When People Use Alert Sounds
There are some sounds and words that I refer to as "alert sounds", because when I hear them it means something is happening that could be bad and I need to become alert and listen for instructions.
I have a problem though, because some people say alert sounds for no reason, and it will trigger a reaction in me anyways. This can make my day really bad.
Does anyone else deal with this? If you do, how do you remain calm or get your mind on other things?
Example of today: I work in an office that is part of a house. I can hear everything that happens in the house because of the shared AC vent and thin construction.
The family inside was playing with a child and kept yelling "oops!" and "oh no!" over and over, and it was making me really upset because some part of my brain thinks something has gone wrong, and I stand up waiting for someone to tell me what happened and what I need to do to stay safe. Of course, that doesn't happen, and I just keep hearing those words repeated again and again, which just intensifies my feelings of distress.
I don't feel like it's my place to tell my employers to stop playing with their child in their own home. What could I do to help myself? (I can't listen to music or use earplugs unfortunately).
Sweetleaf
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Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 35
Gender: Female
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Location: Somewhere in Colorado
Hmm intresting question, I do not quite have that issue....but I have an issue with sudden movement and sudden noise, makes me jump rather excessively. Sometimes I end up able to play it off as just being ditsy or whatever, but other times it is quite embarrassing. But yeah usually I cannot do much about the initial reaction aside from being too stoned/drunk to notice triggers that would startle me obviously not ideal on a job....usually I just try to slow breathing and focus on that there is no real apparent danger so it does not escalate beyond the initial startle reaction. I guess people would call it grounding techniques.
_________________
We won't go back.
I have that issue as well! I usually jump and make a loud sound, and it's not a reaction I can control either. It's instant and happens before I even realize it.
It's weird that slow breathing has never helped me, it makes me panic because I am focusing on breathing and it makes me feel like I won't keep breathing if I don't keep focusing on it. I have other techniques to calm me down, but when it comes to these sounds, they cut through whatever I'm doing like a knife.
Thank you for your response Maybe I can find something that helps ground me better than the stuff I know now.
Alert sounds are only alert sounds because they're said when something goes wrong.
If they're said when nothing is wrong, they should no longer be classified as alert sounds, right?
What I'm saying is, once you're heard them enough times your brain should automatically classify them as unimportant and ignore them. (In other words, you'll get used to it).
I have something similar to this. If specific words are said (one example is my name), my brain automatically shifts attention to who said it, completely distracting me from what I'm doing.
However, if that word/sounds becomes more common, my brain will learn ignore it.
I'm not sure this is helpful, but give your brain a chance. The human brain is very adaptable. I mean yours learned to hear these alert sounds even if you're not listening, what's stopping it from learning to ignore them?
_________________
"They sound good in my brain, then my tongue makes not the words sound very good, formally." - Homer Simpson
Undisgnosed - Aspie score: 122 of 200 - NT score: 105 of 200
Some kids are just like that. A girl living across the street is the same. She often yells "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" in a crying voice as if something bad happened and she was calling for help. At first I was very upset at her and even told her mom that if she keeps doing it noone is going to take her seriously when she is really going to need help.
But I learned ignore her eventually. I just tell myself it's not my problem. She got her parents, older siblings and grandma so if something bad actually happens they are supposed to help her. I'm out of it.
Stormtrooper:
I don't know if I can get used to the sounds. They feel like getting a static shock in my brain every time I hear them. I am trying to play a video game and my attention is shocked away every few seconds when I hear it.
Even sounds that aren't really words do it too, depending on the tone.
I know the "rational" thing is to say "oh, nothing is happening, ignore", but my brain has never been able to do that. It's instinctual, like flinching if someone shoved their fist in your face. I just don't know what to do to handle the constant shocks without getting really upset.
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