Noises drive me crazy - Soft Sound Sensitivity Syndrome

[johnnycakes]

Inspired by El D's OCD thread...

There are many noises that drive me crazy.
Most people have a cringing reaction to fingernails on a blackboard. I have a much longer list of noises that cause me to react the same way.

The noises that bother me the most are mouth-related noises. I cannot stand to hear people eat or chew or slurp.
It causes me to become very angry. I get quiet and cannot concentrate on anything except the offending sound.

There is a woman at my work who chews gum all day every day.
I can hear her chewing, clicking this gum. It's not loud popping, just soft clicking noise. I have fantsies of approaching her and cussing her out, of reaching into her mouth, pulling the gum out and mashing it into her hair.

I cannot concentrate. I cannot work. I must put on my headphones and turn up my music very loud if I have any hope of getting anything done in the office.

This problem has ruined many dinners for me. If I can hear the people eating, slurping, SCRAPING THEIR FORKS AGAINST THEIR TEETH...I shut down. I will not talk. I cannot hold a conversation. I just feel angry. But I cannot say anything to the "offenders", because I know it is my problem, and 95% of the population would have to change the way they eat to make me feel at ease.

After searching the intarweb, I have found that I am not alone (although I have never met another person in "real life" who suffers from this).

Here is an exact description of what I have.

This is perfectly worded:
[ QUOTE ]
Emotional reactions are closely related to this syndrome: victims may cry, yell, strike out, retreat, scream, withdraw, abuse others verbally or physically, in an effort to remove the negative stimulation. One patient described these very soft sounds as akin to 'fingernails on a million blackboards'. There is an irresistable urge to remove oneself.

[/ QUOTE ]
I never cry or yell or strike, but I always have strong visual fantasies of doing so.

Here is a brief list of noises that I cannot be around:
Chewing
Swallowing
Drinking, slurping
Teeth on metal (forks, spoons)
Any lip smaking.
Brushes (Such as sweeping the floor. Brushing my teeth every day is nearly impossible).
Sniffing (Blow your [censored] nose people!)
Finger nail biting.

Anybody else?

[Jeebus]

Wow! I thought i was alone. The worst part for me is trying to sleep. If someone is snoring or breathing realy heavy I am stuck awake. Odd Bird chirps do the same thing to me. I always figured it was just OCD.

[LetYouDown]

[ QUOTE ]
After searching the intarweb, I have found that I am not alone (although I have never met another person in "real life" who suffers from this).

[/ QUOTE ]
Umm...I know a LOT of people who "suffer" from this. It irritates the crap out of me as well. Why is everything a syndrome now? Seriously...it's getting out of control.

[dcasper70]

I had the same issues, but I got one of those noise machines. You know the kind, they emit sounds of waves or a brook or static.

The static or white noise option, set at very low volume, masks an amazing amount of background noise, and is very easy to become used to. I have trouble sleeping without it now.

[Jeebus]

i use an air purifier. It takes care of the noise and keeps my room smelling fresh and clean.

[miajag81]

[ QUOTE ]
Wow! I thought i was alone. The worst part for me is trying to sleep. If someone is snoring or breathing realy heavy I am stuck awake. Odd Bird chirps do the same thing to me. I always figured it was just OCD.

[/ QUOTE ]

Earplugs.

[JDErickson]

Metal on teeth is enough to drive me insane.

[pearljam]

My GF has the exact same problem, if I want to eat something crunchy like cereal I have to leave the room, and even if im eating something that doesnt make noise god forbid if the fork scrapes against my teeth.

[Blarg]

I'm noise sensitive too, a little. Mouth noises are disgusting to me, unless it's a mouth working on my anatomy. Especially if you can hear the wet gloppy gurgling of someone eating, it puts me off my food. I don't think I'm all that unusual that way though; most people seem at least a little put off by mouth sonds, and turned off while eating if they hear it.

I think part of it is that my folks raised me to be very polite and have good manners at the table. I grew up feeling that trying to have good manners wasn't a burden, but something you could feel good about. It made you more bearable and welcome at the table. I don't know where the 7th fork goes or anything like that; just simple good manners like not making big snot sucking sounds while people are eating, not smacking your lips, gurgling, slurping your soup or from your glass, chewing with your mouth open, shoveling food in your face, banging your silverware around, gasping, burping, picking your teeth, picking your nose, biting your silverware pr knocking your teeth with it so it clanks, flossing, clipping toenails, milking goats, beating confessions out of prisoners, etc.

I always thought of certain limits on bad manners as natural, but it has become less common. Now when I see bad manners, I tend to think of them as either intentional and therefore disrespectful, or proof of idiocy, boorishness, or being raised poorly. Bad, slurpy, grunty table manners gross me out and offend me. Though I know many people just were not raised not to feed like pigs at a trough, I tend to view my own upbringing as closer to a sort of fair level of table manners and that of others as drastically worse. So I find what others think is normal to be distasteful and aggravating.

If I'm in a restaurant, I will move my table if someone sits down after me and starts in on the grunting, gasping, and lick smacking while eating. I can't enjoy my meal listening to that. If I have to get a doggy bag, I'll do it. I can almost never tune it out.

Same if I'm talking to someone who always shows the food bouncing around in his mouth in various stages of digestion. I can't look at that person, and even get pissed off. Usually I tell them, "I can't look at you when you do that."

Back on the subject of regular noise, I always sleep with a fan on at night, for white noise. Most of my life it's been a floor fan, but I found a really smooth, non-squeaky desktop fan box fan I use now. I use it even if it's a cold night.

[HopeydaFish]

I can't go to fairly busy movies because of what you described. If I can't sit far enough away from people that I can't hear their random noises, I can't watch the movie. Hearing someone crinkling plastic while they dig into a bag of candy drives me insane the most. If someone is constantly sniffling (like from allergies or a cold), or feels the need to whisper to his/her friends, I totally lose focus on the movie because I get so tense. I can only go to popular movies during non-busy screenings (like a weekday afternoon), or I have to wait until the movie is almost out of theatres and the crowds have thinned out to see it. It sucks.