Too Loud vs Too Focused

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Ever since I got my first pair of headphones, I have found that when I wear them, I lose awareness of my surroundings. It gets to the point that people have trouble getting my attention.

I am well aware of the dangers that headphones can pose to my hearing. I never have them louder than half sound (unless I'm listening to something that's very quiet compared to most things). Yet still, I find people catching me unawares and often telling me that I shouldn't have them so loud.

The thing is, I don't think that is my actual problem. I think that, on top of using it to block out extra stimuli, I am using it as a rhythm to concentrate my thoughts with. I'll play certain music when I want to think about certain things.

Furthermore, I find that when I listen to other people in my age group play music loud, I have to fight the urge to turn down their music, no matter how good it is, because it hurts my ears. What I play is not much louder than what my parents have going in their cars.

In other words, I think that the reason that I don't hear people when wearing my headphones has to do more the combination of it's use as a distraction from outside stimuli and something to sharpen my internal concentration, rather than loudness.

Do other people do something like this and has it resulted in similar issues for them?

Oh yeah I can totally relate, sometimes it's very much about the sensory focus rather than just volume.

In a previous job the boss worked best when he had loud music on. The building we were in had an open plan floor next door (linked by a door) that they were in the middle of securing rights for and often he would set up some very large, bassy speakers ramp up the volume as he worked... much to the annoyance of everyone else who enjoyed the silence (me included) lol

But that was his thing.