No peace and quiet in society!!!

I live in my own housing association flat, which I have done for 6 months now. The flat itself is brilliant, I can't fault it, and there is no-where else that would surpass it. For this I am grateful, and realise that many are in a far worse position than me.

However, the above being true, I have to get this off my chest because it is making me very stressed.  My flat is far noisier at night-time than my parent's house, where I still spend the weekends - I need peace and quiet in order to recuperate!. The problem is that cars drive past my ground-floor flat constantly, and the noise prevents me from relaxing, something that I find hard to do anyway. On Friday night, a car woke me up at 2am, and a dog was barking. I feel tired as a result, and can only refresh myself after sleeping at my parent's house on Saturday and Sunday night. I had never before realized how much I take quietude at night for granted, because I have had no real noise issues before - apart from when my brother played loud music, preventing me from concentrating on my reading.

I also hear the neighbour everytime she has visitors (I can even hear what she is saying), and every time she turns the taps on or flushes the toilet, I hear it. She must hear me too, and it makes me feel rather paranoid  and unable to fully relax in my own home. Sometimes she walks around at night, and this wakes me up.

Any advice?

Parents
  • autismtwo: I think familiarity has got a lot to do with it. I sometimes dread going back to my flat after the weekend because I will have to fend for myself again, amongst the noise. But I feel bad about admitting this because there is so much I should be grateful for, which I am, but I can't help the fact that background noise bothers me. Because I have grown up in a very quiet semi-detached house, I am struggling to adjust to apartment life. I resent having to worry about my noise possibly disrupting my neighbour, but I am exceptionally quiet in order to abide by the tenancy agreement, which I rigidly adhere to. However, because I know that the walls are paper-thin, I feel annoyed that even playing music at a normal volume might be heard by the neighbour above me. So I play my music quieter than I would like to, and I resent this. But it seems that the neighbour above me does not care about my need for quietude because she walks around at night, disturbing me. Of course, I don't think this is so much her fault as the fact that there is minimal sound insulation. It can feel as though there is no privacy, and I experience the noise as in invasion of my space, in my own home.

Reply
  • autismtwo: I think familiarity has got a lot to do with it. I sometimes dread going back to my flat after the weekend because I will have to fend for myself again, amongst the noise. But I feel bad about admitting this because there is so much I should be grateful for, which I am, but I can't help the fact that background noise bothers me. Because I have grown up in a very quiet semi-detached house, I am struggling to adjust to apartment life. I resent having to worry about my noise possibly disrupting my neighbour, but I am exceptionally quiet in order to abide by the tenancy agreement, which I rigidly adhere to. However, because I know that the walls are paper-thin, I feel annoyed that even playing music at a normal volume might be heard by the neighbour above me. So I play my music quieter than I would like to, and I resent this. But it seems that the neighbour above me does not care about my need for quietude because she walks around at night, disturbing me. Of course, I don't think this is so much her fault as the fact that there is minimal sound insulation. It can feel as though there is no privacy, and I experience the noise as in invasion of my space, in my own home.

Children
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