The voices around me

Imagine being able to hear a lot of the conversations that are going on around you even when you don’t want that to happen. I know a lot of people will say yes they can hear the voices but it is the conversation that I am talking about. The words make sense to me and I can hear what the people are talking about. This isn’t something that is always enjoyable as it is like being a part of too many conversations at the same time.

There are times when conversations that I am not part of over power my brain and I can’t focus on the conversation that I should be part of. I have the ability to hear conversations or at least parts of conversations that are around me. The times when this is extremely frustrating is when we are at a conference and during a presentation the people around me start having their own conversation. Some of these conversations that are happening around me result in me missing the actual presentation because of the other voices I am hearing.

Food courts and fast food restaurants are also a challenge for me because of all the different sounds that I can hear. When I am in a fast food restaurant I am one of those that normally sits by a window so that I can try and block out as many of the conversations as I can. In some fast food restaurants there are spots that I enjoy sitting the most and they are the spots where I can block lots of the sounds out. These spots are normally near the main entrance but there is two walls to block the sounds as well as the garbage bins are in front of these tables. I love these tables because they help me enjoy my meal and block out as much of the other sounds that are around me.

I have noticed that the times that I get most overwhelmed with the voices around me are when the voices are speaking different languages or have very strong accents. I think my brain is trying to figure out the words even when they are not in English. No, I don’t want to be part of the other conversations and I really don’t care what they are saying but my brain is trying to figure out the words it is hearing.

It can be a challenge when you can hear so many voices at the same time. I know that one of the ways that I have found to deal with this is to ensure that I have some noise cancelling head phones with me at all times. The head phones and some relaxing music help me regain a focus that I have lost with my brain gets to the overwhelmed level. It has been a challenge for me to even be able to explain how I am feeling because how do you say to other people that you are hearing a bunch of the other conversations that are going on around you. I know that one day I said “I need the voices in my head to go away” and what I was really trying to say was I was extremely tired of hearing all the other voices and sounds that were going on around me.

The voices around me can be a challenge especially when I am trying to focus on something. I have found that when the voices start to get to me I just have to close my eyes for a couple of minutes and try to just think of something pleasant. Sometimes this really helps and I can get back to doing what I was doing and other times when the voices just get too much I have to walk away from the area and find another spot to regain the focus.

Listen to the voices around you next time there are many conversations going on and imagine what it is like when you can hear and understand parts of all of these conversations and can’t block them out. This isn’t something that I can turn off and I wish I could. There are others like me so I know that I am not along dealing with this. We face a challenge every day when we leave home because the voices and conversations can take over and overwhelm us.