Noise Sensitivity

As it all comes together, as my anxiety over buying a car rises, I found myself short tempered and irritable today.  But I also found that every little noise seemed to grate on those nerves even more.

For me, it was like the sound of nails on a chalkboard ... all day long!

So I started to do some digging on Google, because that's how I am, and because I wanted to know if it's only me.  Thank goodness it's not!

On EverdayHealth, I found an article that says  "One recently discovered consequence of this exhaustion is hypersensitivity to sound, when the noise level of a normal conversation can seem uncomfortably loud."   That was me to a Tee today!  Every person who came in my area to talk to me was like an irritant; I wanted to punch them and send them on their way!  It also said  "Research also points out a need to recognize the potential consequences of being overly sensitive to sound. Hypersensitivity to sound can be disabling for some people, forcing them to isolate themselves and to avoid stressful situations."    Mmm hmm, totally relate.  Closing my door and just doing my work, with no interruptions is how I wished my day would go!  (As I think about it, Tuesdays and Fridays are especially stressful in that way because the main printer is in my work space, and more than a dozen people come and go all day long, picking up printouts. )

It's odd that I don't find the noises of machines operating to get on my nerves as much as it's other people's habits:  talking incessantly, scuffling their shoes as they walk (instead of actual walking) are two major irritants.  Another that popped up recently, a co-worker carries a pen and constantly 'clicks' it kachick kachick kachick as she stands there, waiting for someone to respond to her question.  Totally on my nerves recently!  (altho I confess, I do that at times, too! )

I'm not sure how other people get over this kind of problem.  I find that isolating myself is a good start.  When I get home from work, I might put the TV on to a soft music selection.  (There's a show on Netflix called "Moving Art" .... flowing images with soft instrumental music .... it often does the trick!)  I think that there are two other major things to help adjust for this:  a little deep breathing to calm the stressors and getting some extra rest to combat the emotional exhaustion I've had lately.

Over the past weekend, it seemed like every time I sat down, I was falling asleep.  That's an obvious signal that there's something going on, and attention is needed in this area.  My solution?  Crawl into bed and take a short nap.  Not sure if it's a good thing, but it was needed!

So if you're finding yourself feeling irritable or grouchy like I was today,
check around you, see if you're being hypersensitive to noises around you.
And if you are, see which ones you can eliminate!