talkhealth forums

Hi, I have aspergers and this may be connected, due to sensory issues.
I get very stressed by all the noises I experience in my flat.
Inside my flat block, some neighbours sometimes slam doors sometimes late at night, during covid 19 crisis, I hear someone cough sometimes in the corridor outside my flat. (The block of my flat has the main door shut unless someone coming out or in and it's a fairly busy block, so fresh air is hard to circulate, I saw this story below from BBC:-

Outside my block there is a bottlebank, people use it, sometimes late at night, I am on the ground floor right next to the street, it's a very busy street with car doors closing, other bins closing, people shouting sometimes. I wish I live somewhere where my home doesn't have all this stress, often I get very stressed! I used to live in a flat which was on the 3rd floor (I don't know why I got given this ground floor flat I don't need it for mobility issues) and the block was situated in a cul de sac, not so many of those noises there and being higher I didn't hear them as often!

Hi user2020,

Thank you for posting on the forum. Sorry to hear that you are feeling very stressed with the noise when you are in your flat. It could be that your senses are even more heightened due to the overall stress of the pandemic and also with everyone being at home more. A lot of people are on high alert at the moment and so our senses are more heightened. Perhaps you could try wearing ear plugs for some of the time or maybe you could ask your GP for advice on what you can do to relax so that you are able to tune out the noise. We hope you are able to feel less stressed soon.

Kind regards
talkhealth

Sorry to hear that. Have you tried using noise cancelling headphones? Perhaps you can use them while listening to music. You won't be able to hear a thing outside anymore.

I can understand how the noises make you feel stressed out: and even upset sometimes. In fact, I feel the same at times.

I do agree noise cancelling headphones are a very good idea. They won't change you being prone to stress but they will calm you down and make your neighbourhood noises not affect you as much. Maybe also you have slight social anxiety. This is - in fact - quite common. Do you fear your neighbours knocking on your door and attacking you? Do you have other social fears? Your anxiety must affect other areas of your life, too. I think it is social anxiety you're suffering from. Therapy can't make it go away, but will help. Perhaps you would consider therapy?

I do hope I've helped.