Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight
To grasp this concept requires a paradigm shift from viewing behavior as primarily psychologically motivated to seeing it as an end product of sensory processing.
Sharon Heller • Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight
The brain makes no distinction between a real or a perceived threat—it just reacts.
Sharon Heller • Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight
Do they have any choice? Not when they are in response mode. Their behavior is not a reflection of their need to control, manipulate, or drive others crazy but of the organization of their nervous system at that moment and under those conditions.15 Each
Sharon Heller • Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight
Psychological treatment, a mind-over-matter approach, has limited effectiveness in treating defensiveness.
Sharon Heller • Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight
alleviating tactile defensiveness.
Sharon Heller • Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight
Not surprisingly, research shows anxiety disorders and depression to be a common by-product of sensory defensiveness—a syndrome Patricia Wilbarger named sensory affective disorder.14
Sharon Heller • Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight
Over time, chronic, unrelenting, and uncontrollable stress locks their body into a hypervigilant self-protective stance, typified by a worried look and rigid posture, and keeps their body flooded with toxic stress hormones that eventually lead to illness.
Sharon Heller • Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight
most cases the brain is miswired, causing an exaggeration of the normal innate protective response to bodily harm.13
Sharon Heller • Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight
A sedentary lifestyle minimizes energizing movements that nourish the brain. Have you been hugged today? Have you worked up a sweat?