Ha!
Re: sound -- actually, I've always had hyperacusis. (This is an old thread; maybe I already said this.) My students found it uncanny that I could hear them whisper from any corner of the room. As a young kid I used to literally cry at the volume of music my older sisters listened to in the car and in their rooms: I found it intolerable. As the youngest of three, you can imagine that they thought I found it 'mildly unpleasant' and was exaggerating my reaction, so I would try to hide how much it upset me. In fact, the really loud noises made me literally nauseated, I found them so unpleasant. Has anyone else experienced this?
My husband has a superpowers type of hearing ability. He can hear what no human should be able to hear! It's really quite amazing but he is not sensitive to sound. Sound doesn't bother him in the least.
Sounds bother me but it works out because we can keep the tv on a low volume--he has no problem hearing it and the noise doesn't bother me and I use subtitles in case I can't hear what is said!
I never heard the term 'hyperacusis' before. I've heard of 'misophonia' so I looked them up to compare their meanings:
Hyperacusis makes normal environmental sound unbearable. Everyday sounds become ear-splitting music and mundane sounds appear amplified. Affected patients describe a low decibel sound as painfully loud. So, even if you speak softly, the person will feel as if you are uttering something loudly. ...it is believed to be occurring from head injury that damages the central auditory system. Other possible risk factors include brief exposure to noise, Lyme disease, brain infections such as meningitis, prolonged use of earplugs or earmuffs, and Bell's palsy.
Misophonia refers to aversion to certain sounds, no matter at what decibel they are being played. The person hates to hear a particular sound, not because he perceives it as loud; it is because he simply dislikes it, especially if it is repetitive. Misophonia has nothing to do with the volume of the sound. The person is comfortable hearing everyday sounds. It is just that particular patterns of sound, though soft, appear offending. For instance, sounds related to coughing, laughing, snoring, and yawning are extremely annoying for patients and make them angry.
It is thought to be associated with incorrect processing of sound waves in the brain.
So what I always thought was misophonia is really hyperacusis. Thanks for introducing that term. I guess sound sensitivity is really hyperacusis. But I guess they can overlap because while sound in general bothers me, I HATE the sound of motorcycles and the bass of music. Hyperacusis with a touch of misophonia, lol.
My niece and nephew have
a particular intolerance for certain types of sound, which I also identify with: repetitive quiet noises really bother me because it's like they never 'fade into the background' as other people say. "I just stop noticing it." My senses never 'turn off' in this manner. It's the same for smells: "you get used to it." No, I really
don't. I think without this ability to 'turn off' a sound, the constant and repetitive pull of your attention away from your train of thought is very irritating.
People say, 'just tune it out', 'ignore it', 'block it out' and when you say you can't they just look at you like you are purposely being stubborn and have a silly emotional block about it, because, of course, everyone can block out noise if they but try.
As I've gotten older, I've gotten better at directing my attention forcibly away from certain noises / sounds, and it bothers me less, but I think this is a matter of discipline and control that comes with age rather than that this symptom is actually 'better'. Often I'll be sitting at a restaurant and go, "oh, I love this song!" and everyone will look at me blankly. The background music has long since become 'background' for them. Their brows furrow and their heads tilt as they try to bring it back to the foreground of their brains, and ten seconds or so pass by in silence. Then, "...oh, this song!" or even "which song is it? I can't tell."
I've actually gotten better as I've treated my ME/CFS. I can actually block a few sounds now and I'm not so sensitive to every sound. I used to have to wear earplugs all the time including at work which was sometimes a problem.
It's a superpower on the one hand, and really irritating on the other hand.
You have the combination of sound sensitivity and being able to hear really well like my husband has. Maybe you have 'Enhanced Hearing'? I guess that would depend on whether you could just hear your students whispering or if you could actually hear what they were saying.
It also makes me wonder if PWME have anything genetically in common with PW Autistic Spectrum Disorders.
I always wonder this. Maybe the gene mutations esp. in methylation and detoxification are the same.
-J[/QUOTE]
