You know what is one of the things that can bring a person down more than anything? It’s panic and anxiety attacks. As someone who is not only neurodiverse but also deals with mental health, it can really take me down big time. Even the smallest panic attacks are enough to bring me down and they are either coming from out of the blue or they had been building up inside of you for some time.
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Yesterday, I had a panic attack that lasted for about an hour and without going into too much detail, it was a combination of stress from trying to figure out the best path for “Going the Distance” and being triggered by words that I didn’t want to hear.
Panic attacks come in a whole variety of ways, for me it’s my body shaking and crying like a baby. Usually, these panic attacks last about an hour and what makes its challenging is that they can happen from anywhere. I could be working and having a panic attack in front of my colleagues and my customers at my day job or at an activity related to “Going the Distance.”
Fortunately, I haven’t been able to experience one on the job as of yet and I hope I never will.
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The Diphtheria Anti-Toxin in “Balto” (1995) is just like the mind of someone with mental health issues…they are fragile.
But the fact is, I have been experiencing panic attacks and sensory overloads long before I had become a self-advocate and public speaker. When I was in school, I suffered from panic attacks especially when it came from school safety drills.
Hell, one of my top presentations, “School Safety Drills and Autism” talks about how to make school safety drills easier because there are many neurodiverse students who get overloaded with something as important as a School Safety Drill.
In schools and workplaces, those who suffer from mental health issues are to be treated with the utmost care and respect because their minds are very fragile like a box of COVID vaccine.
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This of course is not seen from the point of view of some neurotypicals who would tell someone to get over it and quit being a baby. For parents and others who are around children and adults with mental health or neurodiverse issues, the last thing you would EVER want to tell someone is to get over what was going through their mind.
If someone is suffering from mental health or is having a hard day, then you need to put aside whatever pride or behavior you have and try and help the individual as best you can. Neurodiverse brains cannot process the same kind of information as Neurotypicals and if you cannot handle it, then you shouldn’t be around the individual in any way.
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Panic Attacks and Sensory Overloads are no fun for anyone, especially neurodiverse individuals. Some of it is self-inflicted while others can be tasks that are stacked up on top of each other. It’s up to us to continue educating people on how to identify panic attacks and sensory overloads and help the individual combat them.
If you want a visual example of a sensory overload, watch this clip from the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” Episode, “Doomsday: Part 2”
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Catch you all later!!
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