Re: Contagious?

[Guest guest]

I think it might be likely....my daughter seems to

have issues now with certain sounds and she is only 8

so I am really worried. My condition is getting worse

- I don't want to drink anything because I can hear

myself swallowing and no matter how hard I try I

cannot quiet it down. Other sounds that I used to

find just mildly annoying (still bearable) are now

extremely bothersome...I am also starting to cringe at

just the thought of someone doing something - it is

also having a slight impact on my relatoinship with my

boyfriend, he tries to not to do anything that gets to

me - and I love him for that - but even if he makes a

slight sound it is like my ears intensify it.

--- Matt Juszczak wrote:

> Has anyone here seen any evidence that 4S would be

> contagious? While I

> doubt this, my girlfriend is totally willing to work

> with me - not chew

> gum around me, etc. She's doing a great job! But I

> don't want this to

> somehow " be contagious " to her because she'll be

> consciously not chewing

> gym, etc.

>

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[Guest guest]

My condition has worsend over the years too, I seem to add noises and movements to my list every week but my coping strategies have improved too. One of the things I was asked to try by a psychologist was to talk 'myself up' to list the things I could say to myslef that helped, like- theyre not doing it to hurt me, they dont know it hurts, they dont realise it hurts me. I find this sometimes useful. I have mentioned before that if I am travelling by train or bus and a person nearby is grossing me out, I try to make a conversation with them and that helps, somehow I forgive them. I try to spend short bursts of time with people, knowing the noise will come to an end soon helps. I also dont look at people when eating with them, that helps me to avoid torturing myself by their movements and seems to lessen the noise. I distract myself. At other times I give in and leave the room, but I like

to see this as a positive choice, not a failure but part of my catelogue of strategies. I try to smile a lot it has the same effect on others of being more open. At work it was always more difficult to do any of these things and working at home has saved my sanity, so I can sympathise with the difficulty of lots of people in close proximity. I worked for a disability equality agency and some people were understanding when I explained about noise and were helpful, seeing it as a disability equality issue, which I believe it is, others were not and one person seemed to deliberately go out of his way to hurt. However I dont like to see this as my problem only, otherwise I can fall into seeing myself as sick. I see it as an environmental, social problem too. To do with politeness, courtesy, understanding, environmental

noise and my own hypersensitivity to it. It makes it an issue for all of us, not the problem of a few to seek a cure for themselves. In that sense if people are becoming more conscious of noise that they themselves make or that of others, its not a bad thing. I dont think 4s is contagious but if people become more aware of what they do and what the environemnt does to us, then maybe there will be more understanding and action. Best wishes Dianneette wrote: ** Low Priority **My condition has worsened over the years, sounds and movements that didnot bother me now do and my list is growing making life verycomplicated, especially my work environment. I am resolving to try todesensitize myself by seeing if I can stay and listen to certain peoplewho usually drives me up the wall. I am trying to talk to myself thatit is not their fault nor problem but mine (this tends to help with theanger and rage). Wish me luck, I don't know if I can tolerate thesesounds. I will let you know if this self-help testing of mine works.