For those whose brains function differently, and have difficulty compartmentalising sensory information, this can be extremely overwhelming … When there are many stimuli competing for attention, especially intense stimuli, our brain may have trouble interpreting it all and become overloaded. ‘Music can activate not only our auditory cortex,’ she said, ‘but our motor cortex, frontal lobe, cerebellum, amygdala, etc. ‘This condition may occur on its own, or in conjunction with other conditions.’ This includes folks with chronic pain, anxiety disorders and those who are neurodivergent, such as people on the autism spectrum or with ADHD. ‘Sensory processing disorder is a condition in which the brain has difficulty sorting through and processing sensory stimulation,’ Klemm told me. I spoke with Abby Klemm, a board-certified music therapist based in Brooklyn, New York City to better understand the occurrence of sensory overload. It seemed to apply to my situation, but I didn’t have the expertise to figure out if this was indeed my experience. I started finding relief from my self-deprecating perspective just a year ago, when I learned about sensory overload this is something that folks on the autism spectrum may experience when the senses are overstimulated. At far too young an age, this existential battle plagued me, and I understood myself to be a hateful person. I observed that contemporary music was far more popular than classical stuff, so I developed a paranoid perspective: If anyone were to discover I love classical music, I will be persecuted. My rational child’s mind tried to make sense of my fearful grief, and I could come up with only one explanation: Rock music is evil, classical music is good.

This left me exhausted, and I developed a lot of anger. Sometimes that wasn’t possible, so I would expound emotional energy in trying to block it out. My body stiffened, my face winced, and I felt a need to escape. It caused me to feel mentally confused and physically tense.

The instrument vibrating under my head, my bow of rosined horsehair creating friction against the string, drawing sound from it, the sonorous air swirling around me, then out into an audience, communicating to their hearts and minds.Īs I developed a preference for acoustic sound and classical music, I also developed an aversion to loud, contemporary music on the radio. As I scraped away at little tunes, I discovered the joys of acoustic resonance. I fell in love with classical music when I started violin lessons at the age of five.

Audio overload help