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

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.

it built up gradually LOL

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 can happily do all the normal outside things in noisy places with noisy people if I have my earplugs in to cut them and the background noises and chatter out.

I'm the same with this one but substitute earplugs for earphones. I've done that ever since I was about 10 and got my first pair of in-ear headphones and even grew my hair long for a lot of my early life so I could hide them without being shouted at in school and such.

No, this does not happen to me fortunately. I don't have ADHD, so I'm guessing that may be the cause of it for you. The two conditions clashing as you describe. 

Yeah, this was mentioned in my ADHD report too so likely the reason, I do also have a general anxiety disorder so doesn't help either.

I've never thought about noise cancellation headphones as I wear really good sound engineer headphones for all my composition and music production

I don't really know how much they will help but I think they may be a good middle-ground for me. I can play music through them but if I need to concentrate for a bit I press pause and I can get a better silence than the passive one offered by my current ones. I'm not sure, I may have to see if I can find someone I can borrow them from to try.

Music is my salvation and I play and listen to it all day long (apart from heavy metal or rap music which has the disturbing effects as loud and background noise

It's funny you mention rap and metal music there, id not thought on that one, I do actually like metal but all the stuff I listen to is more melodic with clean vocals, such as symphonic metal, folk metal etc, and as soon as anyone does screamy vocals I'm out never to return. My friends always found that confusing and suddenly I think I know why. I also hate rap, I don't know why but you might have hit the nail on the head.

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 

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. 

Pax said:

I'm very sensitive to repetitive or aggressive sounds so I have to find ways to block them

I wear earplugs all the time. I can't leave the house without them. Well, I can leave the house without them, but it's not a pleasant experience for me. I can happily do all the normal outside things in noisy places with noisy people if I have my earplugs in to cut them and the background noises and chatter out.

I often have to wear them in the house too to cancel out noises from outside or inside. I have the landline turned down to its lowest setting, and rarely hear it ring. The same is true for the doorbell. I wear them when people come to visit too. 

I can't sleep without wearing earplugs either—as well as a sleep mask, too, to block out all light.

Pax said:

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.

No, this does not happen to me fortunately. I don't have ADHD, so I'm guessing that may be the cause of it for you. The two conditions clashing as you describe. 

I find the silence really peaceful. And I relax instantly upon putting my earplugs in. My mind takes it as a cue to get silent itself, similar to hearing a temple bell chime and then entering into a meditative state.

There are some tiny inconveniences, though. I play piano and guitar, and for piano that can be a problem, because I have to constantly remember to take them out! I wonder sometimes why I'm playing so quietly, and then I remember I have earplugs in. Sometimes, when I play guitar it takes ten minutes to work out why it sounds too low too!

I've never thought about noise cancellation headphones as I wear really good sound engineer headphones for all my composition and music production, so I would be reluctant to have to wear headphones more than I already do, but the thought of them does appeal.


No, you're not strange at all.

Music is my salvation and I play and listen to it all day long (apart from heavy metal or rap music which has the disturbing effects as loud and background noise—I think it must be the high-pitched screaming in metal music and shrieking and the talking-voices in rap).

I'm quite happy to have my headphones on and listen to music without earplugs, but then as soon as I stop listening to music, in go the earplugs.

Mykal x

noise cancelling headphones dont block people talking eg in the office

Cool - good luck!  

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! 

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.

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.