For hypersensitive people: What things bother you?

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I am extremely hypersensitive, so I'll list some of mine:

The sound of people sniffling
Loud chewing, especially the sound of gum chewing (it sounds very elastic-y, if that makes sense)
When people scrape their teeth against their forks (and I swear, almost everyone does it)
When people scrape their utensils on their plates, or bang their utensils loudly on their plates
Repetitive tapping and clicking noises
The vibrations and sound when neighbours are blasting music on their subwoofers, this causes me meltdowns in a matter of minutes.
The sound of talking on TV when I'm in a different room

When people touch me and I don't see them
When people stand too close to me
When people who don't have sinus problems always have their mouth open (I don't know why, it just bothers me)

(Usually, when I politely ask people to stop doing any of these things and explain that I'm sensitive, they act as if I'm a terrible person and claim that I "don't let them live", and that kind of makes me want to give up on life..)

Certain smells and perfumes really upset me, and I have a hard time with tastes and textures, vinegar and orange flavour are really hard for me to handle, and if I find a "crunchy bit" or something that shouldn't be in my food like bone or cartilage, I will get sick and refuse to eat that food.

Now, tell me about your hypersensitivities, I'm very curious, since everyone is so different.

First off, thanks for sharing your list. I too struggle with similar things, but had never considered them sensory issues before.

I too have trouble with eating certain foods like you mentioned. With chicken, if there's a bone or something that didn't get removed it dissuades from eating chicken again for a long time. I've been described as a 'surgeon' when it comes to eating a steak as I can't stand the fat and 'gristle' so I meticulously cut out those portions before eating.

Heat and humidity are difficult for me too and can leave me feeling claustrophobic or like I can't breathe. Sometimes I wonder if I'm hyposensitive to cold as it seems like I tolerate it better than most. I also hate 'still' air and usually want a fan of some sort on to circulate the air.

Bright lights can trigger migraines and just general irritability. Being in a large group of loudly talking people sets me on edge too.

I'm sure there's more, but that's a decent start.

Yes, those are among the very worst for me and it doesn't have to be loud. If I can only just hear it then it will still cause me to feel unbearable pain.
Also somebody knocking on the door who I'm not expecting feels like I'm being physically attacked with brutal force. I can feel the blood draining from my body. Even the postman coming through the gate at a regular time of day and dropping something in the letter box makes me wince and hold my breath until he's gone.

All of these. I also can't stand certain clothing and some days I'll be driven so insane by it I have to get it off immediately or I will become violent and destroy things (mainly myself). Socks are really bad, like if they have that seam at the toe, or if they're too tight. I used to like turtle necks but these days it feels like its choking me. Bras are the most evilest of inventions and I hate they're necessary because it's so hard to find any that don't irritate me.
My hair touching the back of my neck. Most days it doesn't bother me that much, but some days it drives me absolutely insane.
Certain food textures or tastes cause me to throw up, like prunes and mushrooms. Good thing I'm allergic to them...
Loud bass, like what you said with the neighbors blaring music... Even headphones and ear plugs don't always help! I have called the cops multiple times for noise disturbances... sigh. I think my family was very glad when I got married and moved out, because they like to stay up late making noise and I couldn't stand it.
Crowded rooms send me into a panic unless I focus on the floor and think really loudly... We went to a wedding recently and when I entered the echoing room full of loud talking people, I forget everyone's names and whether I even knew them!
Tapping. Tapping drives me insane too. Or seeing people pet each other, or kiss each other. Go figure. It was really bad when I was called in for jury duty and the person in front of me was tapping and the woman next to me kept rubbing her leg.
Sadly, my son asking me or telling me something over and over and over again (he's very repetitive) tends to drive me insane...

Oh my god, this is ME too.

This is one of the good things about WP -- to find out that the reactions I have to stuff like this is not something I'm alone in having. This is totally me. My blood runs cold when someone knocks on my door. I don't even like it on TV or in a movie!! I can't stand the sound of it and the mystery of it.

I've had this sensitivity my whole life as far back as I can remember. When I was a child I even went through a phase of scuttling under furniture to hide, when someone knocked on our door.

For me, I've wondered if it came from something specific that upset me: when I was having meltdowns, my mother used to wind up so angry and frustrated that she told me she was going to have me "taken away" and that someone was coming to collect me. She actually said to me there are mental hospitals and she would get "them" to just take me to one. I "got the picture" and it completely terrified me. Not enough to stop melting down -- if anything it made me go hysterical/worse.

She wasn't kidding around or being playful -- she said it in anger and fury and in that moment she wanted to scare me into shutting up and stopping crying. Of course I cried even more. I was terrified. I believed her and that what she was threatening was literal and she was really going to do it. I was a very literal child and I'm still a literal person. To her, I'm sure it was just an empty threat in frustration, or something to say to vent her anger. To me, it was something I believed when she said it.

I'm almost 99% certain that one of the times she was in the middle of threatening this, someone just so happened to knock on the door within not long a time since she said it, she said "See, that must be them now! That's them!" and I must have believed "they" had arrived to take me away, just like my mother said. I think this is where my own fear of it comes from. Trouble is I'm 53 and still horrified at a knock on the door.

