Sensory Anxiety: Not Your Ordinary Anxiety Part 1

By Erin Clarelli, MS, OTR/L & Jessica Jordan, MS, OTR/L

Its’s More Than Just Anxiety…

Sensory anxiety occurs when someone with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) becomes anxious about the potential stimuli they could encounter in their every day lives. Unlike regular anxiety, exposure to certain triggers might not help, rather it might make the anxiety worse. It should be noted, regular anxiety is by no means less or more severe than sensory anxiety, it is just different as it stems from a neurological condition!

Regular Anxiety vs. Sensory Anxiety

Regular Anxiety

  • Kid gets freaked out by balloons at a birthday party

  • Kid becomes anxious whenever they see balloons

  • Kid begins to slowly sped time around balloons (I.e. go into a room with a balloon then slowly but surely touch a balloon)

  • Kid realizes the irrationality behind the fear (independently or with the help of an adult) and over time becomes okay with being around balloons

Sensory Anxiety

  • Kid who is sound sensitive goes to birthday party where kids are popping balloons which makes kid upset

  • Kid develops anxiety whenever they see a balloon

  • Kid knows any time they are around balloons they could pop

  • Spending time around balloons does not help the kid because they are still sound sensitive and they get scared every time a balloon pops

What is Sensory Processing disorder (SPD) & Why does sensory anxiety Happen?

Sensory processing disorder is a condition which affects the way a person’s brain processes the stimuli (sensory information) in their environment. SPD causes people to be more sensitive to stimuli (I.e. loud noises, intense smells, unexpected hugs, food textures, too much light) or need more of a certain type of input throughout their day (movement, touch, etc).

Not included in the above graphic is interoception, the ability to determine internal body cues (I.e. hunger, thirst, etc.). SPD can affect all eight senses or it could just affect one!

It is difficult for a person with SPD to habituate to new information. They prefer routine and being able to predict what stimuli they are going to encounter. In a world where there are all kinds of possibilities for potential stimuli, a person with SPD can become anxious about possible overstimulation in an unfamiliar place or even in a familiar place that could have unpredictable sensory stimuli.

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