this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2025
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Autism
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Is there any actual link between ND and liking dark rooms?
My guess?
Lit room: lots of things scattered around, colors, visual noise, over stimulating
Dark room: dark, not very visible, less/no noise, not (necessarily as) overstimulating
anecdote
The most relaxed I have ever been was in the middle of a huge snowstorm the wind died down and the flakes were huge, I couldn't hear anything, it was after sunset so once the flashlight was off it was pitch black, and with my coveralls, hoodie, thick coat, gloves and scarf I was warm and couldn't really feel much of the outside. I just laid down for about 40ish minutes, occasionally seeing the dim spot of headlights from a passing car. Similar concept, dark and quiet, muted external stimuli.Holly shit, scarves are worse feeling than wearing fiberglass.
I hate most scarves. Mass produced ones are terrible.
Someone knit me a scarf out of merino wool, and it was super duper soft, didn't fuzz up, and was one big möbius strip.
Eh, I thrifted a silk/cashmere scarf for I forget nothing and it is a true comfort, but lucky...
I love infinity scarves like that!
Neurodivergence can manifest partly in the form of sensory sensitivity, which can include light sensitivity.
I don't have an autism diagnosis but I really hate bright lights. They just grate at me. I have blackout curtains all over my apartment and only turn the lights on when I really need to see something.
The darkness doesn't make me sad or feel depressed or anything. It feels comfortable like a warm blanket.
I'm not sure, my partner is autistic. She doesn't like bright lights, but she hates changes in brightness even more, so the lights being on helps to deal with the flickering from screens.
It's not dark rooms necessarily, but low stimulation environments. Many ND conditions limit mental "bandwidth". Sensory processing can eat up a lot of that bandwidth normally. Throw in something like socialising, that eats even more, and we can saturate.
The manifestation of that saturation can vary a lot. My personal preference is a quiet, well lit place, with a static environment. It's change and ambiguity that cause me problems. I fully understand the appeal of darkness, however, particularly if your sensory filtering on intensity is prone to failing.
I just like the mysterious hacker or vampire vibe.