Published on 12, July, 2020
Up until now, noise did not appear to bother me. Now, I am becoming more upset/triggered/bothered by noise. At work (teacher) I am fine, but at home, with two young and often noisy children, I am constantly on edge with noise. Today the noise almost pushed me into meltdown, but lying flat on the floor helped.
What makes this more baffling for me is I love spending spending time listening to loud music through headphones, which I am doing as I type!
Noises I actively dislike are motorbikes passing by, cars backfiring, high pitched noises, multiple conversations happing at once, to name but a few.
I never used to be like this. I am contemplating some earplugs, like Loops, to shut out the sound.
Same here pretty much. I hadn't been conscious of being bothered by noise (well, not as much as I have been lately). And I also like listening to loud music - and playing in a band (though that can sometimes be a problem). Personally, it seems to be linked to unpredictability and chaos. If I am somewhat in control of the sound or engaged with it (listening to music, or playing my instrument in a band) it's easier to process. With respect to conversations happening at once, this is something that has never been easy for me.And, of course, listening to loud music through headphones helps to shut out those unpredictable or chaotic sounds (for me, at least). Of course, if someone should jog me when I have my headphones on, I might jump a mile in the air (metaphorically).With regard to the noises when you are teaching, perhaps it's something to do with your professional focus in that situation and being engaged in the process. I sometimes used to find something similar when I was at work - things which might have bothered me socially were not so much of a problem professionally because I was performing a particular function, "doing my thing".Good luck!
Oh... One thing which has made it worse in certain circumstances for me is hearing loss. I struggle even more now to understand conversations especially when people are speaking at once in a noisy environment. That means I tend to disengage and it all becomes meaningless noise, which means I disengage further. My hearing aids amplify the noise which makes it even worse!
And COVID... I think that may have made things worse, because I think I adapted rather well to the quiet seclusion of lockdown and maybe forget some of the coping mechanisms that I'd learned over the years. Returning to chaotic, noisy normality was a big problem.