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Sensory meltdown

Written by Livia Farkas || First published: 28 June, 2023 | Last edited: 13 July, 2023 || 📚🕒 Reading Time: < 1 minutes

A feeling of immense distress, a sensory meltdown is a strong reaction to overwhelm caused by too much information, noise, sights or sounds, smells or touch.

Hypersensitive people (Autistic and SPD individuals, and people with misophonia) can experience meltdowns if their needs are not met and they are not supported properly.

Sensory meltdowns can happen more often if you’re already tired or stressed and everything becomes too much – for example in a crowdy place, at a loud concert, or after wearing a new jumper that feels itchy on your skin. It is not a tantrum and you are allowed to remove yourself from the situation to regulate yourself.

Not to be confused with panic attacks and anxiety attacks.

This term is also known as:
autistic meltdown, shutdown, sensory overload
Blogpost mentioning this term:
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About the Author

  • Livia Farkas

    Livia Farkas

    Livia is a Neurodivergent Adaptation Educator with a sharp sense for simplifying complex ideas. Since 2008, she's developed 294 distinct techniques catered to the needs of clients. A total of 5058 alumni have enrolled in one or more of the 8 online courses she co-developed with Adam, offering neurodivergence-inclusive frameworks for time management, goal setting, self-care for mental health, and small-business management. Her life goal is to be a walking permission slip for neurodivergent adults. In her free time, she enjoys stickers & planners, crochet & roller skates, and running around with her pet bunny Rumi.

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