Learning to ignore/not process sounds

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Okkano
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19 Jun 2018, 10:08 am

I had alot of smaller things that contributed to that, ignoring the fact that i was obsessed with understanding my true self as a kid.
I'm sensitive, so it effects me even at night in a country house, it works differently with different kind of sounds.
If there is a sound much louder than others, and it's things like music, speech, my very unstable mom, or some other patterny things i can't bear it.
The best long term way i've found to cope while starting to feel overwhelmed is to sort of try to focus one sound which is mostly patternless, while pushing the rest out in a way it gets interpreted as one sound, which is only is viable if the many sounds are able to "melt together".
My favourite controlled way of excersize is to try to sort out all the individual melodies in a piece of music one by one.
I rather stumbled upon it, for it to be effective as it is took alot of work, and it still doesn't really work .
How were your experiences in coping with sound "pollution", being in a place with lots of sounds, loud sounds, or just ones that were especially irritating?


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Last edited by Okkano on 19 Jun 2018, 12:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

blazingstar
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19 Jun 2018, 10:36 am

I use ear plugs or sometimes just leave the area. I can't tolerate conflicting aural inputs, like two people talking at the same time. I can't even read if someone plays a you tube video, even in another room.

The best advice I know to deal with a cacophony of sounds is to listen to it organically, like it is all part of an orchestral piece of modern music. Listening to all the different parts as if they are a part of a composition. I guess this sort of detaches the listener from all the sounds.


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Trogluddite
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19 Jun 2018, 1:21 pm

Welcome, Okkano.

It's an interesting technique that you mention. I do something similar, though in a way, the reverse - it is predictable, structured sounds that I find best for me to focus on. Music is particularly useful, though in fact, I can be too drawn to it, so that focusing on a conversation when there's music is often more difficult. Even the ticking of a clock, or the rhythm of machine tools in a workplace can really help me to reduce how overwhelmed I feel.


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Okkano
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19 Jun 2018, 1:49 pm

Just to those people above, most music, especially pop, is worse than most environmental sound (mixes) for me.
With things with patterns i have the problem that it tends to be very disruptive to my thoughts.
The orchestra thing sometimes happens automatically.
With speech i have a problem that it essentially disables me from talking, and essentially overwrites alot of my latest reading interpretation. The speech problems are only on a per language basis.


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nick007
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19 Jun 2018, 8:53 pm

I had major problems with that as a kid but working in environments with lots of sounds like dish-washing machine, & floor scrubbers, & buffers kind of forced me to learn to tune things out.


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20 Jun 2018, 8:28 am

I need a certain amount of silence every day. I have a very loud child, so I give myself 5 minute timeouts in my room throughout the day to stay sane.


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21 Jun 2018, 6:54 am

If I didn't learn how to ignore the backup siren on a forklift or a large truck then I would have gone insane a long time ago. But there are many days were it still bothers me even after 25 years of being around such vehicles. Ugh... the piercing sound of it...

I've started using earplugs when I go to sleep since I have to sleep during the day as I'm a night shift worker and it has helped tremendously.


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LeyIori27
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21 Jun 2018, 10:33 am

The damned sensory overload, I hate this curse, it's like I'm always covering my ears when I'm near a speaker/bus , it's a constant hell on earth