Poll Did Ptsd Make Your Senses More Acute?

[Ted Moen]

Yes and no. The hostile environment (trauma) made the senses I needed to survive more acute. I am very sensitive to sensory input that used to signal danger. The PTSD symptom that developed from that is hyper vigilance, and when that symptom is triggered I am very sensitive to many things in my current situation. I have to monitor my level of hyper vigilance and use self-talk to remind myself it's the hyper vigilance and not them and there is no real danger or I can get very angry very fast and do what I feel I need to do to get rid of them and destroy my current situation in the process.

Ted

 

[MouseWedger]

It definitely has for me. I notice smells a lot easier now, body odor and beer especially. Both make me very, very ill. My fight or flight reaction's have also intensified, so I need to make myself more aware of my environment so that I don't unwittingly lead myself into a situation where a panic attack could emerge in full swing.

 

[Incendiu]

Sound, smell, light and touch.

Sound... earplugs is a good idee but I whould feel stupid to wonder around with that and sunglasses ^^ And even do sound can be hurtful I cant really accept earpluggs as I whould feel vounrabal not being able to hear the small sounds.

smell...everything is intense...

light...I better have it dark or dimm than bright sunlight, strong indorelight ore flickering lights as at concerts... even the tv can be hard to watch if it shifts in light. Even this white letters at forums can be hard to read for me as it glow and make my eyes unfocused.

touch...I have to prepar myself for everything...not always with my boyfriend but then I'm always prepared he may touch me as we live together and well he's my boyfriend. But I have a hard time to chake hand, hug ore touch my friends...even worse with strangers. I try to come over that...
If my bf just put his arm around me I can feel like as if he rely press his arm/arms around me and it can hurt even if I know he is just nearly touching me.

 

[NIKI]

I don't have a pre-trauma self. So I don't know if I was born this way or it was the trauma. I bet trauma though.

My hearing is so strong. I have to have no noise around me while talking on the phone because I would not be able to have a conversation because I would be distracted with all the noise around me. Also, I had to remove a clock from my room becaue the ticking was driving me crazy. And much more, to much to list.

My sense of awareness is very strong. Everywhere I am I have a great sense of everything and everyone around me. I would be a great witness to a crime because I could relate back to everything and anyone around at the time of a crime. LOL

I am very easily startled. My sense of fight or flight is very strong.

I need to where sunglasses all the time except at night. Also though I have very light green eyes and I have read that light colored eyes are much more sensitive to light.

 

[thinlizzy4010]

Yup. I hate noise at night time and can hear a tap or clock from rooms away. I have awesome hearing because I used to lie awake listening. I still do if I get scared at night. I can breathe silently because of this and am able to "still" myself very well.

 

[BloomInWinter]

It's not our fault noise bothers us. Educating our loved ones that it triggers us, even when we're trying very hard to 'radically accept' it, is one step in getting the help we need to heal.

We deserve to ask that public place not be allowed to just blare ever increasing noise into public entrance ways. I'm considering investigating extending ADA to include that directional noise above normal speaking decibel level be banned from within 50 feet of entrances, exits of public places and businesses with more than 100 employees, such as Wal-mart.

"The loss of neuromodulation that is at the core of PTSD leads to intensification of emotional reactivity in general: traumatized people go immediately from stimulus to response without being able to make the intervening psychological assessment of the cause of their arousal, which causes them to overreact and intimidate others."

"Non-specific noises played into the rooms of sleeping people with post-traumatic stress may precipitate nightmares in which old traumatic occurrences are recreated in exact detail (Kramer, Schoen, & Kinney, 1984). Hyperorousal also interferes with psychotherapy, in preventing remembering and working through painful memories."

Source: http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/vanderkolk2/

 

[Grace Hope]

I was just dropping off to sleep one early morning. There was was a storm raging. Above the storm I heard a noise that I recognised. I jumped out of bed and ran to the window so fast that when I looked outside I saw a fourty foot pine tree hit the ground. The noise that startled me was of the tree being uprooted and the ground shook when it fell, it scared me even though the tree was no where near me
I have found that I have a high startle response, hyper vigilance and hyper sensitivity with all my senses. To me its like having a whole bag full of phobia type reactions to things that never bothered me before.

 

[jo may]

I've notied I hear everything even the smallest thing makes me jumpy. I also can't stand to be touched which I know upsets my husband. I hate feeling my space is being invaded. But all my sences have become more acute.

 

[kodiak]

For me my sense of sound and awareness have become more acute

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I am more sensitve around people. I pick up their vibes. I can sense where they are and treat them accordingly. I used to have a really bad startle response which got me laughed at alot. Not so much anymore. I cannot handle too bright of a light. My hearing is ok, because I do not hear as good as I used to. Too much time on a loud walkman.

But I am very sensitive around people. I can pick up pretty quick if I want to distance myself from them or get closer. Interesting topic.

 

[The Hermit King]

Yeah I have been told that I may be a Werewolf because of my hearing, sense of smell and the fact that I am like a furnace 24/7 all year round.

 

[matthios]

Yeah I have been told that I may be a Werewolf because of my hearing, sense of smell and the fact that I am like a furnace 24/7 all year round.

I never got the werewolf thing, but describes me to a T!