Avoiding noisy places... social anxiety?

[dan76]

Does this fall in the category of social anxiety?

I go to e.g. to have lunch at work in diner. It's not overly loud place just few tens of people having their lunch and discussing with each other. As soon as I step inside all the noises there start to sound blurry in my ears. Sometimes this gets better in few minutes and sometimes not. If it doesn't it's very difficult for me to even follow the conversation in my table, because the background noise kind of blends in. I also might feel even more lightheaded than normally. Occasionally it feels that I can hear the discussion in the next table better than the one in my table.

The same can happen if I go to a mall or some other place with lots of background noise.

Naturally I have started to avoid those kind of places. I am not overly scared about this, but I consider it as a big nuisance. It's like choosing if you want to go outside for a walk when it's raining or when it's sunny. Most people choose sunny, because walking in rain is not "fun". As going to a diner is not "fun" for me.

Well, I have to admit that part of avoidance is due to the anxious(?) feeling I get from this "noise effect". I am a bit worried if some occasion it gets so bad that I just need to get out half way through my lunch.

This even used to happen when I was feeling better i.e. times when I was not anxious on any other time of the day. It just started when I entered the diner and resolved when I got out.

Similar experiences or any other thoughts?

[Oosh]

Yeh I don't like loud noise. It's a nature you're born with apparently. They can identify introverts at birth with a drop of lemon juice in babies mouth then monitor the saliva response.

Books that go into it more -

Highly Sensitive Person.

Quiet.

"In her national bestseller, The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You, author Elaine Aron defines a distinct personality trait that affects as many as one out of every five people. According to Dr. Aron's definition, the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) has a sensitive nervous system, is aware of subtleties in his/her surroundings, and is more easily overwhelmed when in a highly stimulating environment. "

[Fishmanpa]

I believe I suffer from something called "misophonia". which is an aversion to certain noises. It's ironic as I'm a musician, but certain noises irritate me and make me anxious. Loud crowd noises are one of the triggers some people suffer from.

I've always had an aversion to certain sounds but it was amplified during my treatment. Beeping noises drive me batty!

Positive thoughts

[Anxious_gal]

I have mild social anxiety, I do have regular anxiety and find it hard to go places alone.

I don't like a lot of noise. Things like fire alarms, loud music, people shouting or cheering. It overwhelms me, I find it almost invasive? Sudden loud noises make me jump too.

Have you had your hearing checked?

I have misophonia too. Mostly if I'm in a quite room I can't stand repetitive noise. Clocks ticking, tap dripping, the hum of a fridge, washing machines, people breathing too loud or worse snoring :( it grates on my nerves so bad.

Also if I'm in a quite room and someone is eating loud, it just annoys me and I can feel this rage building up inside. Sometimes I'll have to leave the room because I feel like I will snap.

So many people chew with their mouths open and breathe through their mouths when eating and just make all sorts of "disgusting" sounds.

Crunching sounds don't bother me, so crunch away. :)

[dan76]

Thanks for the comments all :)

I read about misophonia and it doesn't really seem to match with what I am experiencing. I don't get bugged by any particular sounds.. it's more that the background noise which should normally not bother you (I think "normal person" is able to discard that), become too overwhelming.

I have been to ENT and they did hearing test which was just fine.

[wabbit1]

Hi, I know what you mean. I find it really hard in the staffroom as everyone is having their different conversations and I can't focus on what someone is saying to me. I can just hear too much of other peoples conversations.

The ironic thing is - I'm a teacher :/. However I can tell them to be quiet when I need them to be. It's for this reason that people don't believe me when I explain that I find noisy places hard to deal with - I've learned to get around it and in my classroom I'm in control, most of the time :P.

Social anxiety is definitely part of my problem.

[dan76]

Hi Wabbit,

Does the difficulty change for you from day to day or is it always the same? I would say my issue is varying. Especially if I feel anxious it is usually worse. But even when feeling fine I can get this feeling and then maybe it triggers anxiety. Vicious circle once again. Go figure.

[SarahH]

Busy supermarkets... always avoid them at the busiest times

[wabbit1]

It is definitely variable. Some days I can't even go in, I just grab stuff out my tray and then up to my classroom. Even hearing the noise from the staffroom can set the heart racing and breathing going a bit wonky. Other days I have no issues at all and can quite easily sit in there.

At the moment I'm rarely in there.

[Charlotteee89]

When my anxiety is high I can't stand noise! At home it's anything from television noise to the normal house noise from my parents! When I'm out of the house it depends where I am... Intense social situations like going out to a bar or club can be quite harrowing when I'm anxious.. The loud music noise (especially deep booming noise) makes me feel so panicky & sick!

Sometimes just the thought of going to a loud club makes me feel anxious.. Anticipatory Anxiety for ya! :doh: