[Coda]

Espy... You sound a lot like me. ^^()

If you want to read up on more information or look for some self-help material, the "compulsion to help other people" is called "codependency." I know because I deal with it myself. It doesn't even feel like a compulsion; it just feels like being nice... and then I notice that I'm behind on everything and I'm all stressed out.

You're right about the sensory overload thing being a combination of ADHD and anxiety, because that's exactly what I'M dealing with, too. My in-laws are in town and they like to have the TV on all the time (and my father-in-law refuses to wear his hearing aids so the volume is turned up) and I've had to stay in my office room basically the whole time because if I walk out into the living room I feel like I'm going to have an anxiety attack. I've always had moments where I get overloaded if things are too noisy and chaotic for too long, but it's only been in the last three years that my tolerance threshold has gotten so sensitive.

I'm also like you in how I'm an introvert that's been trained to be outgoing in social situations.