Other of my sensitivities:

Windy days -- anything from just a stiff gusting breeze to high winds, I cannot STAND being out in the winds. I feel buffeted around, and the constant noise, the sensation of the wind against my face, the way you can't take in a breath when a gust of wind hits your face, it all does a sensory overload on me. I can't feel calm when I'm out in gusting winds.

Loud traffic noise -- I can't hold a conversation if I'm walking down a street with someone and the street has a busy and steady flow of loud motor vehicles. The other person always seem perfectly comfortable, but I feel like I can't even think an organized thought, let alone be physically heard in the din. Same with being in a car when the windows are cracked open, I cannot hold a conversation with all that noise. I don't know how other people can, it doesn't seem to bother them but it feels like an impossible assault of noise to me.

Multi tasking -- any moment where I'm called upon to do more than maybe two things at once, I start to want to scream in frustration. For example, I can casually watch something on TV and be online at the same time, as long as the TV thing isn't particularly important. I can give some attention to both things. But if a third thing needs my attention too, things start to go wrong and I can almost get to meltdown, at least, my agitation rises rapidly, and I can't do ANY of the tasks/split my attention. So I seem to only be able to do a 2-way split of my attention but a third factor in my environment can send me over the edge of functioning.

People being too close around me, especially behind me in a store check-out line, or walking too closely behind me. It gives me the heebie jeebies and I have occasionally had an uncontrollable panic reaction. Once just a few years ago, someone happened to be walking behind me all the way through a long hallway in my building and then down the same stairs I took too, and I found myself suddenly breaking into a run, shrieking. My nerves couldn't stand it even though rationally I totally knew the person wasn't sinister or following me. I knew that, I just couldn't stand the feeling of the following.

Someone repeating a word or phrase, even on TV. For example, I was watching a documentary, I forget the topic or exactly what was said, but one of the people interviewed said something like "The song was a hit, the song connected with people, the song went international, the song was everywhere, the song won awards, the song was just massive...." You know, when people repeat a phrase or word ("the song" in this case) in a redundant manner just to be cutesy or emphatic. I can't stand redundant repetition. Something about the person's voice saying that same thing makes me scream at my TV "OKAY SHUTUUUUUUUUP!" I've seriously done that. Before remembering there's a mute button, hah.

I HATE noise and people chewing really close to my ear, so I can hear them really close and it makes me cringe. And certain smells of the street like if it has been raining it leaves a funny damp smell that makes me wanna gag. Sirens on emergency cars that turn on suddenly make me scream and cover my ears, and the bell chimes on clock towers are another no no for me as well.
Basically any suddenly noises or loud noises.

I agree! This is one of those sensitivities that will make me spiral rapidly.

Also, I don't know if it's really a "sensitivity" issue, but I can feel when people look at me. Not in the typical way that someone looks at me if we're in conversation, but when I'm not looking at them and they're staring at me. It feels like there is some sort of tangible connection between their eyes and my skin that I cannot handle! Kind of feels like I walked through a huge spider web.

Bright lights, especially sunlight. And especially sunlight in a parking lot with very light colored pavement. It triggers a headache. Sunlight also makes my skin feel prickly.

The noise in a loud, echoey place like a mall or a restaurant.

Too many food and clothing sensitivities to list.

Anything that feels tight or binding around my waist, elbows or knees.

Most types of polyester fabric, or polyester blends. Polyester socks are the devil. Wrinkles in socks.

Most any kind of strong food smell, unless it's something I really like (and there are precious few foods that I really, really like)

The sound of a someone writing with a pencil, or a scratchy sounding pen

ANYTHING else having to do with chalk...the sound of someone writing with chalk, the way it feels to touch chalk or a chalk board. Just the mere sight of either chalk or a chalkboard makes me feel like screaming. Touching furniture painted with chalk paint is bad too.

Anything else that feels dry, dusty, or absorbent, like sandpaper, or unfinished wood, or diatomaceous earth.

The sound of paper or cardboard being torn. Sometimes, touching paper or cardboard.

Hearing a TV playing when I'm not interested in the program, and sometimes even when I am interested the sound of it really annoys me.

Hearing a radio announcer talking OVER a song for more than like 2-3 seconds. I start screaming SHUT THE f**k UP AND JUST PLAY THE f*****g SONG

Cats standing or walking on my stomach, putting their claws in me when they knead their feet, or brushing me too many times with their whiskers.

Repetition. Hearing people talk about the same things over and over again.

Loud voices. Hearing someone talk nonstop for more than a couple of minutes, grates on my nerves in the extreme.

Cold wind makes my ears hurt, even a mild breeze on a warm day can do it, or A/C that is too cold. VERY painful.

Perfume or cologne, or air freshener type of scent.

Sometimes a certain sound a person makes while talking, like the way they make an "S" sound

Hearing music or a movie through bad/cheap speakers

Almost any pop music from the last 15 years or so

Having someone walking right behind me, especially if they are pushing a cart. It feels like they are pushing ME.

Having too many people circling around me in a store while I'm shopping. Clearance sections at places like Marshalls are the worst for that.

