How do I deal with sound sensory overload in public?
Sorry if this is not the correct flair. Trigger warning: Meltdown caused by loud noises. This is kind of a rant too I guess, no harsh language is directed towards anyone.
Oh my god, today I went to a place and children kept on screaming in my ear, it was awful. It happens everywhere I go, if it's not some child (It's really never even the child's fault when I see them most of the time, the poor kiddos just want attention and their parents are like: "Nahhh, let me just take a selfie and ignore you no matter how hard you yell." Either that or it's some drunk person. Now I know what most people are gonna think, if it bothers me so much, why do I even go in the first place? I don't have a choice. The people I live force me everywhere and I have to go to the shops to buy food.
I've tried noise cancelling headphones, they can only do so much. (If any of you know about headphones that cancel noise out completely, let me know.)
Also how do you guys communicate with them on? Even taking it off one second makes me go crazy. If I tell someone verbally, they just continue talking and disrespect me. What do I do?
Posted Dec 11, 2025, 9:43 AM UTC