# Making noise



## My911GT2993 (May 14, 2009)

Here's one I don't think Ive seen here; does anyone else getting more anxiety when they're making more noise. Examples;
-I have the TV on very low, I think if people can hear me watching TV they'll judge me badly by what Im watching.
-When I cough or sneeze I try to supress it.
-I can't play music, get angry, or laugh out loud, as I think people downstairs will hear me.
-When the house is quiet, Im even quieter, because my noises will 'stand out' more.


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## TangaroaTiki (Jan 16, 2010)

I workout to DVDs. I cannot work out if anyone is around. I get upset if my husband comes in during a workout - I have to stop. I will sneak upstairs sometimes to work out in private and be a quiet as possible. 

Weird, I know :|


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## Lumiere (Jun 13, 2009)

Yes, anything that draws attention to my presence causes me anxiety. I always turn the TV or my music down low, unless I know the neighbours are out.
Sometimes, during summer, I just want to open all my windows and turn my music up to a ridiculous level, because, you know, it's summer and the heat makes you do ridiculous things... but I never do.


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## epril (Mar 24, 2009)

My911GT2993 said:


> Here's one I don't think Ive seen here; does anyone else getting more anxiety when they're making more noise. Examples;
> -I have the TV on very low, I think if people can hear me watching TV they'll judge me badly by what Im watching.
> -When I cough or sneeze I try to supress it.
> -I can't play music, get angry, or laugh out loud, as I think people downstairs will hear me.
> -When the house is quiet, Im even quieter, because my noises will 'stand out' more.


Ooh! I am so embarrassed when someone, even the UPS guy, comes to the door and hears my t.v. on! I think he's judging me: slacker, loser, hermit, dummy...


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

epril said:


> Ooh! I am so embarrassed when someone, even the UPS guy, comes to the door and hears my t.v. on! I think he's judging me: slacker, loser, hermit, dummy...


He's just happy you're home so he doesn't have to come back tomorrow to try again.


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## Catiey (Sep 13, 2009)

Sometime I think that I pee too loud...ya lol. For the tv thing, if I have a guest over I always watch what I think they will like, never anything I am interested in watching.


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## Game 7 (Dec 23, 2009)

If everyone is asleep, I'll walk around like a mouse. A really big mouse. I take forever to open the sliding drawers, to avoid noise, I'll pull my door open carefully cause it makes a noise. I hate even opening the fridge. I can't wait to live on my own again.


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## Ambivert (Jan 16, 2010)

Ya I got this bad. I purposely suppress my _breathing_ around people because I'm paranoid I'll breathe too loud and they will label me a "mouth breather" or some other insult...ya that's SA for ya...


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## My911GT2993 (May 14, 2009)

:lol haaha, this is pretty weird. I am conscious of pissing loudly, sometimes I open draws extra quietly, when I unzip my hoody at night I doit slowly to reduce noise, and also supress my breathing if especially if Im out of breath.
cheers for responses-this wasnt to bump it






:cig


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## Rixy (Oct 4, 2009)

Sometimes I always check if my MP3 player isn't too loud and I'm always afraid that my neighbours will hear me next door if I play my CDs.


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## Rage (Jan 20, 2010)

I tend to tiptoe around new people, or people I've known but am afraid of being judged by. I don't mind playing music loud, but my mom's been trying to teach me to sing, off and on for about the last 20 years, and I keep giving up because I'm afraid of how I'll sound to her, or my dad, or the neighbours. And I do the suppressed breathing thing too.


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## Amanda123 (Jan 21, 2010)

That only really happens to me at school.. at home though I can do whatever without that feeling of holding back. That's why I love staying home.  When people I don't know come over then I usually do what you do.


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## Mr_nobody (Jan 30, 2007)

I also do similar things. Most of the time when I'm listening to music or watching TV I'll have the volume on pretty low. I play guitar but I don't play it with amp turned on unless I'm the only one home. If I do turn it on when someone else is home then I'll use the headphones. I enjoy singing along with music but I do it quietly unless I'm completely alone. I also try to pee as quietly as possible at night(mostly because my parents' bed is right on the other side of the wall).

