I know that many people are mistreated for emotional problems when they are having SPD issues. I was wondering, though, if any of you found that this worked the other way; do you find emotional problems make your SPD issues worse?

Only occassionally. Usually if I get emotional I paralyze first. Exception is if the trigger is music. Country, Flutes, and people singing off key make me hysterically angry, then my sensory problems get even more out of control.

When a real life situation is upsetting me the smallest sensory trigger will activate my Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis.

I don't know if you'd call it emotional, but when I get spooked the 'fight or flight' response means that my sight and hearing are almost over sensitive. I'll turn round at a tiny clink from down a corridor, or notice a small change in light.

When it comes to people getting mistreated for emotional problems instead of SPD issues, that may not be as much of a mistreatment at it sounds. SPD issues can certainly cause emotional problems if your functioning causes you to be unable to do certainly ordinary tasks, which could then lead to worries and low self esteem.
So while addressing the emotional problems isn't treating the root of the problem, it still needs treating at the same time.

Well, when I talk about being mistreated for emotional problems, I was thinking specifically in my case about so called "panic attacks" that were actually moderate to severe SPD episodes. I mean, the emotional problems are real and need real treatment, but I've had a lifetime of anxiety that I've never gotten "real" treatment for. And I'm tired for getting sneered at by doc's and told it was "just" an anxiety attack.

Kind of off topic, but that was part of the source of that.

But because of that, I'm still trying to figure out and separate, if you will, the causes and effects between my SPD symptoms and my anxiety issues. I mean, it's one thing to be overly sensitive in hearing the wind blowing, but then the panic comes from worrying about being blown away, for example, rather than that sound necessarily overwhelming me on its own.

I have actually been blown away by the wind. All 200 lbs of me. I get so weak that my limbs just blow in the direction the wind takes me because I can't keep my muscles rigid enough.

"Just" Anxiety... Yeah. Maybe I am weird, but I have never met anyone that "Just" was anxious. There was always another source to the anxiety. PTSD, SPD, or just a bad atmosphere and the person's sixth sense is going off warning them. Bad memories triggering a physical reaction (PTSD) were the most common out of the people I have met who have overreacted to things.

If the cause of the anxiety is PTSD see a Mental Health professional and work through the memories to try to lower their impact on your life.

If the cause of the anxiety is SPD, see an Occupational Therapist to learn how to manage the SPD better or avoid those situations.

Sixth sense warnings are the hardest to explain to others, but it is better to listen to them and go do something else somewhere else. Usually just your unconscious mind picking up negative patterns in the situation and warning you to end the negative pattern before something goes wrong.

Perhaps I should have been more specific on my "blown away" description; my trailer was blown over a year and a few months ago with my entire family in it. I have a good deal of panic now when I hear the wind whistling by our current place or see the trees tossing in the breeze. I appreciate you sharing your experiences; it reminds me that there are so many more ways to react to the world around us than so many of my "medically experienced" family knows about.

And I really like your comments on "just" anxious. Yeah, I have a lot of PTSD troubles from several very different situations, the tornado only one of the more recent. And I feel sure that many of my reactions are triggered by these memories. But I have had "atypical" physical reactions that had no discernible outside trigger that were the beginning of panic attacks, as well, and I've come to recognize many of them as being SPD related. I guess my biggest problem now is figuring out the difference between the two on the fly. I have been fortunate enough to get extensive amounts of therapy for PTSD, so that helps tremendously. But when I am panicking because I am feeling something unusual in my body, how much of that is PTSD on auto-pilot, assuming the worst about what I'm feeling, and how much of it is SPD? That's a question only I can find an answer to, and it's a really difficult one for me to figure out. But if I can figure out how much some free-floating anxiety can affect SPD issues, that should help.

Sixth sense, well, I keep getting told I have a lot of that. lol I kind of have to wonder if most people with SPD do. But that's neither here nor there. I often get some good intuitive direction from my feelings, but I have to ignore a lot of fear and panic ones because they tend to go overboard if I don't. Sad and scary at the same time. But you have a good point there, too. And I've been making some progress there.

If you are being taught techniques to manage your PTSD, have you tried to use them to deal with SPD triggers? At least long enough for you to figure out the cause of the Fright/Flight response going on in your body?

If I am getting overwhelmed (SPD) or flashbacks, the first thing I try to do once I realize that I am getting hysterical is to try to force myself to meditate (starting with deep rythmatic breaths). This helps me to figure out the cause of the problem. If I am still semi-functional, I ask others to stop the cause of the problem or to move me away from the cause of the problem (I rarely can move myself when it gets bad).

As far as Tornado PTSD goes, that definitely needs to be talked out with a professional. What happened to you would definitely make me afraid of the wind even in small amounts without help. Frankly, mental trauma from like an event like that is normal and to be expected. I would still say anyone who experienced it should get help though even if they don't think they are affected.


As a side question: Does your Trailer Park have any kind of Tornado Shelter that people can go to if the Tornado Warnings are sounded?

Unfortunately, no tornado shelter. The park where I live now is in quite a different situation in many ways than where we lived before. One of the big helps for me with my fear is knowing that, while the place where did live did not have adequate tie-downs for the trailer, the one where we are now is more than adequately anchored. While I have not been able to renew any formal therapy since the tornado, I have been working to deal with the effects as best I know how. Unfortunately, when one's health insurance doesn't cover such things, it makes it quite impossible on a small budget.

I really like your description of how you deal and manage to try to figure out the differences. It is somewhat akin to what I do to calm down, but I haven't made it completely through the next step yet. Generally, if I have something physical that is causing anxiety, I check my two biggest fears; I check my pulse to make sure it's not erratic, and I check my sensitivity to touch by biting my tongue or lip (since my first fears are heart attack or stroke; my symptoms often mimic the feeling of these problems). Once I've reassured myself that, yes, I'm not dying (lol), I try to calm down with meditation or breathing exercises, whichever seems to be working better at that moment. Since I can't always feel myself breathing in these situations, sometimes the mechanics of breathing can be more anxiety-inducing, so meditation is often the way for me to go. But as for getting others to help, this is usually not something I can do, because the "events" are almost always partially triggered by being alone. Which is part of the reason I know that some of the root causes are PTSD, even when I'm having SPD issues.

I suppose I am asking myself to do the impossible; I am trying to take care of large amounts of anxiety and SPD problems without the help of professionals. But, since I am now without even basic medical insurance (as of last week... ), I have to figure out something. It doesn't help that there are also plenty of other problems going on that only exacerbate these things. But such is the hand I am dealt at the moment, and I have to figure something out. It helps me a good deal to hear how you are coping.

I really wish that Health Insurances would cover Mental Health care more reliably. Additionally, I wish that in the USA that all people could get full coverage for at least basic care. I think it is criminal the number of people here who can't afford even a single yearly visit to a Primary Care Physician.

Sadly, since the economy issues are still trickling down, *and* I live in one of the poorest areas of the US, the venues on which we used to rely are closed. The first things that are going in the companies that normally pay for insurance are full time employment, and that gets rid of all benefits.