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noise sensitivity examples

nicm

Hi!

I'd be really grateful if readers would reply with examples of noises that have an effect on them, and what the effect is/feels like.

I have tinnitus and have had it since I was very young. I'm 54 and remember, as a child of something like 8/9/10 (which is the limit of my memory rather than the point at which it began), experiencing snaps and pops etc that would wake me at the point of nodding off. Of course, I didn't know what this was at the time. For many years, I thought silence had a sound - that in the absense of attributable noises, silence manifested itself as, in my case, modulating sine waves with a touch of distortion produced by two or more oscillators (this description is based on synthesiser sound generation).

I am awaiting an autism diagnostic assessment, so may not be autistic, and have been curious about an auditory experience I experience, which I don't believe is a manifestation of tinnitus since it is triggered by external sounds.

For example, one of our cats climbs up the ladder to get onto my son's bed and the ladder shifts slightly. I hear the sound of the wood shifting and experience it as I imagine everyone might. Then, the tiniest split second later, the sound cracks as though it has been amplified five times its actual volume and I experience a jolt in my head that rapidly decreases in amplitude. I experience this effect frequently, following fairly quiet audible events such as light switches being flipped. I think it is usually click based sounds that trigger it and the effect is always the same, more or less pronounced. That is, sometimes the jolt is fairly mild and other times it is quite disconcerting. In all cases the effect is momentary.

I can't determine, from what I've read here and there, if this is what is meant by noise sensitivity and I'm interested to hear others' experiences of being disturbed by sound.

Nic

Parents

  • Hi, I don’t have dx, but from hearing test I know I hear from 5 Hz. The doctor was shocked, said it’s not normal. For me sounds that I hate are for example cutlery and dishes, I do dishes with earplugs. My daughter‘s Duplo blocks, when playing, in both cases I use earplugs, without them I feel something like my brain shaking and curling up. When my daughter screams (temper tantrum for example) - then I feel paralysed something like electronic shock - I have comparison because I was electrocuted. So before I approach her with the “difficult” topic such as brushing teeth, I cover my ears because I know what will happen. My husband told me I’m exaggerating but now it seems he understands that I’m sound sensitive. I also hear the silence, I have tinnitus, I hear lamps, watches, walking cat, I hear a plastic bag being carried on the other sidewalk of a busy street and I can ever get scared of this sound, or a bicycle that is still far away from me. If I’m stressed, I start crying from sounds like opening a plastic bag. Now I work in a warehouse and there are many noises such as rustling plastic or paper being torn, crashes etc. a moment after the sudden sound I feel something like pain but it’s hard to say where exactly. Sounds like loud noises are absolutely unapproachable for me and cause me panic attacks. This sound echoing in my head happens to me after repetitive sounds and it tortures me quite long after the sound is over. When I was a kid we had a neighbor with autistic son, he used to slam doors for 2 hours everyday and I complained about it, this sound was like a spiral replaying after he finished. I only heard from my parents stop exaggerating. School breaks and school trips were a nightmare for me. But on the other hand I had also a pleasant experience with sounds. I described that in “sensory experience” thread. 

Reply

  • Hi, I don’t have dx, but from hearing test I know I hear from 5 Hz. The doctor was shocked, said it’s not normal. For me sounds that I hate are for example cutlery and dishes, I do dishes with earplugs. My daughter‘s Duplo blocks, when playing, in both cases I use earplugs, without them I feel something like my brain shaking and curling up. When my daughter screams (temper tantrum for example) - then I feel paralysed something like electronic shock - I have comparison because I was electrocuted. So before I approach her with the “difficult” topic such as brushing teeth, I cover my ears because I know what will happen. My husband told me I’m exaggerating but now it seems he understands that I’m sound sensitive. I also hear the silence, I have tinnitus, I hear lamps, watches, walking cat, I hear a plastic bag being carried on the other sidewalk of a busy street and I can ever get scared of this sound, or a bicycle that is still far away from me. If I’m stressed, I start crying from sounds like opening a plastic bag. Now I work in a warehouse and there are many noises such as rustling plastic or paper being torn, crashes etc. a moment after the sudden sound I feel something like pain but it’s hard to say where exactly. Sounds like loud noises are absolutely unapproachable for me and cause me panic attacks. This sound echoing in my head happens to me after repetitive sounds and it tortures me quite long after the sound is over. When I was a kid we had a neighbor with autistic son, he used to slam doors for 2 hours everyday and I complained about it, this sound was like a spiral replaying after he finished. I only heard from my parents stop exaggerating. School breaks and school trips were a nightmare for me. But on the other hand I had also a pleasant experience with sounds. I described that in “sensory experience” thread. 

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