Probably lots more I am not thinking of at the moment. Seems like I am hypersensitive to almost anything really. But these are some of my worst ones.

mind viruses that control people's thoughts and behaviors.
people treating imaginary things as though they were real.

Sudden noises: even if its not particularly loud im very sensitive to them, balloons popping, dogs barking ect.
I don't like skin on skin it disgusts me.
The sound of a crowd of people talking can actually cause me to mentally shut down.
Fluorescent lights can cause headaches and shut downs.
Cars passing by drives me bananas (no pun intended) and gives me ear aches.
if its too bright in a room i can't read. which is why sometimes my spelling and writing isn't very good, i am unable to read it over and pick up on mistakes.
Tags or abnormalities on clothing bug me alot.
Light touch on the ankles, shoulders and stomach.
i dont like being touched at all by people it really bothers me.

When Im stressed/anxious, I am sensitive to almost everything. When Im not, I have noticed that certain sensitivities irritate me, or make me feel angry, so Ill list those.

Noise, anything loud, Im ok with softer noise that gradually builds in volume, the subwoofer type feels like an intrusion, sudden noise, old fashioned ticking clocks, the absolute worst is two competing noises, particularly the noise of a radio in one room and a TV in the next room, or someone talking to me while there is a competing noise, I cant handle those situations at all.

Anything scratchy on my skin, bobbles/pilling on clothes, I hate them on bedsheets, the sensation makes me feel quite cross. Man made fibres, the type that do not allow my skin to 'breath'. Restrictive clothing. Sudden touch, makes me jump out of my skin. Tying up my hair, it becomes very uncomfortable, sometimes painful after a while and I have to change it.

Bright lights, I like dim/soft lighting, and wear sunglasses all the time outside. Rooms/decor with too much detail or disjointed details slowly irritate me.

Dry foods like mashed potatoes, biscuits etc I cant swallow them without liquid.

Strong smells irritate me, but if they don't cause a headache I can get accustomed to them.

There are some benefits to being sensitive in this way, but those are the main things that bother me when I'm not stressed/ etc.

I would have to say that mine are the following;

Very bright lighting
Loud, Sudden Noises
Traffic Noise
Sudden Braking/Accelaration in a car
Bumps in a car
Noisy Rooms/Places (e.g. Wal-Mart)
People Arguing/Dramatics
Loud Music, especially Electronic Music and Rap
Someone in my spot
Being Crowded in the Store
Other people in the kitchen while I am using it
Water Chestnuts (The texture is so wrong because they look like they wouldn't be that texture)
Excessive Commercial Breaks (NASCAR, I'm talking to you especially, you greedy pigs)


That's just all I can think of right now. I'm sure there's a LOT more if I were to think on it for a bit.

I would have to put idiots who like to whistle at the top of my list, I hate whistling so much I would find squeaking sneakers on the basketball court a symphony in comparison.

I agree with others about thumping bass. I have the bass controls turned down all the way on anything in the house that can play music, and crap like rap and hiphop will never be heard on my property. Subwoofers are forbidden, too.
(my spouse is NT and has the same sentiment about the low frequencies, though more tolerant of movies than me, and our boy is required to wear earphones.)

I think we've discussed firecrackers in another thread, but those suck big time also.

I compleatly avoid shopping "big box" stores on weekends, unless I need something so bad I'm willing to go out late on a Sat. or Sun. nite to get it. I will go to smaller stores like RadioShack or Payless Shoes on weekend daytimes, though.

I avoid going out on days with gusty winds, and never drive with the car window down at high speeds.

Of course, I am indeed a noisy eater and might not be desirable dining company for some here.

Bright lights (most often a problem in stores)

Crowded places, especially if people constantly bump into me.
Many conversations at once. Leaves me overloaded and unable to focus on "my" conversation
Clocks ticking.
Rain on windows/constant dripping.
Traffic sounds.

Many perfumes and similar things.
Also soaps and shampoos that continue to smell long after I used it is very overloading.

Meringue, and anything similar to it. I absolutely can't stand that texture.
Spicy things.
Sweet potatoes.
Things with mixed textures, like juice with pulp, bread/cake with nuts… and smoothies. I'm very close to vomiting if I have to drink that.
Generally I often don't like mixing different kinds of food. I like most kinds of vegetables, fish and meats and dislike most sauces and dressings. I also dislike eating two things at the same time, like meat and vegetable in the same bite.
Water with taste. (is that what you say in English? Like, water with strawberry taste and that sort of thing.)
And yeah, I can't stand the texture of water chestnuts either.

Makeup, chapsticks, creams, basically everything that is supposed to go on my face is a big no. I'll accept sunscreen because I have to, but nothing else.
Tags on clothes.
Polyester.
Those short socks that stop at the ankle.
Heat.

OMG yes...today a man was whistling very loud in the grocery store. It made me feel homicidal.

Hmm most noises to be honest. I get even more hypersensitive when I am stressed etc. I also have excellent hearing and am extremely nosey and love listening to other people's conversation.

And food never changes. I love bland food. Can barely cope with brown sauce. And