Hearing Things

[law]

Hello.

I need some advice…

I've been having some trouble hearing things that aren't there?

Background: I am currently in therapy for generalized anxiety, depression, and OCPD. I am not taking any medication for any of these disorders. I have had my hearing checked in the last six months. My hearing tests came back well, showing that while my hearing is a little on the low side, there are no major problems with it.

So. Lately, within the last month or so, I've been hearing things? Like… under other sounds?

Like, there's a lot of loud equipment at my work and under the sound of the machines I could hear cats meowing.
Or, I have music that I listen to at night to help me sleep and sometimes I hear voices whispering on the CD under the music?
Or, If I'm in the shower with the water going I could hearing someone knocking at my door.

But when I turn the water off, or the music off it stops?


It's really freaking me out and I'm sure it's just stress and I plan on asking my therapist about it when I see them next.



Does anyone else have this problem? How do you handle it? It's really really scaring me and I'm not sure how to make it stop?

Thank you.

[bjm5225]

thanks you so much for posting this because you have made me see that the things i have been hearing (which has only become a regular thing recently) also happen mostly when there is other noise going on....i make music always have...recently in the last few years ive gone from purely composing and producing acoustic music to alot of electronic ambient stuff and i just cant do it succesfully in the last few weeks cause when those headphones are on and im working on a piece the exact same thing that you talked about is happening...sometimes its noises...mostly voices that communicate with me....im sorry this is happening to you and im sorry that i have no idea how to handle it yet but your in my thoughts and i hope you get the help you need

thanks again for this post...im the kind of person who likes to understand things in as much detail as possible and you have opened my eyes to a fact that i was missing

[law]

You are very welcome! I hope that this will help you out as well!!

[bjm5225]

thank you friend

ill be paying attention to this thread anyways as whatever else is said on here could also be really helpful to me

good luck!

[law]

Just an update.

I saw my therapist last night. They are sure it's purely stress related.
I've been ordered to ”calm my a** down” or they are just going to get worse and more frequent, they said.

Which is really stressful in itself! And really scary.

My therapist said if it happens and I can physically stop what I'm doing and take a break and tell myself nothing is there, then that's what I should do.

But I'm really scared it will get worse before it gets better. It's really stressful and that's the opposite of what I need right now.

[Devil Girl]

Your therapist sounds sensible. Have you spoken to them about how to calm down? Any methods such as breathing, grounding, mindfulness?

I think that grounding exercises would be beneficial as you are focusing on what is physically there, like holding a coin and feeling it or pushing your bare feet onto a rug, or grass, or tile floor.

If you have not been shown these skills it is maybe worth asking about them. They take practice, but they are shown to help.

Knowing that the sounds aren't really there is a good thing. making them most likely stress as your therapist said.

[law]

Yeah. They showed me some grounding techniques that they think would help a lot. It's tricky getting in the habit of doing them. But I guess they just take practice?

It's hard to remember to do them in the heat of the moment, ya know?

[Devil Girl]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Maybe write it on your hand or like a chalk/white board that you see. Or post it. Just to remind you, until it becomes a more automatic thing...