I Need to Get Away
A neurodivergent interactive overload, space and regulation resource
Sometimes the strongest message from the nervous system is simply: I need to get away.
This interactive guide explores the urgent need for distance that can happen during sensory overload, conflict, social pressure, excessive demands, unwanted touch, feeling watched, uncertainty or reaching the end of available capacity.
Users can identify what they are trying to get away from, how the urge feels in the body, what makes it stronger and what they wish other people understood. Later pages explore where they would go if they could leave, what would be different in a safer space, whether they need solitude or a trusted person nearby, and what environmental changes might reduce the urgency.
A dedicated communication page asks what other people should not do when the person is trying to get away — such as following, touching or repeatedly questioning — alongside what may genuinely help.
The seven-page interactive PDF includes writable fields, practical communication wording, a tailored message from Maggie and further reading.
The resource treats the need for distance as information to understand rather than automatically as a behaviour to suppress.
Part of the Neurodivergent expression series in the Space to Breathe Therapy Support Hub.
