My story and Head Injury?

[Guest guest]

I usually don't read all of the posts, but I did see a string of messages that

mentioned head injuries. I know that my aversion to noise started when i was

between 5 and 7. (I am now 48)

I have always attributed it to our baby sitter who had a habit of making enough

popcorn to fill the largest bowl in our house, then sit on the couch munching

like a small herd of cattle with her mouth open all the time. I now suspect I

was wrong.

Around the same time, I was playing behind my Dad's chair which was in front of

a large shelf/mantle. On the shelf was a really heavy crystal lamp, which I

pulled down from the shelf and it whacked me on the head pretty hard. I cannot

remember if I passed out or not, but I do remember the event, and it hurt like

hell.

If my memory serves me correctly, I started having the aversion to chewing

noises around then.

My aversion has developed over the years to include the sounds that lead up to

the eating, so the rustling of wrappers often drives me to distraction, DONT

EVEN mention Dorito's!! I also get irritated just seeing someone chewing with

their mouth open.

I have some pretty good anticipatory capabilities in that I tend to avoid

situations which might result in my sharing a meal with a known chomper, and I

almost always have an MP3 player and plug type earphones handy.

I served in the Air Force for 9 years and coped pretty good for the most part.

(Saw a post about a military guy earlier).

I found that in large crowds such as a cafeteria situation, my aversion is not

as bad, and sometimes I don't even notice the noises unless it is a particularly

ignorant fellow eater.

My main way of coping is to either take myself out of the situation, or ask

politely for the person to stop chewing with their mouth open.

As far as family situations are concerned, I have shared my issues with them,

and most are understanding, and when we are in a small space, like a car, there

is NO EATING OF ANY KIND... because I cannot leave, and most of the time it is

my car, and therefor my space. I do tend to eat away from the family, and often

force my self to endure being around chewers, but more often than not, they can

sense my irritation and I feel compelled to leave to avoid being mean or cranky.

It is MY issue, not theirs. So I tend to remove myself rather than make others

uncomfortable, but that is not always possible.

I did find a self hypnosis script that helped for a time called " Protective

Shield " but after listening to my own voice for a couple of weeks I had to stop,

and finding someone to record a self hypnosis script is not as easy as your

would think. The basic premise is that you have the ability to filter irritants

and the script gives you the ability to do it on demand. It covered both audio

and visual elements which I thought was brilliant. I would love to try it

again.