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Emerg Services Overstimulation

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I'm exactly the same way. I am not able to identify with "why" or "who" or "what" exactly triggers me, but people exhaust me. I'm drained after spending too much time with people.

And it's not that I'm not insightful, I have been told by my therapist and others that I'm extremely insightful. So that's not the problem.

I have come to my own conclusions on it. (Admittedly could be off base ) but for me personally (not saying you) but I think it's a boundries issue.

I am very aware of my personal boundries, but unfortunately, not everyone is so self aware. So I feel people test my boundries constantly. It leaves me exhausted.

I like to try to find the humor in it. Find a reason to laugh at how ridiculous it is. My favorite thing to tell myself is "yep, that's another reason I'm in therapy. I'm in therapy to learn how to deal with people that should be in therapy"

If I can get myself to laugh about it, it doesn't seem to hurt so much.

But I like to always have a ecape, "out", or a quick polite way to shut things down if I feel others are intrusive. (Examples: bathroom break emergency, changing subject, going quiet, leave area) anything in my control at the time.

Then I decompress. Mediate. Deep breathing. Get myself oriented to the Now of time, place, present.

Hope that helps.
 
And @Stacieamy l also find that reasoning and logic, doesn't always help.

I could obsess over what is wrong, and try to find the "Why" but cannot always connect it to logical reasoning. This exhausts me ever more and leaves me feeling inadequate.

I have learned to not judge those feelings and perceptions anymore. The minute I judge it, I invalid my own feelings. We feel that way for a reason. It doesn't always have to make sense.

I think the best advice I received is that it is OK. Everything you feel is OK. You are exactly where you need to be. Right in this moment. It's ok.

Once I applied this principle and accepted that I didn't have to control that bad feelings and just let myself feel them (obviously not in extremes) but just let GO and feel is when the emotion lost the power over me.

Not sure if that's makes sense, it's hard to articulate. But my point is, in my eyes, your suffering from PTSD, going to school and working (your my hero). I can barley take care of a child let alone a job. I think you should give yourself tremendous credit.

I think you deserve to take some time for YOU. Reflect on your feelings, allow yourself to feel, and you may be surprised as what your insights are. You may find exactly what you need.

My insights told me that it's OK to take time to heal. The worD "No" is a complete sentence, and if I need time alone, I need time alone. :)
 
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I'm exactly the same way. I am not able to identify with "why" or "who" or "what" exactly tr...
Yeah, I think that it has to do with the fact that I have a very large personal space and I have times that I need to just not talk. When I go to lunch, I have my phone and either read or do puzzles. The puzzles are usually best because they keep my brain busy and I don't get so wrapped up in them that I am not aware of my surroundings.
I definitely laugh about it. The lanyard that I use at work says "Now Panic and Freak Out". Also, my managers have let me know that if I ever need to just leave, to call them and they will come up and let me go. But, I think this is where that need to control really comes in.
And, it is definitely not the other person, it is me. This even happens at my mother's house when there are others around besides her. Fortunately, she lives in the country, so I can just get up and walk to the back of her property and she will tell people to leave me alone..
I think that what I really struggle with is the cognitive dissonance of "I am a social species" and "get the f- away from me".
 
Hi....sorry for joining the thread so late. Stacieamy it sounds like you handled it very well and you might need to learn how to recover during your minibreaks. Don't settle for just calming down. I bet you can do everything you want to someday, if you learn how to get max benefit out of your breaks. You deserve to feel restored after an exhausting day. Also, when you are keeping that game face on, it gets tiring. Your trainee sounds like a responsible, intelligent person. She might understand if you simply said, "Hey you are doing really well. Can you hold down the fort a few minutes while I decompress?" So it's no secret that you sometimes need rest? Besides, she might be exhausted too from learning so intently at your side. You could turn it into an attagirl moment for her and hint gently that stuff gets to you kinda as a sidenote. Please don't hide from people as a solution. You might get more out of life if you focus on how to restore yourself, so you can do what you want to do. Don't be too hard on yourself.
 
I work for AAFES in a small main store. We just got a new employee and the boss has me training her....
You didn't mention anything she was doing that acted like a trigger for you. I can only guess that you have become frustrated due to the responsibility of training someone.
 
I stopped trying to make any logical sense out of it. I know that human interaction wears me out.

I know that going to eat on Wednesday night (regular occurrence) at my ex-wife's to visit with family is very tiring. Sounds odd but I enjoy the family time but the interactions still takes everything out of me. I think it might be the totality of all of them at once. I usually will take my Grandson and young foster kids to the grocery or hardware store Etc. It brings the level down quite a bit and kids don't irritate me as much as adults.

Of course my ex-wife can ruin my mood in just a few seconds. I give up trying to understand why she is rude so often. She lashes out at the nearest person or I'm an easy target. Either way I just try not to push her buttons. She has a lot of buttons......

When I go out shopping by myself I often take my dog along on the ride and that helps. Interacting with strangers is not as tiring because it's often for short periods but it does add up. I often cut my trip short and finish on another day.

I've considered becoming a hermit but I can't get internet service under the rock.
 
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I stopped trying to make any logical sense out of it. I know that human interaction wears me out....

Reading your reply was helpful. I'm new to this site. It's helpful to know that the negative interactions with people are draining to someone else too. I can totally relate to preferring to stay home too
 
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My husband spends every other Sunday with his 6 year old daughter. He adores her, she adores him - home time is always tricky.

But once she is gone he basically collapses in an exhausted heap from spending the day acting 'normal' (no idea what normal actually means, but I'm sure you get the idea in this context.

If we go out with friends for a few hours, he will enjoy the first couple of hours, and then starts to really struggle. He enjoys the company of the people, but after a while it is just all too much for him.
 
Interacting with people can make you feel like all of your energy has been drained. It's just an anxiety reaction. I don't know how you get past it.
 
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