Anyone have success with lowering sensory overstimulation/reactivity?
Hey folks! I was wondering if anyone here deals with sensory overstimulation (particularly noise/visual movement), particularly from other people, and has had any success in becoming less reactive over time?
I've had misophonia for a long time, and within the past few years developed similar reactivity towards repetitive motions. I know that sometimes these sensitivities are due to neurodivergence, but I also know it's pretty significantly trauma-related for me. Specifically, my primary abuser would constantly make noise, sing, talk to herself, whisper, etc, and would get very angry with me and start doing it more out of spite (her words) when I would ask her to stop or get upset. My guess is, whether or not the original sensitivity was neurodivergence or just a toddler being irritated at a noise, her aggression towards my discomfort caused it to get worse and more concentrated.
It's always been a huge issue for me with socializing and taking public transit and all, but recently it's unbearable for a different reason- I'm recently roommates with one of my best friends, which has been lovely and so so helpful in a lot of ways for me processing trauma. However, she does quite a bit of repetitive movement/stimming when we're talking, and she also hums while doing things/going about the house.
She's fully aware of my sensitivities and will stop when I ask, but a lot of it is her just doing them subconsciously without realizing, and I worry about it becoming irritating for me to keep asking. Aside from that though, I'm just sad that I get so stressed out being around her sometimes. I love her to bits, and more than anything I want to just be able to hang out with her and not be affected by the fidgets. Hell, my ideal would be that I could enjoy and celebrate them, but that feels like such a pipe dream. Mostly it just hurts feeling like this is a little wedge between me and her.
I don't really want strategies for avoiding the triggers, unless it's crucial for long-term desensitization. I'm so deep in the avoidance hole that I constantly keep earplugs on me, over-ear headphones with two different white noise apps, sunglasses so I can discreetly close my eyes to avoid seeing someone bouncing their leg- all it's done is push me into stronger sensitivity, but that's most of what I find for advice online.
So yeah, any advice/life anecdotes would be appreciated :(