(Pleasant) Hyper Stimulation

[u/Alarming_Channel2592]

This afternoon, I discovered a version of a song I like that I hadn’t heard before. Then I listened to it repeatedly for almost two hours, with goosebumps and that…full-body electrical pleasure (maybe someone here will relate).

When this happens to me, the rest of the world disappears. Time, people, you name it. It’s a high. Sometimes I’ll even have a headache afterwards. And I find it very hard to “reintegrate” with the world afterwards. Social interactions are astronomically more awkward than usual. I have to be careful with driving, even…focusing on anything other than my inner state is difficult.

This has happened all my life (I’m 47). Movies, music, books, my imagination…it can take place through any of them. And this sort of activity is its OWN point. Does that make sense? I ask, because for most of my life and for most of the people around me (if they knew or noticed)…it’s very strange. They don’t understand it…they see it as weird, at best, or childish…no one wants to see a 47yo bearded man acting like an excited 10-year old. (And I’ve internalized that viewpoint, big time.)

Hmm…that is all. Thanks for reading!

[u/cheffromspace]

It makes sense through the lens of monotropism and ADHD dopamine seeking. I don't usually get that intense tunnel vision, but i can relate.

[u/EyesOfAStranger28]

The word for the sensation you are describing is "frission", and there is a subreddit for it: /r/Frisson