Near breakdown

Post Reply New Topic

I was taking an exam yesterday, low on sleep (awake for some 25 hours at the time), and on material that I'm not too comfortable with. Stressed about a lot of things. Anyhow, they were doing construction right outside the window. The noise just started driving me crazy. I have earplugs (noise bugs me so easily), and they were in, but it still seemed like it was just scratching away at my brain. I couldn't think at all. The only way that I could drown the noise out was to scratch both earplugs at once. This meant I couldn't write and think. It had me VERY close to cracking. I was able to hide for the last 15 minutes of the test, in another room where the noise wasn't so bad. Others were bothered, but not like I was. I was really about ready to go outside and start letting some blood. I felt like an animal cornered with the only escape being to fight.

On a better note - the building where I live was doing some checks, and knocking on all the doors. As they got closer, I started stressing more and more. I hate when people knock loudly. Plus the anticipation of them pounding on my door was killing me. Instead of just passively accepting my fate (as I all too often do), I opened my door and asked them to check me out of order. Kind of made me really happy.

I think of sleep and stress can exacerbate AS sensitivities.(It even makes NT's pretty cranky).Construction noise can be the worse because it is intermittent.....gets quit for a few seconds then starts again...like chinese water torture....you just wait for the next drop to hit you and the anticipation is the killer.I work overnights and of course there are no noise restrictions,so I get to listen to the neighbors bassy rap music(nothing drowns out bass and earplugs actually seem to funnel the noise into your ears,not to mention,you can FEEL it.Argggg.....sometimes I will make a bed in my bath tub because that room seems most isolated from sounds.

Good job on facing the door knockers....sometimes it is better to leap off the cliff then wait to be pushed.

I can relate to that. You might have been able to tell your professor that the noise was bothering you, but if you're anything like me, you wouldn't have been able to do that. Good thing you had earplugs. I try to remember to take mine wherever I go. Maybe you should get the expensive noise-cancelling headphones. I'm saving up for some.

I'll look into them. You sound like you've done some research on them, any thoughts? I'm kind of lazy about stuff like that.

As to sleep, I usually work better without much. But I think it does make me crankier about things.

http://www.bose.com/controller?event=SE ... T&tab=none

Yes, noise plus lack of sleep is horrible, it makes stress a lot worse. It's probably worth saving for the headphones, I've not tried them but I've heard good reports about them (my hubby's friend was driven crazy by the noise of the ducks in the next door garden, he got the Bose 'phones and he said they're brilliant)