Quiet rooms aren't always quiet. The fridge, lights or electricity in the walls can produce a steady hum that keeps pressing into your attention long after everyone else has stopped noticing it.
- hearing the refrigerator buzz from the next room
- switching off a light because its faint electrical whine is impossible to ignore
- tracking a low hum around the house until you find a charger
- lying awake listening to a sound nobody else can hear
Looks vs reality
The same Experience can look very different from the outside than it feels on the inside.
"It's so peaceful and quiet in here."
"The lights are humming, the computer is whining, and I can hear the pipes in the wall. It's anything but quiet."
"Why are you so on edge all of a sudden?"
"My brain is burning through all its energy just trying to filter out a high-pitched frequency, and I have nothing left for social interaction."
"Just tune it out. It's not that bad."
"That's like asking me to 'tune out' a smoke alarm. My nervous system has flagged this sound as a threat, and I can't turn it off."
"You're the only one who's bothered by it."
"I know. That's what makes it feel so lonely and alienating."
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