If I wake up before everyone else I don't do anything loud. I just go on the internet or play a game with the volume either muted or very very low. I'll wait until at least one other person gets up before I start making noise.


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## mechuga (Dec 2, 2009)

counterfeit self said:


> Ya I got this bad. I purposely suppress my _breathing_ around people because I'm paranoid I'll breathe too loud and they will label me a "mouth breather" or some other insult...ya that's SA for ya...


I'm the same way! I won't listen to my ipod when I'm walking somewhere or working out because I'm scared I'll start breathing really loud and won't notice


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## shadowmask (Jun 22, 2009)

I remember as a kid I could never shut a door without turning the knob first and closing it as softly as possible. Also when placing anything on a hard surface, like a plate, I'd try and set it down gently to avoid making any noise. I'm not as bad as I was back then, but I'm still afraid of being loud and attracting unwanted attention.


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## Wehttam (Nov 6, 2009)

I pee around the bowl part of the toilet instead of the center to avoid making the splash noise


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## My911GT2993 (May 14, 2009)

OOOOOHHHHH MY GOD!!!!....it's ridiculous. are we all identical aliens or... what!! Im suprised how many fckin weird similarities we all have, on other threads also. I kindof assumed just anxiety, panic attacks, self-hatred, stuff like that, SA really is quite a complicated beast...Yes, I piss _around_ the bowl too, wtf (?), also make sure my headphones arnt audible to others cuz ill be embarrest or something. WTF. Im still quite suprised about all of thesee possibly hundreds of similarities, but im stoned so mayby im suprissed for longer.

ps. sometimes, when nobodys in, I slash right in the water!!! HELLYEAH!!! Complete anarchy i know!:no


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## rickthegreat (Dec 22, 2008)

I have gotten way better about this. Not sure how I did it though. For me it's also about being considerate (probably overly so) because I used to work the graveyard shift and I didn't want to be that jerk in the apartment complex with the TV on at 3 AM keeping YOU up. 



Wehttam said:


> I pee around the bowl part of the toilet instead of the center to avoid making the splash noise


LOL. First of all that's fun to do. :b Then sometimes it's fun to hit the middle. And pee your name. :b Or pretend you're a firefigter. How old am I?? :b No, I do that sometimes but it' so I don't wake my roommate. And once I found out a few years ago that my VERY outgoing TOTALLY NON SA oldest brother was embarrassed about stuff like bathroom noises I felt better about my OTHER anxiety worries though. A non-SA friend also recently confessed she has the same problem. (She was happy that I had gone all the way to the kitchen while she used the bathroom!) I bet if you asked a few civilian (non-SA) people that you know closely, THEY would tell you about bathroom issues THEY have. So, don't feel so bad. 

edit: P.S. Wehttam when I saw your female avatar and read that you pee around the bowl part I was like "holy ****". 0_o It *blew *my mind! Then I read you were a male...and now I am at peace. :b


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## jsn (Jan 26, 2010)

I play music just about all the time, but have to close my bedroom door to trick myself that people can't hear it.

Can't walk around with an mp3 player just incase people hear what I'm listening to and judge me, even if its one of the top chart songs 

Pee on the side of the bowl so people can't hear, yet at home when no ones around I'll pee into the water lol.

God, so much in common with alot of you.


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## pita (Jan 17, 2004)

I hate making noise. At work, we get chocolate in giant slabs that we have to break up with a hammer. Good thing my co-workers actually enjoy doing this, because I absolutely cannot do it because of the noise it makes.


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## London (Jan 26, 2010)

Catiey said:


> Sometime I think that I pee too loud...ya lol. For the tv thing, if I have a guest over I always watch what I think they will like, never anything I am interested in watching.


Yeah, both of these apply to me too!

