Too much stimulus

Dispatcher · 04-27-2008, 12:15 PM

One day, I was listening to NPR on the radio, and some doctor or researcher was talking about stimulus sensitive people (there is some fancy medical name for it).
I think I am one of those people.
As long as I can remember, I have had an exceptional sense of hearing.
But it goes beyond that. I can not stand being around noise...or at least what my brain perceives as noise.
I must have total silence in order to sleep...especially when trying to fall asleep. This became a problem when I got married 7 years ago, because my wife is always too warm and is used to sleeping with a fan running.
We went through at least a dozen fans before we found one that wasn't too loud, didn't rattle, and didn't vary in pitch.
Even my dog's snoring wakes me up.
But it's more than that. Even when I was a teenager (I am 54 now), I remember not liking loud music like my friends did.
And those subwoofers people put in their cars drive me crazy.
I tried living in a small city once, but the fire sirens at all hours and the noise of traffic drove me crazy.
The one exception to this is if I am playing music myself or playing in a band.
If I am actively engaged in the noise, then I feel like I have some control over it. When I was a teenager, I had this phobia that I would be in an accident in someone else's car, and the radio would be blasting, and I wouldn't be able to reach it to turn it down.

Is there anyone who knows anything about this, or that has a problem with noise like I do? I would like to hear from you.

motivez · 04-27-2008, 07:10 PM

I'm a hard sleeper, so I don't have to worry about that.. I have to buy one of those crazy loud alarm clocks with two alarms on it to make sure I'm actually awake

I think the hum from a fan actually helps me get to sleep, along with the gentle breeze it provides..

7960 · 04-27-2008, 07:29 PM

Originally Posted by motivez

I'm a hard sleeper, so I don't have to worry about that.. I have to buy one of those crazy loud alarm clocks with two alarms on it to make sure I'm actually awake

I think the hum from a fan actually helps me get to sleep, along with the gentle breeze it provides..

I have a rocking chair on my porch and took a nap in it today. Cars going by, lawn mowers, dogs barking...........nothing stopped the flow of drool from the corner of my mouth

I feel bad for people who need total silence and/or darkness to sleep.

WickedLou9 · 04-28-2008, 09:35 AM

I think I'm like you. I am a very light sleeper, anything at all will wake me up. I actually find that I like the white noise of a fan because it drowns out everything elseand eventually you don't even notice the fan. Of course, LIke you said, if the fan slows down or speeds up or rattles, it will keep me awake. If I am around too much commotion and noise for a while, I get agitated and stressed. Sometimes I get headaches too. I need to just have quiet time to myself every day or I get stressed and annoyed and generally unpleasant.

motivez · 04-28-2008, 11:14 AM

I wonder what makes someone turn out to be a light or hard sleeper

kinggovernor · 04-28-2008, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by motivez

I wonder what makes someone turn out to be a light or hard sleeper

I have no idea, but I can sleep anywhere, anytime and through anything.

Scrum · 04-28-2008, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

I have no idea, but I can sleep anywhere, anytime and through anything.

Want to go camping?

ok, that was wrong.

WickedLou9 · 04-28-2008, 11:28 AM

Well if you want to look at it this way.. if we were still living in caves and stuff, being a light sleeper would be an advantage. The heavy sleeper would get eaten by the saber tooth tiger who easily snuck up on them.

I guess it's a good thing we don't have to worry about that anymore.

kinggovernor · 04-28-2008, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by Scrum

Want to go camping?

ok, that was wrong.

but that has happened before

I have awoken in the middle of the night with a girl on top of me

motivez · 04-28-2008, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

Well if you want to look at it this way.. if we were still living in caves and stuff, being a light sleeper would be an advantage. The heavy sleeper would get eaten by the saber tooth tiger who easily snuck up on them.

I guess it's a good thing we don't have to worry about that anymore.

Are you saying you're less evolved?

WickedLou9 · 04-28-2008, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by motivez

Are you saying you're less evolved?

I merely have an evolutionary trait that no longer serves a purpose.

Kind of like my appendix. Of course, I suppose it might be useful if I were on the front lines of some war somewhere. Or perhaps if I was camping when Scrum was in the area

kinggovernor · 04-28-2008, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

I merely have an evolutionary trait that no longer serves a purpose.
Kind of like my appendix. Of course, I suppose it might be useful if I were on the front lines of some war somewhere. Or perhaps if I was camping when Scrum was in the area

I slept through mortar rounds hitting the building I was in (think minor earthquake)

I am the deepest sleeper on the planet

7960 · 04-28-2008, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

I slept through mortar rounds hitting the building I was in (think minor earthquake)

I am the deepest sleeper on the planet

There was a fire alarm in my dorm. The red siren thing was over my bed and going off for apparently some time. A fireman pulled me from my bed, screaming at me about how dangerous it is to get drunk and pass out. I stood up and started screaming back that I wasn't drunk, just sleeping. His eyes got big as saucers when he realized I wasn't drunk/stoned and that I was just sleeping through the alarm.

kinggovernor · 04-28-2008, 02:32 PM

Originally Posted by 7960

There was a fire alarm in my dorm. The red siren thing was over my bed and going off for apparently some time. A fireman pulled me from my bed, screaming at me about how dangerous it is to get drunk and pass out. I stood up and started screaming back that I wasn't drunk, just sleeping. His eyes got big as saucers when he realized I wasn't drunk/stoned and that I was just sleeping through the alarm.

I have to be really careful when I am cooking that I don't fall asleep, it has happened a couple of times and I have almost burned down the building.

When I was a kid I used to fall asleep at the dinner table

WickedLou9 · 04-28-2008, 02:38 PM

I had a roomate in college like that. He could sleep through being stabbed I'm sure. He also snored like an industrial sawmill and there was NOTHING I could do to stop him. I would straight up yell at him, throw pillows, whatever. He kept on snoring. I eventually moved into the attic and slept there on an air mattress... with the bats.

7960 · 04-28-2008, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

I had a roomate in college like that. He could sleep through being stabbed I'm sure. He also snored like an industrial sawmill and there was NOTHING I could do to stop him. I would straight up yell at him, throw pillows, whatever. He kept on snoring. I eventually moved into the attic and slept there on an air mattress... with the bats.

I've always slept that soundly. One of my sons sleeps the same way. The nanny used to put him in for a nap and go clean the other rooms, then go back in his room and turn the light on to put away laundry and vacuum. My other son sleeps more normally...if you go in the room and turn on the light he'll stir, and eventually wake up if you stay in there. The other one is a stone, though.

Dispatcher · 05-01-2008, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

but that has happened before I have awoken in the middle of the night with a girl on top of me

And the problem is...?

kinggovernor · 05-01-2008, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by Dispatcher

And the problem is...?

I have a tendency to punch whatever wakes me up

7960 · 05-01-2008, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

I have a tendency to punch whatever wakes me up

so she likes it rough?

Dispatcher · 05-05-2008, 01:15 AM

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

I have a tendency to punch whatever wakes me up

I had a room mate like that once. He was ex military.
I learned to wake him up with a broomstick.