The sensory processing system combines your five senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell—with the nervous system. Your senses take in information (sensory information) and send it to your brain, which then processes it to understand your environment and the sensations you’re experiencing. It can then prompt the appropriate physical or behavioral response. When the brain struggles to interpret and respond to sensory information, it’s referred to as sensory processing disorder (SPD).
What Does SPD Look and Feel Like?
- Overstimulation: Because sensory information isn’t being understood, you may feel overstimulation of one of the senses, e.g., loud noises become unbearably loud to the point of physical pain, or the light touch of a t-shirt chafes the skin.
- Under stimulation: Conversely, under stimulation of the senses may occur. For example, you might not notice extreme heat or cold or smell pungent smells.
- Clumsiness or poor body awareness: Sensory information is key to grounding our body and situational awareness. If that is hampered, you might constantly bump into things or have difficulty stabilizing your body.
- Difficulty with fine motor skills.
- Severe mood swings or panic attacks: Information overload can overwhelm our whole body, and that hyperactivity in the brain can cause big mood swings or trigger a fight-or-flight response.
These are just a few common symptoms, and they can vary in intensity and frequency. SPD can affect one of the senses or multiple.
What Causes SPD?
At this time, the cause of SPD is unknown. In fact, SPD is not currently an official medical diagnosis. A potential genetic component is being researched, but there’s still much to learn.
There’s also a strong link between SPD and neurodivergence, particularly autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is also commonly found in coexistence with ADHD, bipolar disorder, OCD, schizophrenia and others.
How To Treat SPD
There is no cure for SPD. However, symptoms can be managed with various types of therapy, such as occupational therapy. Untreated SPD can seriously affect quality of life and one’s ability to form relationships, succeed at work or accomplish daily tasks, so it’s imperative to seek a professional’s opinion and a subsequent management program.