I also hate anyone being able to hear the music from my earphones when I'm listening to my ipod; always have the volume low, as much as I hate it. It's especially annoying when someone at school decides to grab my earphones whilst I'm listening to my ipod and they go "how can you even hear this?!" :roll


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## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

this thread really struck a chord with me. i've used headphones when listening to music as far back as i can remember so no one else can hear it. i've never felt comfortable watching tv with other people unless we're watching something they want to watch.


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## serendipitydodo (Apr 11, 2010)

Gosh, I'm like this too. I feel like people are going to judge me badly if they can hear what I'm listening to. I listen to music (apart from the radio because the music on there isn't really my choice) through headphones and often use them to watch TV (especially if I'm watching something with any swearing in it). However, I can't help singing to the music I listen to (when I'm on my own) and feel paranoid that the people living underneath me can hear me singing. When people ask me what music I like, I find it really hard to tell them because I don't want them to judge me badly. I have got a lot better at this, though, and try to challenge myself.


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## danberado (Apr 22, 2010)

I can't talk on the phone if anyone else is in the house. 

I won't use public restrooms when other people are in them. If I'm in the middle of it and someone walks in, I stop, wait until they leave, then continue. At home I turn the fan on to muffle the sound.

I can't speak aloud to myself even if there is no one in hearing distance, and I mean like a half mile. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but it is part of a mental exercise that is supposed to help with SA.


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## Georgina 22 (Jan 4, 2009)

Yeah, sometimes I get anxious about making noise. Specially if there is someone at my house who I usually get nervous around or strangers. 

If I am talking to people on Skype or the phone I don't like people to hear. I will shut the door of the room I am in or I will wait 'til the people in my house go out before talking on Skype

I don't like people hearing me making a noise in the kitchen, running a bath/shower, listening to music (I will put headphones in) When I am in my room, I will often tiptoe as too not let people hear me walking around (sometimes the floor makes footstep noises :/)


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## Belshazzar (Apr 12, 2010)

Have to say ditto to the spirit of the thread. I can't talk on the phone within earshot of anyone, even if it's just a "Yeah, okay, see ya at 5:00" conversation. I keep my keyboard volume just high enough so I can hear it when I play. I can't write with anyone else in the room, and even if they're one room over, I still worry that they can hear me typing.


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## Tycan (Jun 16, 2010)

Wehttam said:


> I pee around the bowl part of the toilet instead of the center to avoid making the splash noise


Haha I've did this since I was like 5. I also suppress my breathing around people to the point where I usually lose my breath thus making me louder.


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## RazorWire (Jun 16, 2010)

TangaroaTiki said:


> I workout to DVDs. I cannot work out if anyone is around. I get upset if my husband comes in during a workout - I have to stop. I will sneak upstairs sometimes to work out in private and be a quiet as possible.
> 
> Weird, I know :|


Exact same thing here, I can't workout if I'm around anyone, always have to be alone for it.


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## lyssado707 (Oct 29, 2004)

I have problems w/all the stuff u listed. I think it's part of SA.


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## mooncake (Jan 29, 2008)

I had to laugh when I read through this thread and could relate to pretty much everything mentioned (well, apart from the peeing around the bowl thing - a bit tricky to do what with all the hip swivelling it would require. Sometimes I wish I had a peen ).

I feel hugely embarassed if someone catches me watching TV/listening to music/browsing the web etc, am always checking that my music isn't audible outside of my earphones, try not to breathe too loudly when I'm outside (and yes, like someone else mentioned, this does just make it even worse!), and absolutely can't talk on the phone if anyone is around me and able to overhear. And, I really hate eating things like crisps when I'm anywhere near other people because I always feel as though I'm making so much noise (so I just suck 'em so they don't crunch - takes forever to get through a bag).

It's funny, I didn't realise just how aware I am of myself and the noise I create, compared to a lot of people, until I lived in university accomodation. It could be the middle of the night there and yet no one seemed to clock on that if you only hold the handle down a little when closing a door you can avoid a hey-let's-wake-everyone-up godawful slam, among other stuff. And they weren't even particularly selfish people, I don't think. More just oblivious to how much noise they generally made... as it seems most people are?


