Comment on How do I stop hating children?
MamboGator@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Is it just the loud sounds of children that irk you, or do other things they do bother you as well regardless of the noise they makr? And if it’s just the noise, do other loud noises not associated with children bother you as well?
Sensitivity to loud noises could be something like sensory processing disorder, hyperacusis, or even a form of autism. I have had to move multiple times because of loud neighbours doing things that would certainly annoy other people too, but they could put up with it whereas I became absolutely consumed by the noise and even resorted to self harm to deal with it before giving up and leaving.
I don’t have a solution for the above. It’s just what I know from personal experience, but maybe it can help you figure out a cause and panacea for your issues with noisy kids.
Squiddles@kbin.social 8 months ago
Sensory processing disorder associated with autism is exactly what came to my mind because it's exactly what I deal with. I usually shut down instead of melting down, but kids playing at anything past a barely-audible level is extremely difficult for me. Other attention-grabbing noises are also difficult, like dogs barking, car doors closing, people yelling, etc., and other stimuli cause me to shut down too, like dogs jumping/breathing on me (basically everything about dogs, unfortunately) or someone touching the back of my head/neck.
It took a lot of research into how my sensory processing reacts to different things, and I still struggle frequently, but I'm a father now and most days I'm very happy about it. I have noise canceling headphones for when I get overwhelmed, and I keep a clicky mechanical keyboard switch and barrette in my pocket to fiddle with, which helps a lot.
OP, I can obviously only speak from my own experiences, but I think dissecting what exactly causes these sudden emotional bursts and finding sensory distraction or blocking techniques to dampen them might work for you too. Headphones are a godsend.