sat in the dining room, which I had already claimed as my place for taking the test, and began to talk very loudly and frequently. At first it was fine, but then they started playing music at top volume, and even though I was visibly frustrated and upset by the noises and I asked them to please stop, the noise continued on. I finished my test on the verge of tears, then excused myself to my room and started crying because my body was panicking, and I could not get it to stop.

It's a terrible feeling. For me, it's like every single sound, every single sight, every single smell around me invades my brain like an enemy's army and jumbles together in a poorly planned battle for dominance as they each try to make their way to the forefront of my brain. But it's really like they're just screaming and pushing each other and tripping over their own feet and not quite making it to the forefront, and the fight wears on until there is a gigantic explosion and everything goes flying in different directions. I can feel my heartbeat as it slams around like a wild animal in my chest. It feels like my lungs are swelling to the point where it is impossible for any air to come in or go out, and my chest tightens. My hands get shaky, and my head starts to throb.

Long story short, it's a really terrible feeling, and I would not wish for anyone to ever experience it. I am not saying that you have to be quiet all the time or walk on eggshells whenever you're around me or someone who experiences this like me. I am simply trying to make people understand and be more sensitive to it because it seems to me that a lot of people who do not experience it on a regular basis are almost completely unaware that it exists as a symptom of mental disorders to other people. It's really just about being aware. If I get up and have to excuse myself to go to a quieter place for a while, it is not because I don't like you, and it's not because I'm rude. It's not even that I'm not good around crowds (although that is true too). It's just that it is too much for my brain to handle all at once, and I have to escape before my body becomes too stressed to function normally.

Just be aware that sometimes when people ask you to maybe tone your voice down or lower the volume on the TV, it's not to be disrespectful or to ruin something that you enjoy doing. It's just that it sometimes hurts their physical and mental health, and they need a minute for their brains to get back into working condition.