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Hearing "Backround noise" in ears ( hallucination). A part of asperger's?

T

The Autistic girl

Member
This is very different hallucinations to what I'm used
To experiencing. This is backround noise NOT VOICES meaning no words. It's like being in a busy restaurant and it's in both my ears. The VOICES are IN MY HEAD NOT IN MY EARS and it's just different. When I put my noise cancelling headphones on it stops like I Don't hear the backround noise anymore. It's definitely a hallucination because there is no busy restaurant where I am im at home in my room.

I need to know is this common with asperger's or autism or is it just me am I the weird one with asperger's?
 
If it stops when you put headphones on I don't think it can be all in your head. Perhaps it is some slight backround noise, fans, fridge, cars, etc that your brain is then taking and turning into something else. That happens with me. My brain will turn persistant backround noise into drums or other form of music. It can be pretty annoying.
 
Tom said:
If it stops when you put headphones on I don't think it can be all in your head. Perhaps it is some slight backround noise, fans, fridge, cars, etc that your brain is then taking and turning into something else. That happens with me. My brain will turn persistant backround noise into drums or other form of music. It can be pretty annoying.
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I have the fridge in the hallway next to my room but that's only very slight noise. Could the fridge noise turn into a busy restaurant in my ears? Is it common
 
The Autistic girl said:
It's NOT like a "ringing" more like a busy restaurant or backround noise
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In my own case I get all kinds of repetitive, undulating sounds. Not always ringing per se.

Surround sound from my audio system and tv can give me fits at times. Where ambient sounds seem so enhanced it's as if they were happening right next to me, or even directly behind me. On occasion there are other sounds from sources that I cannot account for.

But there are other causes of auditory hallucinations as well.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23233-auditory-hallucinations
They can also sometimes be associated with OCD, if a person has it. All kinds of sounds- not just voices.

https://psychcentral.com/ocd/ocd-and-hearing-voices
 
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Judge said:
In my own case I get all kinds of repetitive, undulating sounds. Not always ringing per se.

Surround sound from my audio system and tv can give me fits at times. Where ambient sounds seem so enhanced it's as if they were happening right next to me, or even directly behind me. On occasion there are other sounds from sources that I cannot account for.

But there are other causes of auditory hallucinations as well.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23233-auditory-hallucinations
They can also sometimes be associated with OCD, if a person has it.

https://psychcentral.com/ocd/ocd-and-hearing-voices
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I think it's actually more like what the other person said ( my brain hearing slight backround noise and turning into louder busy restaurant noise). I NOW THINK THAT IT IS THIS AND NOT AUDITORY HALLUCINATIONS. Thank you for your input tho. :)
 
The Autistic girl said:
I think it's actually more like what the other person said ( my brain hearing slight background noise and turning into louder busy restaurant noise).
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Could be, and on a more common premise. Are there specific sounds that can easily annoy you? And seemed amplified even if they aren't?

That comes across as a relatively common consideration with people on the spectrum. A matter of how we perceive certain sounds that evoke strong reactions. Just another sensory issue in that respect. Ironic how we can focus on a single particular sound, yet become disoriented with multiple sounds- particularly human voices.

Extremely low-pitched sounds (>30Hz) drive me nuts...and almost instantly. Puts me into a fight/flight mindset. Even if it isn't at a particularly loud volume.
 
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Judge said:
Could be, and on a more common premise. Are there specific sounds that can easily annoy you? And seemed amplified even if they aren't?

That comes across as a relatively common consideration with people on the spectrum. A matter of how we perceive certain sounds that evoke strong reactions. Just another sensory issue in that respect. Ironic how we can focus on a single particular sound, yet become disoriented with multiple sounds- particularly human voices.
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Yes. The tv annoys me the fridge, the washing machine and dryer, the dog barking and chainsaws and loud cars, people shouting or arguing
 
The Autistic girl said:
Yes. The tv annoys me the fridge, the washing machine and dryer, the dog barking and chainsaws and loud cars
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Yep. Sensory issues that can set us off, even ones considered to be benign. I think you'll find that a lot of folks here can relate to that. My computer workstation is in my dining room, and I always have to deal with the drone of my refrigerator, apart from two fans in the summer.

