[obz900]

I had the music on my laptop turned off for a few minutes just now and I realized, I cannot handle silence for an extended period of time. I have tinnitus-a constant ringing in my ears because of an accident when I was a kid. At first it was horrible to live with but as time went by I learned to ignore it. However, whenever I am surrounded by total silence, it gets worse and worse almost to the point that I feel insane.

This really upsets me, because I believe silence is a truly beautiful thing, and a rare thing in today's world. How do you feel about silence? Are there moments in the day when you would rather just sit in silence than listen to music or anything else?

 

[ivorynightgown]

Hmm thats pretty weird (but maybe coz of d accident)

As for me, i loooovveeee silence. i do listen to song once in a while but most of d time i want SILENCE. I always ask my ENTJ husb to turn down d loud volume or the better,shut down the song altogether

silence allows me to wander in my own thoughts. music distracts me frm generating ideas esp when writing

 

[Stillwater]

Sorry to hear about your tinnitus.

It's a requirement for me at least once a day and probably when I feel most relaxed, I even have custom made silicon ear plugs.

I've always wanted to try out one of those sensory deprivation tanks and see where my mind goes, maybe one day.

 

[Rusalka]

It's kind of funny you mention this, I've been thinking about it ever since "silence" emerged as a theme in the book I've been reading. I recently learned about tinnitus, too, because I thought I had it, but it turned out it was constant and more severe than I thought. I'm sorry you have to deal with it.

It seems to me people never have complete silence around them... right now I have classical music on in the background. I tend to put on music, and then, as I focus my attention on something else, I totally drown it out. My dad, however, puts the tv on and never actually watches it -- he just keeps it as background noise. This gets kind of annoying for several reasons. I know some people who keep the radio in their room on all the time, or at work, etc.. I don't think anyone will disagree that the stuff on the radio is mostly shit, albeit catchy, and their listening to this shit just takes them away from themselves when it's unnecessary; when they could have those crucial moments of introspection and such. It's a form of escapism, and it is very possible to have too much escapism from the self sometimes. I don't know if it's possible to truly ponder the meaning of life with "I wanna be a billionaire... SO freakin' bad" playing in the background, or, really, anything. Anything that distracts you from yourself and plants ideas in your head or influences your thinking, which is not you.

I don't really need music on or noise ALL the time. I put on the radio in the car not because I like most of the music on the radio, but because it calms me down immensely and takes me away from those panic-inducing thoughts of "YOU ARE OPERATING A MACHINE THAT COULD POSSIBLY KILL YOU or SOMEONE ELSE". It makes driving more casual. It's one of the things that makes driving extremely fun for me now, and it makes me pretty fearless, too.

If I'm trying to sleep, silence is required.

 

[hood]

I like a little silence every now and then, maybe with a daytime nap or something, but usually I don't like complete silence because I'm addicted to digging in my head and shuffling around memories and coming up with a bunch of crazy negative theories and meanings for them which are usually way over exaggerated, but I still can't convince myself that it's all in my head because I am in my head.

 

[iDane]

I don't mind it for the most part.

There are times when I need some sort of background noise though, such as when I am trying to sleep. The silence gets my mind going a hundred miles a minute and it is damn near impossible for me to drift off to sleep.

 

[Shorttail]

I read about some newer treatments to tinnitus involving making the ear transmit another sound than the current, one that can't be registered. Are you sure yours can't be helped in any way?


Hmm. I love the time of day where I shut down my computer, and all the fans stop spinning and the only sound is the echo in my mind. ~.~ It's so awesome.

Edit: That being said, the place I had the easiest time falling asleep in ever was a moving M113 APC, using earplugs and sitting in full gear curled up in way too little space, with so much shaking and noise. I could have slept all night, get into one in the morning, and fall asleep within two minutes. Sigh. If only beds were really loud, uncomfortable, and shaky, I bet I'd sleep with ease all the time.

 

[Private Enemy]

I also have tinnitus (got it last year, and got it confirmed just a week ago), but only of the first degree. So even though I hear it when it's silent (I hear a high pitch television sound) I can still enjoy the silence. And it's also easily ignored and not that annoying. But I can imagine it's depressing not to be able to enjoy silence at all, forever. We just have to hope they find some kind of cure in the near future. I really hope my tinnitus does not get worse. It would really be awful. I can't imagine a world without silence every now and then. I can find myself listening to music for a while, and then just suddenly becoming extremely annoyed with it (even though I like the music) and having to turn it and every single sound around me off. It's just gets too overwhelming. So It's a need to take a time off and just inhale the silence, recharging the batteries. After a few minutes I can start listening again. This happens from time to time, whether I listen to music or talking to people. I just get extremely irritated and annoyed, almost angry, and need a time out. Then, of course, it's also a pure enjoyment sometimes to relax in silence, meditate, being outdoors listening to the birds, the wind, the trees or whatever. :happy:

I wish you all good luck in dealing with your tinnitus. There's help out there to get. One of the best ways, probably, is to improve yourself, both physically and mentally, and fill yourself with positive thoughts. And, naturally, to talk about it, and talk to other people who has tinnitus. But I guess you already know all of this. :tongue:

 

[rbt]

True complete silence agitates me beyond belief, but silence as in nothing but wind rustling the leaves and grass now that is beautiful.

