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Raziel
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22 Jan 2013, 1:44 pm

I'm interested in an phenomenon I experienced a short while ago.

I friend of mine was staying over (I allready wrote here about it), I had an overload, but my friend freaked out, so I HAD to stay focused, because the situation was getting critical.
Usually overloads overwhelm me and I can't help it, but in this situation it was like "gone". I was very focused and calm the entire time, even afterwards.

So, what kind of ways are there to "repress" an overload?
Or how was I able to react that way, even with an overload?
(who was suddenly like "gone")


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AgentPalpatine
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22 Jan 2013, 1:48 pm

Adrenalin. Your body pumped enough adrenaline and related chemicals through that you did'nt realize you were having a meltdown until afterwards. You can't run like that on a regular basis, or you'll breakdown (one way or the other).

It's how we survived hunting mamoths all those long millenia.


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Raziel
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22 Jan 2013, 1:51 pm

AgentPalpatine wrote:
Adrenalin. Your body pumped enough adrenaline and related chemicals through that you did'nt realize you were having a meltdown until afterwards. You can't run like that on a regular basis, or you'll breakdown (one way or the other).


No, not even afterwards, because it was in the middle of the night and so afterwards I just fell asleep. :lol:


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FishStickNick
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22 Jan 2013, 5:03 pm

Was it what you'd consider a crisis situation? (I haven't read the other thread yet.) I've read about people with AS staying calm in crises where others would panic--heck, I've experienced that myself. It always surprises me because I tend to freak out in other situations where others stay calm.



Magnanimous
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22 Jan 2013, 5:07 pm

That term is used so casually around here. I'm still not sure I understand the distinction.
That said, whenever I suspect I might be losing control of the gestalt, unless I'm in transit at the time and the option is unavailable, I typically just forcibly shut down all non-essential systems and dissociate myself. That tends to prevent actions due to loss of control.
It is more difficult in transit though... as generally I need to be somewhere other than where I am, and it is not appropriate to undergo shut-down in a public place such as a street.



Raziel
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22 Jan 2013, 5:26 pm

FishStickNick wrote:
Was it what you'd consider a crisis situation?


Well, a friend freaking out.
I had an overload, wanted to calm down. I had a nice new years eve with a friend of mine. His was dx with complex PD (mainly paranoid). It was January 1st late shortly before midnight.
So I toled him, that new years eve was nice, but I wanted to calm down sometime. It was getting too much for me and I had an overload. But he suddenly said he couldn't leave the house, unless I called an ambulance. I was totally surprised by that statement. But it got worse, he started crying and talking crazy stuff. I didn't know what to do, called in the psychiatry, but they didn't do anything and I prpably didn't articulate myself right. I dunno. He totally lost it, cryed got aggressive, hit against my door, followed me. I called the police. They talked to him, asked him if everything is allright or if he needs a doctor? he calmed down and said "no" drove off, had a car accident and dyed. :cry:
This occoured between midnight and 3 am January 2nd.

Afterwards I had a psychiatric shock and a loss of the feeling of time for one week. I was treated ambulant by a shrink I like in the psychiatry. I was there 3 or 4 times since the accident, the last time last friday. I don't have any appoinments and it was just because of the cryses, but I still can come any time when I feel like it.

So, this was an extraordinary situation.
I had a very bad overload starting (I once had real trouble with overloads) and never could repress them. This just doesn't work.
But it was propably due to the adrenaline I guess.


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Raziel
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22 Jan 2013, 5:38 pm

Magnanimous wrote:
That term is used so casually around here. I'm still not sure I understand the distinction.
That said, whenever I suspect I might be losing control of the gestalt, unless I'm in transit at the time and the option is unavailable, I typically just forcibly shut down all non-essential systems and dissociate myself. That tends to prevent actions due to loss of control.
It is more difficult in transit though... as generally I need to be somewhere other than where I am, and it is not appropriate to undergo shut-down in a public place such as a street.


I can't really answer you your question, maybe that's overload.
For me it's like: "too much input", mostly noise. My brain doesn't seem to process correctly.

Not all autistics get overloads.
I didn't for a very long time. Maybe sometimes, possible, but nothing I would have really taken into account.
And than suddenly it started and it started real bad. I still dunno what it caused it but I started having overloads all the time.
Couldn't stand any noise anymore and had pain all over my body because I had so bad overload.
This was like this for months and months, followed with bad depressions and there was nothing I could do about it.

Now the overloads aren't a big problem for me anymore. I just have them occationally, sometimes.
And I dunno why.


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Magnanimous
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22 Jan 2013, 6:03 pm

Raziel wrote:
I can't really answer you your question, maybe that's overload.
For me it's like: "too much input", mostly noise. My brain doesn't seem to process correctly.

Like overly strong sensory input?
The chassis does tend to react in a reflexively avoidant manner when particular sensory stimuli are too intense... bright lights, loud noises, strong smells, unwarranted skin contact or pressure... those sorts of things. It tends to be a brief problem most of the time, however, and unworthy of further consideration once it has been successfully avoided. Even prolonged sensory abuse tends to only be an issue as long as it continues... though I have been known to become exceedingly wary of repeat offenders.



Raziel
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22 Jan 2013, 6:09 pm

Magnanimous wrote:
Like overly strong sensory input?


Yes and then a "collapse" afterwards.
Sometimes it's just because of one sensory input that was too much and sometimes the evening was too long and too load or something like that.
And then suddenly nothing really works anymore.
For me every overload is a bit different but when it occours and I'm still in the situation that causes the overload I have a very strong NEED to get out right away. :?
If I don't I react differently. Sometimes I get real nasty and emotionally, sometimes I speak like drunk and sometimes I just fall asleep or something else. They differ for me.


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Verdandi
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22 Jan 2013, 6:39 pm

I do not know.

There is one person on Earth I can talk to while mildly overloaded and the overload will go away. It's not because she talks me through anything, it's just more that conversation with her is not draining or exhausting at all, and it doesn't make things worse.



Ettina
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23 Jan 2013, 12:18 pm

It's an adrenaline thing.

See, when you're going about your everyday life, your body always leaves some energy in reserve. When you are too exhausted or overloaded to do anything, you still have that bit of energy in reserve, but you can't access it, because your body would rather you rest than run yourself completely out.

But when a crisis comes along, some reason for you to absolutely have to keep going, your body lets you use the reserve energy. So you suddenly feel fine, and you can do what you need to do.

When it's over, you typically end up shutting down. You won't have a meltdown from this because you don't have the energy. (In my experience, meltdowns are more likely to involve inappropriately using the 'crisis energy' to deal with a nonexistent crisis, although that could only be true if you have PTSD like I do.) Instead, you'll need to rest or sleep. You take awhile to recover the energy, and then you're back to normal.

Imagine if you drove a car that had two gas tanks. One was the regular tank that it used to drive. The other was a smaller tank with only a bit of gas, that normally did not get used. But if you were out of gas on the side of the road five miles from the nearest town, you could push a button to shoot the backup gas into the regular tank and keep going. That's what adrenaline is like.