Silence

Hi - I've got mine nearly all the time, most noticable and at its worst when I'm tired and stressed. Mine started during my mental breakdown in 2020, been stuck with it ever since.

Sorry to hear you have the same. I know how unbearable it can feel, lonely as well. I hope yours isn't too bad at the moment.

Hi - I'm interested in tinnitus.....I've been afflicted for about 6 months now (coincided with two pretty major things in my life.)  Do you notice any pattern to your tinnitus?  Did it suddenly start or have you always been afflicted?

Silence for me. Sound can be unbearable, especially when you get constant high pitched sounds all day and night (tinnitus). I love my own space, no sounds, no raised voices, just total and utter silence, except for the tinnitus but it can be quiet at times.

Silence is golden. Since moving in to my own place, it's a struggle coping by myself but I love the isolation and silence I get from it. At home, there was constant arguing and my dad played his music so loud at times I just cried l, I couldn't get away from it. But now, I've got my own house, my silence that I can escape in when the going gets tough.

Bliss peaceful tranquility.

I seek complete silence the vast majority of the time.

I use noise cancelling headphones to try and block out external noise and create silence, rather than to listen to music or other audio.

I rarely listen to music nowadays. In my twenties I used to listen a lot more and could tolerate it in the background while I was studying. Now if I do listen to music it has to be the complete focus of my attention, rather than background noise.

However when I am trying to get to sleep in silence I can hear the internal sounds of my own body, which keeps me awake. If I listen to a podcast or video it distracts me from those enough to fall asleep.

I have always lived in densely packed terraced housing, but have never been able to get accustomed to the noise that comes with that. As I get older I seem to be increasingly intolerant of noise from neighbours.

The place where you live sounds idyllic. My dream is a detached country cottage with the only sounds being from nature 

Sorry to hear this, get well soon!

sorry your having a tough time, hope you feel better soon

apparently those flare ear plug thingys that Shardovan mentioned earlier can help with tinnitus, have you tried them?

No need to apologise, it’s perfectly ok to not feel up to communicating. We understand.  Be kind to yourself.

I hope you feel better soon!

I would be really interested to know how you get on with them, I keep considering them myself but worry they will make my ears itch like the silicone earplugs I bought before 

It sounds like your neighbours work has been hell. I find it hard when the radio is on in the kitchen and the tv is on in another room, I have to turn one off. My wife loves Eastenders, they all shout at each other. My son will also watch videos on his phone with the sound on, I often just disappear upstairs.

I go to the village pub on a Friday evening with my wife, I understand that she wants to go out and mix with people. We always go quite early, before all the foodie people start coming in, what becomes hard isn’t the general buzz of voice, it’s the fact I can hear every conversation clearly. Trying to process all that is too much and to be honest, most of them just talk about nothing. It’s then home time.

Roy said:

It’s easy, it’s one noise, I’m not trying to filter it and know what comes next.

Yes, it's exactly the same for me- I know what it is and what will happen next, and that requires a lot less processing power than trying to constantly manage new sensory input.

I understand that. If it is noisy around me I like to listen to music with headphones as it cancels out everything else and takes me to a peaceful place.

I just don't feel up to communicating anywhere at the moment. The noise is all internal. I've been ill in one way or another for weeks.

Sorry, all.

I grew up in a fairly quiet house. The only real noise was talk radio.

I like peace a lot of the time, especially whilst working from home. My son, autistic and ADHD has noise most of the time, even You Tube on phone at the same time as gaming. I can't cope with two things at the same time. Also we had new neighbours 6 months ago and they have changed heating system, rewired, added an extra toilet, new kitchen, removed some ceilings etc. so there have been a lot of sudden drilling noises and as he works during the day, when he is there it can go on until 9. I don't cope well with sudden noise. Fortunately he has been working this week.

I love it when I go for a walk early and the only sound is birdsong.

The time I like a bit of noise is listening to peaceful music before I go to bed or if in the house alone 

Yes, I like silence although I do tend to listen to music or podcasts when walking, partly from boredom, partly to stop ruminations.

I get asked the question, “ why do you listen to music with your earphones when you hate noise?” It’s easy, it’s one noise, I’m not trying to filter it and know what comes next. I went on holiday last year, there was live music in the evening, I started to spike, the music was fine, the chiller unit behind the bar was driving me insane.

I still love The Beano, what I can’t find is proper sherbet lemons with a white paper bag stuck to them!  

I find that what a lot of people would consider silence isn't silent to me, because I can hear all the little tiny noises they can tune out- something I now realise is a fairly common autistic experience. Those little noises can really get on my nerves if it's already a bad day.

I find that what works best for me is just having one noise happening. It's genuinely easier for me to listen to loud heavy metal that drowns out all the unexpected/unpredictable stuff than it is for me to sit here in 'silence' while the pipes clank!

Incidentally, I actually do know of two cats who do live in a very busy kennels and as you might suspect, they rule the roost (forgive the mixed metaphors)