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L_Holmes
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24 Jul 2014, 4:34 am

I am currently self-diagnosed with Asperger's, but about a year ago before I knew about it, I was with my friend and his two little sisters at an amusement park on Halloween. I never liked rides much but I did most of them so they wouldn't think I was afraid. I just see no point in it, and it throws off my balance for the rest of the day.

But anyway, there was a haunted house they wanted to go through, and at one point there were several hallways lit only by strobes. I couldn't think at all, it was like an alternate state of mind. I was totally disoriented and kept walking into walls. I wasn't even panicking because I was so out of it, I had no idea what was even happening. The only thing I was sure of is I didn't like these lights, but I had to keep my eyes open as I couldn't find my way out with them shut. My friend was already ahead of me but luckily his 15 year old sister noticed, she had to grab my hand and lead me out. After getting out I had to take 10 minutes to regain my senses. So yeah, I hate strobes. Anyone else have this kind of reaction to strobe lights?


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patchouly
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24 Jul 2014, 8:38 am

I have had exactly the same reaction to strobe lights.
Before I knew I had asperger's I was certain that these lights could cause me to get an epeleptic insult( I don't suffer from epilepsy) or something,so whenever they happened,I just had to flee.
Very strange,trance-like state,just like what you described.



Adamantium
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24 Jul 2014, 10:21 am

I thought this was just me!

I discovered this when I was a teenager and they had them at parties. I thought the altered state of consciousness was fascinating and I even bought a strobe. The only thing I can compare it to is aspects of being drunk or high, but I worried when I heard about strobe-induced seizures. It is not so much frightening as weird and interesting to me.



eggheadjr
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24 Jul 2014, 11:04 am

Don't like strobe lights at all either.


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Lumi
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24 Jul 2014, 1:35 pm

It used to be fun for a bit, as a kid. But it always made moving very confusing and I would crash into things and get bad headaches.


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24 Jul 2014, 7:08 pm

I can't do strobe lights. They are too much for me and will cause me to overload very quickly. Even with my eyes closed I still can't handle them. I can see the light changes through my eyelids no matter how tightly I squeeze them.


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olympiadis
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24 Jul 2014, 9:13 pm

I was fine with them as a teenager, but that changed in adulthood.
There's something about the input signal to your brain that makes it want to start shutting down connections to your consciousness.



QuiversWhiskers
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24 Jul 2014, 9:21 pm

They disorient me too. I think they made me sick once too but that may have been connected to the spinning floor combined with the strobe though it wasn't a haunted house.



BeggingTurtle
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24 Jul 2014, 9:29 pm

Whenever I see strobe lights that REALLY flash or sirens from emergency vehicles, I usually freeze like the reaper has claimed my soul.


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mr_bigmouth_502
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24 Jul 2014, 9:45 pm

Oddly enough, I find strobe lights to be rather hypnotic, and I'm a diagnosed aspie. I like watching things with rapidly flashing images, the sort of things they put seizure warnings on. I still have sensory sensitivities, but most of the time it's with sounds and smells, as well as tactile feelings. Bright lights can still bother me though, like the other night when I had this pounding headache, and I tried changing the colors on my computer's theme just so that I could use it without being blinded. I was partially successful, but I ended up going to bed after finding a few things I couldn't change.



Adamantium
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24 Jul 2014, 10:09 pm

Doesn't seem odd.

I used to just hold my hand in the strobe light and wiggle my fingers. I was content to do that for very long periods of time, but afterward felt my brain was no longer working normally.