Aversion to White Noise...anybody?

May 19, 2012

I'm 38...

It all started about 6-9 months ago. I started noticing an intolerance to the

sound of our office's white noise machines. Our office has them hardwired into

our system throughout the floor I work on, so I literally can't get away from

them or shut them off.

The constant noise makes my skin crawl. Lately I've taken to putting in

earphones and cranking up the volume to drown out the noise. If I don't put in

earphones to avoid the noise, the skin crawling sensation migrates into a

feeling of pressure all over my body followed by an intense desire to lash out

verbally (at anyone and/or anything).

More recently I've noticed that even the background conversation in my office is

starting to invoke the same feelings. I work in an environment where

conversation is key, so avoiding conversations in the work place isn't an

option. Ironically, the conversation noise only bothers me when it's background

ambient noise. (It never bothers me when I'm participating in the

conversation.)

I thought I've been going crazy and I didn't know what to do. Last night I

caught the piece on an episode of 20/20 about Misophonia and I was like " WOW! " .

That led me to the website of misophonia.info which leads me here. I really

just need someone to talk with about this who will understand.

I've tried to explain the situation to my boss, and even have asked to work from

home (which is feasible with my company). So far that request has not yet been

granted. I don't think they understand how bad this gets. How can I

communicate that to them?

Although I've read that there are no cures, I see that there are therapies. I

would like to know if there are any specialists in my area (Louisville, KY) that

I could seek out.

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