Published on 12, July, 2020
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.