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 believe this is known as Misophonia. I only learned this a few years ago but have suffered it all my life. The sound of a person chewing repulses me, to the point I could cry in frustration and betching to slap the food away from them. Anything loud bothers me. I find the tiny ear defenders you can buy on Amazon like Loop or Flare help a lot as it "zones out" the sound somewhat Believe me this is not your fault. I spent years being told I was awkward or difficult
Oh lord, I thought it was me being horrible but I hate the sound of my husband chewing..it drives me crazy...I want to leave the room!!
I've inadvertently got him well trained on how to down a pint of water in a near silent manner.
And your thread has reminded me to send some "feedback" to two shops on the volume of their music which I could still hear really clearly through my earplugs. I don't know why loud music in shops is the norm. If people want to listen to music, everyone has earphones these days.
It's caused a few "to do's" with us too, until I read an autism book that was explaining it...then I understood. So now I just try to go to my "happy place" and enjoy his company.
I didn't know this was a "thing" until very recently. It got worse when I was in burnout. We laugh about it now as I understand what's going on and casually turn the radio up if he's eating or drinking too loudly. But in the past it has been the cause of a few "to-do's". We have to meet each other half way.