And the landscaping crew with their blowers, apart from pigeons that seasonally roost above my living room window. All sounds that sometimes force me to wear -33db noise reduction rated ear protectors with ear buds. Sounds that may or may not be at extreme frequencies or particularly loud.

I can't explain it either. I just know it happens. :(
 
Some repetitive/constant sounds drive me nuts. Triggers fight/flight response. Other sounds (like my fan) I rely on for sanity. Some sounds just feel so right and others feel so wrong in my ears.
 
The Autistic girl said:
I have the fridge in the hallway next to my room but that's only very slight noise. Could the fridge noise turn into a busy restaurant in my ears? Is it common
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Not sure about what it could be. Other noises may be contributing as well. Computers make a faint noise sometimes, as do clocks, possibly other appliances, water heater, etc,

But do I think it could generate a restaurant sound in your head? Absolutely. Besides drums/music certain indistinct sounds will sound to my head like voices. I might think 'Is that someone talking upstairs?' but then when I listen carefully I realize its some backround sound or combination of sounds that my brain decides to interpret as voices. I don't find that surprising, that the brain when faced with something strange/unknown will try and classify it in some recognizable way. Erroneously, as it turns out.
 
When you speak of restaurant noise, the first place I always think of is "Marie Callendars".

Mainly because it seems every one I ever ate in had very poor acoustics. Hard masonry veneer surfaces that just bounced so much sound off the walls instead of absorbing it. Where even the sound of silverware seemed to be clanging!

And then I still recall what a difference it made for cubicles to go up in the office I once worked in.

It's amazing how our brain perceives- and mentally may amplify it in our own minds. Maddening too.
 
Oo yes I think I might be experiencing the same. Although this is more of a recent (last few yrs) thing than something I've always dealt with. I seem to hear background noises that aren't present, in my case it can sometimes sound musical, a like a muffled radio playing in the background. Or like a humming noise like electronic appliances that aren't in the room.

Judge said:
It's amazing how our brain perceives- and mentally may amplify it in our own minds. Maddening too.
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Yes, I wonder if my brain is just amplifying background noises around me.. maddening indeed
 
Have you been traveling uphill with some transport or something lately? I got stuffed ears but you are supposed to feel it.

Otherwise it's common on the spectrum for some sounds to be selectively louder, like even in a crowded space, I had an ex who would hear the TV louder than people. And I have read about people who would have selective sound enhancements, and some who can hear electricity through the wall and other things normally not supposed to be heard.

Can you follow/trace the sound? Or is it stable anywhere you go in terms of loudness?

I sometimes have my ears overstimulated, and they actually physically react... like for a dog, some sounds are louder or hurt. I don't know why or when yet, it's just at times and it seems random, I don't think I would be mentally tired.

I have this very annoying mosquito protecting plug-in electonic thing, and I hear the sound of it constantly.
 
Both my daughter and I have "heard" muffled background voices in the house, periodically, for years - as if a TV was left on at low volume in another room.

We used to joke about ghosts, but I'm pretty sure it is some subtle "house noise" (as others have suggested).
 
I didn't read all the posts. When you cover your ears and block out as much sound as you possibly can, do you still hear the sounds? Tinnitus isn't external noise and it's in the brain rather than the ears. Plugging my ears does not in any way reduce my tinnitus.
 
Jonn said:
If it were a hallucination, why would the noise-cancelling headphones be affected?
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Depends on whether the hallucination in question involves an absolute lack of stimuli, or if in fact such stimuli exists, but is being neurologically misinterpreted as a false perception of something.

In the OP's case I have to assume it involves real sounds being heard, but possibly misinterpreted. If such stimuli actually exists in real time, I suppose in theory it's possible for noise-cancelling technology to intervene and possibly alter or eliminate it.

I've had such an experience as a hypnopompic hallucination. I was coming out of a deep REM state of sleep and gradually awakening, when I sensed being violently chased by dogs. The chase aspect was a misinterpretation on my part while emerging from a dream state. However my cousin's two dogs barking right outside my bedroom door was very real....lol. Equally experiencing sleep paralysis made it all more intense until I completely woke up.
 
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