Anxiety and sensitivity to sound

[chicaplatense1]

This doesn't happen to me very often but it happened yesterday and I just wanted to run away from home and scream. I felt like it was going to drive me crazy. I was very tired and anxious and trying to sleep and my husband got home with the older kids (I had the little one quietly playing computer games while I tried to nap). I have 4 boys so, once they were all home they were all screaming at the top of their lungs. My 12 year old has a really annoying high pitch whistle that he does and he was doing that. My 9 year old was growling loudly like a lion. My 7 year old was screaming at my 9 year old to stop. My 14 year old was screaming at my 12 year old to quit whistling annoyingly.My husband was yelling at all of them and at the same time putting dishes away loudly. ARRRGGGG!!! My ears hurt and I felt like I was going to panic!!!! I felt like I was going to go crazy!!! I got up and stopped trying to nap. My husband was talking in a very animated way and I wanted to plug my ears. I felt like everyone was talking too much and too loud. I was wondering if I was going crazy and whether I should go to a mental institution. Anyone else ever feel like this??

---------- Post added at 12:46 ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 ----------

I forgot to mention that my ears also have been stuffy due to allergies and they feel sensitive too. They constantly shift and it feels like I have pressure in them. I don't know if this may have contributed to the way I was feeling....

[eternally optimistic]

Hi

OH YES.....

This is something I have always had, apparently, sensitivity to noise but when anxious, I just wanna run for the hills and sit somewhere and just hear the birds tweeting away.

Your home sounds like mine, some days :wacko:

I just take myself off and find somewhere quiet to hide for a while.

Best wishes.

[Torri]

Hi
I can relate to this aswell, my house can be loud and when loads of stuff going on such as really loud kids play fighting etc, i feel like i can't cope and want to cry i get really irritable....so your not alone :)
Its hard to think about going up stairs to hid as its all you can hear in the background

[chicaplatense1]

Thank you Torri,
I worry a lot about being able to be a good mother to my children, especailly lately with this bout of Anxiety/Depression.

[Torri]

Thank you Torri,
I worry a lot about being able to be a good mother to my children, especailly lately with this bout of Anxiety/Depression.



I too have had this worry in the past, I thought I was failing my family when I really struggled to go out

[EvBunny]

Yes, I have sound sensitivity, too - but also light sensitivity. Also, the last few days the odor sensitivity has been getting bad. Does anyone else have this? I have generalized anxiety disorder.

[Ashmedai]

I get this too. My hearing is off the charts and so I'm extremely sound-sensitive, so is my sense of smell. Overstimulation of either makes me feel like I'm flipping my stuff, so I can really relate. Going to a quiet room for a while just to decompress is necessary for me sometimes.

[Speranza]

Me too...

[Daisy Sue]

Me too, and so does my Mum... we have joked about sharing symptoms sometimes, things like the kettle boiling sets our teeth on edge if we're going through an anxious stage, also I find my vision is over-sensitive, lights seem brighter, and if there's a sudden noise I really jump & my heart goes crazy - even if it's just the phone ringing - like an over-reaction.

I don't ever notice these things when I'm not anxious, so I definitely think it's connected... maybe to do with the panic/fight or flight thing & heightened senses?

[jill]

Hi all :D:hugs:


I have had many strange, weird and wonderful things happen to my senses when acute with panic/anxiety.

Sight.... sensitive to bright light, sometimes even feeling sore, the funny shapes you get in your vision, the ones that normally come with a migraine, but without the headache, blind spots in vision, Mmm still get this one from time to time.

Hearing.... Ohhhhh boy, when this happened, I could even feel the start of the change in my hearing, slowly it would pick up, I could feel the change all around would get louder and louder, till I could hear a pin drop and sometime It would change very quick and everything seemed loud and everything would irritate me.

Taste....the only symptom I had with this one was, if I drank hot or cold drinks I could feel it going down, I felt very sensitive towards hot or cold, but not all the time.

Smell....some smells would kick my anxiety off and would seem very strong. At one point I had a Mmmm what I call, taste,smell. It was at the back of my throat, NOT on my tongue at the back of my throat , where your tongue meets your nose, at the very back of your throat. The smell was NOT coming from anything outside, It was a very, very strange sensation.

Touch...The symptom I got with this was, I lost my sense of touch a little, when I felt cold I could put my hands around I hot teapot when it was Hot, never did this to often, I could have burnt myself.

These are just a few things that happened over time. I have not had these symptoms in a long time, well not to that severity anyway.

**I definitely think it's connected... maybe to do with the panic/fight or flight thing & heightened senses? **

YOU ARE SPOT on, when acute with panic/anxiety any of our five senses can get stronger, although harmless, it can scare you if you don't know whats happening.

YES, another symptom of panic/anxiety.

TAKE CARE ALL

LOVE JILL XXX

[Speranza]

I only realised very recently that my hearing (always acute) gets moreso when I'm stressed. Although logic tells me it is the case, I still can't quite believe that it isn't the sounds getting louder!

Some days I simply can't use my washing machine because I know in advance the spin cycle will send me into a panic. One of the ways I know the Prozac is beginning to kick in is that I have a much lower level of anxiety as I think about putting a wash in.

A couple of years ago I was in a shopping centre and felt panicked and sick, then realised I could hear a very high-pitched sound which just terrified me. I quickly realised it must be one of those 'mosquito' things designed to stop teenagers congregating. I went into the shop and asked if they had one. "Yes, but it's not on. And anyway you wouldn't be able to hear it, middle-aged people can't hear them," came the reply. "I think if you check you will find it's on," I said, and indeed it was. They looked at me as though I had super-powers!

I couldn't help wondering how on earth people with autism, or with autistic children, cope in places where this is used.

[katz41]

there's much to be said for peace and quiet!!
as i say to mum, 'silence is golden'!! she loves to chat bless her and have the radio on loud but if i'm feeling less than chipper it really irritates me!! not mum but just the cacophony!! at least that's how it feels!!