Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello i'm new to the community. I'm 53 and am still waiting for my full assessment to determine whether i am, as i suspect on the spectrum. I also have a history of anxiety and severe depression stretching back as far as my late teens. I am struggling to process a lot of things at the moment but my biggest challange is noise. I wonder if anyone has any suggestions please.
As i'm getting older i'm finding that my tolerance for noise is getting lower, to the point it has me in panic mode, running for any safe space that is quiet. I have got some Sony noise cancelling headphone as well as some Loops but these don't always help me. Just this weekend the noise was intense from mowers, strimmers, hedge cutters, dogs barking, motorbikes and those awful back firing cars...that i became so upset i was wishing i wasn't here anymore.
How do you cope with noise...Any tips or recommendations would be very gratefully received.
Thank you
I often find that if I can't have quiet, audio input that I have full control over is the next best thing to try and 'cover up' whatever sound is bothering me. My preference is heavy metal though which I know is probably the last thing a lot of noise-sensitive autistic people want! White noise or other ambient sound can also be very helpful.
I should probably use music through my headphones, but when I start to get overwhelmed by all the noise I can't tolerate any noise. So I guess the lesson should be put the music on sooner.
Yes I seriously thinking this could be the biggest thing to help. Playing light, background music through the headphones when I go out, before the anxiety starts.
I love my garden and try my hardest to absorb myself in it. My husband has also started talking to me about garden plans to take my mind off the noise it helps to a certain degree if there is only a few noises, but once all the neighbours around us get out mowing etc it becomes harder not to run.
Becoming fixated on the irritating noise reinforces its effect, it's a vicious cycle. The most useful method of breaking the cycle is to become engrossed in something that takes up most or all of your attention.
How are you with very minimalist music in those situations? Like drowning it out with something loud is an option, but with noise cancelling on I find even relatively quiet ambient music or just sounds can kinda fill up enough of the frequencies or whatever to push the outside noise more into the background and make it manageable.