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Does anyone else deal with being both sound sensitive and needing audio to stop thinking?

Pax

I suspect this is going to be one of those things that's because of ADHD and Autism mixing but I'm very sensitive to repetitive or aggressive sounds so I have to find ways to block them while I also have a need to have music or audiobooks playing because my mind starts to race when it's too quiet and I catastrophize and get panic attacks/meltdowns.

Aggressive sounds is probably the wrong term but it's how I think of them, basically, dogs barking, hoover sounds, power tools, banging, shouting in the street/house, sirens, my dad sneezing and for some reason needing to scream to do so.

The way I deal with it right now is I simply always have headphones on, earphones in, or a speaker right by me playing either music or an audiobook/podcast. There are times such as when I need maximum concentration I can't do either and I will wear earplugs. 

Anyone have any alternative ways to deal with it where I won't get complaints of being rude / possibly learn to have a quieter mind?


  • in reply to aidie

    Depends on the model - proper 'noise cancelling' leave you in total silence apart from what you want to hear.     Some modern ones filter voice frequencies and let them through - not all.

  • in reply to aidie
    aidie said:
    i like to have a radio ( or TV on all the time ), even throughout the night otherwise I start to focus on tiny noises  way too much.  But at same time loud lower frequency sounds irritate me eg boy racer exhausts, lawn mowers, chain saws , petrol leaf blowers, people talking say close by 

    It sounds like we have a very similar issue from this I'm the same but I use audiobooks podcasts and music rather than TV/radio. Nighttime is a bit of an issue for me, for a start I struggle to actually sleep at night so I'm often sleeping while the world is awake but I can't get to sleep at all without something playing to keep my mind quiet but then I wake up because I hear noises so I usually fall asleep listening to something and if I wake up ill pop the earplugs in and try to fall straight back to sleep, I usually sleep fine then if I can do it before my mind starts going.

    aidie said:
    I have a whole range of types of headphones and earplugs.  One pair I made myself which is a standard FM radio inside a pair of ear defenders until I found a set online which I also bought.

    I have a pair of radio defenders but I'm not really a fan of radio but I never thought of using them as a white notice, I might try that.

    aidie said:
    my best sound blocker is to wear  a pair of rubber earplugs then a pair of shooting range eardefenders with their built in radio detuned to white noise at full volume and 2 portable scanner mini speaker FM radios player  close by  tuned to 2 different radio stations LOL 

    I suspect if this is the lengths you go to then maybe you have it worse than I do in the audio department because I am just not that committed lol.

  • i like to have a radio ( or TV on all the time ), even throughout the night otherwise I start to focus on tiny noises  way too much.  But at same time loud lower frequency sounds irritate me eg boy racer exhausts, lawn mowers, chain saws , petrol leaf blowers, people talking say close by 

    i believe i have ADHD and Autism and its this breaking of my attention I attribute to ADHD. But I could be wrong here.

    I have a whole range of types of headphones and earplugs.  One pair I made myself which is a standard FM radio inside a pair of ear defenders until I found a set online which I also bought.

    I sometimes de-tune the radios to white noise  if the radio station is getting my attention. 

    my best sound blocker is to wear  a pair of rubber earplugs then a pair of shooting range eardefenders with their built in radio detuned to white noise at full volume and 2 portable scanner mini speaker FM radios player  close by  tuned to 2 different radio stations LOL 

  • in reply to aidie

    Good to know, thankfully my office only has me in it as I work for myself,  there are times blocking out chatter would be nice but I'm rarely trying to concentrate which is when chat annoys me the most. 

  • in reply to Pax

    noise cancelling headphones dont block people talking eg in the office

  • in reply to Plastic

    I am familiar with them but I've never tried any mainly because I couldn't afford them though I've just looked and they're actually coming down to fairly reasonable prices by the looks of it. Thanks! 

  • in reply to Pax

    Are you familiar with noise cancelling headphones?     They have a microphone that picks up the outside noise and they produce an opposite signal that cancels out the outside sounds - you only hear what you want to hear without deafening yourself.

    I worked on them many years ago for tank crews - some of the modern consumer ones are amazingly effective.

  • in reply to Plastic

    Darn! Why can't I be an android!?!

    Can I ask what sort of gadgets you mean? This whole world of knowing enough about my brain to actually adapt the world is very new to me, up to now I thought depression caused the need for sound and anxiety the need for silence so I was trying to fix my brain, which was evidently the wrong way to see it.

  • I'm afraid you're stuck with being human - the ears are close to the brain for shortest possible signal path and have very high priority in your interrupt routine - to keep you alive.        Unfortunately, all those 'alert' type sounds happen all the time in modern life so your fight-or-flight is being continually triggered.      You're pretty limited to attenuating or masking them to a level you can cope with.

    Luckily, there's loads of gadgets around these days to help you - I'm sure you'll be trying all of them.