Day #7 🛒 That Triggering Noise

I often read that people with ADHD are triggered by certain human-made noises, usually smacking or slurping. I always thought I was some kind of exception. I don’t love those sounds, but they don’t send me into instant overload. That almost has to be true. My partner is obese, so I regularly hear loud breathing, slurping, and a whole collection of other very human noises. If I couldn’t filter those out, we simply couldn’t be together.

As a child, though, sound already carried emotional weight. I remember my mom scolding me once for smacking while eating. I was angry because I was sure I wasn’t doing it. I concentrated as hard as I could, chewing carefully, trying to be completely silent. She told me I was still smacking. I ran from the table in tears, confused and ashamed, unsure how to fix something I couldn’t hear myself doing.

🏪 Yesterday... something happened.

I was in the supermarket when I heard it. An elderly lady leaning heavily on her shopping cart, moving slowly through the store while constantly shuffling her feet. Shhh. Shhh. Shhh. The sound hit my brain like a red alert. Every step landed directly on my nerves.

I tried to escape by rushing through the supermarket, but somehow the magical elderly lady stayed right behind me. She was leaning on a shopping cart. I had only a small basket. Physics should have been on my side, and yet there she was, shuffling steadily in my wake.

Shhh. Shhh. Shhh...

I’m fairly certain she helped me set a new personal speed record in that store. All powered by one noise my ADHD brain simply refused to filter out.

😁 What's your triggering noise?

10 comments