 

[suicidal_orange]

I've walked for hours in search of silence, when I can only hear the rustle of trees and grass is the time to stop and wait for the wind to drop. Just wish I had actually made a note of my route so could find the places again rather than starting the search over!

I used to listen to music all the time when I was in my room through big headphones but now I usually wear them but without anything playing - they just act as sound dampeners but I can still hear the doorbell or if someone shouts to me. It's not silence but it's better than full volume noise.

I'd hate to have tinnitus and feel really sorry for anyone who can't enjoy silence :sad:

 

[rbt]

Asmit I couldn't do that. My mother has run a family daycare since I was 3 and I grew up there, and as such noise is just normal for me. And thankfully I don't live near the city, just need to stroll down to the local highschool field. More than once I've sat on that field and listened to the wind blowing through the trees.
Just realized that there is a juxtaposition, the same place I go to calm myself is the place where I separated my shoulder and tore three tendons getting crunched in a rugby game. Still love the place so long as no-one is around.

 

[Sily]

Silence is golden. I love the pervasive loudness of The Quiet.

 

[Darkestblue]

Try listening to the sound of rain, wind, the ocean, or etc. Or get a white noise machine.
YouTube - ‪What is a white noise machine?‬‎

 

[Saint Darkness72]

I like silence for, like, an hour a day when I'm resting or just triing to focus. But when I'm doing something, I need something in the background. Even if it's just the TV turned on, it helps. It feels freaky when everything is silent. It seems to me like I'm just waiting for someone to jump out of somewhere and scream.

 

[starflower]

I LOVE silence! I have extremely sensitive ears, and can hear things other people can't usually hear or don't notice. The humming of the cooler, the ticking of the clock, the wind blowing things around. Normal volume - even people just talking - is too loud for me. As I'm typing this, I'm thinking, I need to get a quieter keyboard...

There is nothing more peaceful to me than to stand in the middle of an empty field just listening to the birds and insects and the wind. I could stand there for hours, if I didn't have other responsibilities.

 

[sippingcappucino]

Silence is one of my favorite things. There are moments where my head is just too loud for silence and rather have people around, but that's rarer. Most of the time, I can't get enough silence. My favorite kind of silence is with one other person I feel very comfortable sharing my space--in silence, together.

 

[Sidhe Draoi]

The only time I dont like silence is when Im about to go to sleep. I hear voices and my brain does a weird frequency change thing when I try to sleep in silence so I sleep with a fan.

I cant stand noise, especially when people turn the tv or radio on just to avoid the silence. It bugs me and I get a headache.

 

[entheos]

1 How do you feel about silence? 2 Are there moments in the day when you would rather just sit in silence than listen to music or anything else?

1. Same I feel about oxygen.

2. 90% of the time at home I'm in silence. I don't need or want constant music playing, much less tv noise. The only noise that goes on is when I watch a tv show or movie in my laptop, I also listen to podcasts and music while I make art. Other than that, I like my home in silence. I do the house chores in silence, clean up the garden in silence, shower in silence, cook, etc. Sometimes I also go into trances for no reason, like I'll find myself sitting on the bed or the sofa staring at the wall. I don't do this on purpose, it just happens.
I also disconnect the house phone all the time cause I have no tolerance for that loud ringing of hell, and my cell phone is always in vibrate. I hate noise, it attacks my nervous system.

When out and about, it depends where I'm going. When I'm walking to a place, I listen to music and go to Lalaland in my head. Then when I arrive the place I turn it off. Like at the grocery store I don't want to walk around with music on, because I have this paranoia that staff and regular people will speak to me and I need to be attentive and available. When I'm in the forest I turn the music off for a different reason: I need to hear potential danger, because obvsly there are animals there, but also people, and there's been people raped and killed there, so I need to have all my five senses alert.

I also don't have music on when I walk at night, or in a dodgy area, of if I encounter suspicious-looking people in the street, I want all my senses so I can protect myself, and hearing is the most important sense because it tells you if someone is walking behind you.