What is sensory anxiety?

Sensory anxiety is different from other types of anxiety because it is the result of sensory overload. Think...

- anxiety because of loud music

- anxiety because someone is chewing or breathing too loud

- anxiety because you feel something itchy inside your shirt but can't figure out what it's from 

- anxiety because there's a weird texture in your food

- anxiety because you see someone shaking their leg

- anxiety because someone is sitting too close to you and/or brushing up against you 

And so much more.

This type of anxiety is often due to Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) which causes the brain to either over or under respond to sensory inputs. In the case of these examples, it's over-responding.

When I talk about this type of anxiety, I usually refer to it as sensory anxiety.

Though it is not a technical term, I feel it does a really good job of differentiating anxiety due to sensory overload and the very many other types of anxiety that exist.