Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to Do If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World

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Harper Collins, Dec 2, 2003 - Health & Fitness - 400 pages

In the publishing tradition of Driven to Distraction or The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing, this prescriptive book by a developmental psychologist and sufferer of Sensory Defensive Disorder (SD) sheds light on a little known but common affliction in which sufferers react to harmless stimuli as irritating, distracting or dangerous.

We all know what it feels like to be irritated by loud music, accosted by lights that are too bright, or overwhelmed by a world that moves too quickly. But millions of people suffer from Sensory Defensive Disorder (SD), a common affliction in which people react to harmless stimuli not just as a distracting hindrance, but a potentially dangerous threat.Sharon Heller, Ph.D. is not only a trained psychologist, she is sensory defensive herself. Bringing both personal and professional perspectives, Dr. Heller is the ideal person to tell the world about this problem that will only increase as technology and processed environments take over our lives. In addition to heightening public awareness of this prevalent issue, Dr. Heller provides tools and therapies for alleviating and, in some cases, even eliminating defensiveness altogether.

Until now, the treatment for sensory defensiveness has been successfully implemented in Learning Disabled children in whom defensiveness tends to be extreme. However, the disorder has generally been unidentified in adults who think they are either overstimulated, stressed, weird, or crazy. These sensory defensive sufferers live out their lives stressed and unhappy, never knowing why or what they can do about it. Now, with Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight, they have a compassionate spokesperson and a solution–oriented book of advice.

 

Contents

Foreword by Moya Kinnealey Ph D OTRL
1
Living Outside the Comfort Zone
21
System
39
From Mild
73
From DisEase to Disease
91
Side of Sensory Defensiveness
145
Your Sensory Diet
155
Sound Health
193
Food for Your Nervous System
249
Breathing Lessons
265
Posturing for Inner Peace
281
MindBodyOnly Connect
299
Sensory Defensiveness Survival Kit
309
Defensive Reactions to Sensation
313
Notes
319
Glossary
337

Seeing the Whole Picture
207
Air Control
223
A Harmonious Space
235
Removing Treatment Obstacles
247
Resource Guide
343
Index
360
Copyright

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About the author (2003)

Sharon Heller, Ph.D., is the author of The Vital Touch and teaches courses in psychology. She received her master's degree from the University of Chicago and her doctorate from Loyola University of Chicago. She lives in South Florida.

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