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## BloodBlankProofCalifornia (Jun 10, 2010)

My911GT2993 said:


> OOOOOHHHHH MY GOD!!!!....it's ridiculous. are we all identical aliens or... what!! Im suprised how many fckin weird similarities we all have, on other threads also. I kindof assumed just anxiety, panic attacks, self-hatred, stuff like that, SA really is quite a complicated beast...Yes, I piss _around_ the bowl too, wtf (?), also make sure my headphones arnt audible to others cuz ill be embarrest or something. WTF. Im still quite suprised about all of thesee possibly hundreds of similarities, but im stoned so mayby im suprissed for longer.
> 
> ps. sometimes, when nobodys in, I slash right in the water!!! HELLYEAH!!! Complete anarchy i know!:no


I am telling you, when I read most of the posts in this thread, I feel like we are almost like some type of identical aliens haha. It is really scary yet then again really interesting to know I am not the only f*cking one that feels like I am going through a lot of this.


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## NikiW (Jun 23, 2010)

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but I don't feel like such an outcast right now!
Even though I'm a girl, I'm going to try peeing off center next time I have to go. I avoid public restrooms at all costs, not because I think they're dirty (which is what I pretend) but because I HHAATTEE when strangers can hear me pee!
But what I hate most is when another anxious bathroom goer is there and we have a sitting contest until I decide I can hold it and leave the restroom.

Whenever I drive someone home, I either turn off my cd or tell them they can have control over the radio, and if they leave my music on I constantly apologize for it!

Although as for not making noise at home, I'm actually 80% comfortable when I'm home. the 20% is when my brother and his friends are here. Then I feel like they're judging me! 
I love to open myself up and actually be myself when I'm home alone with my cats and dogs.


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## nemesis1 (Dec 21, 2009)

Yeah i have most of the problems listed here too.

I also often dont speak unless someone else is speaking or there is tv/music on.......if theres no background noise i often dont speak.


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## renegade disaster (Jul 28, 2009)

yea I get this too. I dislike any attention being drawn to me. I have noticed that often I make movements in a rash and sudden way , most of the time i'm not conscious enough of it to stop myself from acting in such a way or i'm conflicted with my mind thinking something has to be done urgently.


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## ThirdEyeGrind (Feb 7, 2006)

I don't mind playing my music loud at home, even if family are around. I pee right above the water in the toilet bowl at night so nobody hears. I turn door knobs before closing them so there's no sound when I slowly shut the door and then release the knob. I tiptoe around the house if my family's asleep. I usually try to hold in sneezes. If the family's asleep and I need to wash my hands or something, I turn the water on as low as possible. I always always go #2 upstairs cause my family is always downstairs. Why? I have no idea. I'm nuts.


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## cknighspot (Jun 24, 2010)

LMFAO and i thought i was ( and AM) bad. heres a good one for ya's. i am SOOOO self concious i sit down! ( less mess that way too if you are intoxicated) here is the saddest part i am a bacheler and i live out in the country so there is not even anyone around to hear it. go ahead and laugh at me, i am.


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## Social_butterfly00 (Jan 28, 2008)

Sound freaks me out! I'm so paranoid about it. Even when I'm being quiet I worry people will judge me if I'm being too loud.


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## izzy (Dec 18, 2009)

NikiW said:


> ...but because I HHAATTEE when strangers can hear me pee!
> But what I hate most is when another anxious bathroom goer is there and we have a sitting contest until I decide I can hold it and leave the restroom.


:lol I know! And I completely agree.


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## Music Man (Aug 22, 2009)

Wehttam said:


> I pee around the bowl part of the toilet instead of the center to avoid making the splash noise


Me too 

I used to just do that at night incase I woke anyone up (I feel I always have to think how I would effect other people all the time by things that I do - it's silly really but somehow I still do it. I suppose I don't want to come across as inconsiderate).

