[Gallagher]

I see this thread has derailed into "what's your phobia", which was absolutely not my intention. At all.

I suppose I should say something other than that, since it's been 3 months since my last post here.

My phobia has shifted a bit as I've been trying to keep mindful of it. I've gotten better at tolerating some of the visual triggers, which helps in a lot of ways... but audio triggers have only gotten worse. I can tolerate staying in the bathroom for extended periods (which is where we have several holes in the walls that cause me problems), but noises for extended periods or when I'm particularly vulnerable get me 90% of the way to a panic attack. This is especially unfortunate because I've always been an extremely light sleeper, and being woken up by said noises are a guarantee that I'll be on edge and sick for the entire day. And when I'm on edge for that long, I start seeing things, which only makes matters worse.

If there are any other suggestions for how I might be able to work with this shift in my life, it would be appreciated. I'm not particularly fond of curling up in the farthest room in the house from my own bedroom when things get particularly bad. It, uh, sort of fucks up my day, truth be told.

[Coda]

You might consider some sort of white noise generator in your room when you're sleeping to mask the sounds -- a fan or a relaxation noise maker or something.

[Gallagher]

i suppose that might help, if it actually helps block the noise without making it harder for me to sleep. fan i already know doesn't work, as it isn't loud enough. i've tried music on occasion, but unless i'm extremely particular about what goes into my list, the transition between songs can wake me as well.

[lovelacedroses]

Honestly, I don't know how to deal with my phobias. I just know what they are and don't know how to deal with it. I guess I need more time to mature. :(

[Salone]

What sort of fan did you use? Box fans are the way to go usually. If you have your computer in your room with semi loud speakers, there's tons of websites for semi soothing noise.