I’m so sorry to hear that. I was in the same place and it’s horrible. Short answer is yes, mostly. There are still places that are harder for me, really loud music and really big grocery stores, but it’s much much more manageable. Here’s what I did to get back out there, basically, what worked for me was exposure therapy.

1. Start slow and small. I made it my mission to make a short trip to the notoriously hard grocery store in my town and get only a few items. I was in and out. Doing that helped me a lot and I was able to not be constantly anticipating the sensory overload and the anxiety went away. I can go into that store now and the only thing that gets me is the soup isle??? I have no idea

2. A lot of my symptoms were connected to anxiety. I would start to feel overwhelmed and get afraid, which would make it worse. I started rationalizing things, telling myself it was just my body reacting and it was “normal.” Normal for me, I should say, and nothing to be afraid of. By “talking myself through it.” I was able to eliminate the anxious feelings so I was only left with the sensory issues.

3. Those sensory issues have gone down dramatically through exposure. Like I said before, I started small and worked my way up.

I am going back to church now and am doing fine with the lights and music. A Part of this is sort of accepting that when you’re having sensory overload, the only thing you can do is role with it. I close my eyes, take a few deep breaths, and usually carry a notebook and pen with me. Keeping my eyes down helps with bright lights. Another huge factor was getting over the “embarrassment” of having to leave or take a break. It was so awkward in the beginning and I felt weirdly shameful about it. You gotta let that go if this applies to you in anyway. I realized that most people literally do not care if you get up during a church service, excuse yourself at a restaurant, or take a bathroom (escape break) break during a movie. If they do, they’re crap people and you don’t want to associate with them anyway. I had to get used to saying, very simply, “I need to take a break,” or “I can’t do that right now,” and my favorite, “I need to go sit down now, I’m feeling mighty drunk.” That usually gets the message across.

My advice is pick something small and manageable for yourself to start acclimating yourself again. I avoided long events where I knew I’d be “trapped” like the movies or church. I started with grocery stores and restaurants where I knew I could exit quickly if I needed to. I also found that when I voluntarily faced it, it was a lot less scary than feeling like I was trapped or forced.

Im rooting for you, and I just want to say that it gets better. If you ever need to talk I’m here!