I tend to use the echo as a sign of hitting the right spot - you can hear when it's getting too near the edge


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## Shrewwwww (Feb 13, 2013)

Ive read every post and I dont think ive disagreed yet. We should all be friends?


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## YuyuM (Feb 8, 2013)

For me it was especially bad when I lived in a dorm for my first year of university. The walls were so thin in the entire dorm, I could hear my next door neighbour especially all the time playing music and talking all the time. I could pretty much make out all his conversations without even trying :afr 
I would always have my tv/video games on subtitles or mute, have my music low or listening to it through ear phones. Whenever I had to talk I always did it muffled. I wouldn't make a noise, and even my neighbour one day asked me why I was so quiet :afr 

It made me super self conscious whenever I was in my dorm, it really didn't help that the bathrooms/showers were co-ed. I would get worried just using the toilet/shower and hearing someone enter the room and them hearing me in the bathroom or seeing me there. I ran away as quickly as possible, I even double take leaving my room because of the noise of opening my room door because I was afraid my neighbours would judge me coming out of my room late at night to avoid people. 

It's a bit better now that I live with some relatives, and I'm fine at home mostly. I still keep my music and tv low so I'm not bothering people (in my mind, I feel like I'm bothering people or that they would judge me if I made any noise)


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## Botenga (Feb 2, 2013)

Amanda123 said:


> That only really happens to me at school.. at home though I can do whatever without that feeling of holding back. That's why I love staying home.  When people I don't know come over then I usually do what you do.


Same here. lol.


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## SB78234 (Jul 13, 2013)

Sorry to resurrect this discussion, and this probably belongs in a new thread, but in my exhaustive searching I haven't come across anything that more closely matches my lifelong experience of noise paranoia than this and an equally old thread on the forum.

My symptoms are perhaps a little different to some in that it's being heard doing anything by other people that I particularly hate, not making noise as such, in fact I like nothing more than playing music or watching films at potentially damaging volumes provided that there's zero risk of creating any disturbance to others (parents aside, to an extent). These problems are exacerbated by my strongly nocturnal tendencies, which I doubt will ever change.

For this reason, if not alone then certainly above all others, I ended up staying with my parents in their relatively spacious and isolated detached house long after the point of financial necessity, moving out only recently and somewhat unsuccessfully before returning. It has however paid dividends in that I've built up a healthy deposit to put towards a hopefully imminent house purchase, significant probability of cowardly cop-out notwithstanding.

Naturally my strong preference is for a detached house, and although I'm lucky enough for my budget to allow it, the options are few and all present major compromises compared with attached houses and especially flats. On top of that there's the sense of guilt about kowtowing to my peculiar whims rather than just getting a flat like any normal person living alone would do, as well as the environmental impact and high energy consumption (keeping comfortably warm being my only greater priority than remaining out of earshot of strangers, a frustratingly incompatible combination).

I know it's a dilemma that's practically drowning in middle-class privilege, but has anyone else on here faced it and if so what did you end up doing? I'd probably be lying to myself if I pretended I could be talked into going against my instincts (however misguided they might be) when for the first time in my life I can afford to follow them, I'm just interested to hear other people's experiences or opinions.


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## roadwarrior48 (Jun 23, 2013)

My911GT2993 said:


> Here's one I don't think Ive seen here; does anyone else getting more anxiety when they're making more noise. Examples;
> -I have the TV on very low, I think if people can hear me watching TV they'll judge me badly by what Im watching.
> -When I cough or sneeze I try to supress it.
> -I can't play music, get angry, or laugh out loud, as I think people downstairs will hear me.
> -When the house is quiet, Im even quieter, because my noises will 'stand out' more.


When anxiety is worse at times- I absolutely have this. 
But also have this with PTSD.


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## Moses Chol (Jul 19, 2013)

someone should make a facebook group for this problem


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