this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2024
64 points (97.1% liked)

Casual Conversation

2059 readers
291 users here now

Share a story, ask a question, or start a conversation about (almost) anything you desire. Maybe you'll make some friends in the process.


RULES (updated 01/22/25)

  1. Be respectful: no harassment, hate speech, bigotry, and/or trolling. To be concise, disrespect is defined by escalation.
  2. Encourage conversation in your OP. This means including heavily implicative subject matter when you can and also engaging in your thread when possible. You won't be punished for trying.
  3. Avoid controversial topics (politics or societal debates come to mind, though we are not saying not to talk about anything that resembles these). There's a guide in the protocol book offered as a mod model that can be used for that; it's vague until you realize it was made for things like the rule in question. At least four purple answers must apply to a "controversial" message for it to be allowed.
  4. Keep it clean and SFW: No illegal content or anything gross and inappropriate. A rule of thumb is if a recording of a conversation put on another platform would get someone a COPPA violation response, that exact exchange should be avoided when possible.
  5. No solicitation such as ads, promotional content, spam, surveys etc. The chart redirected to above applies to spam material as well, which is one of the reasons its wording is vague, as it applies to a few things. Again, a "spammy" message must be applicable to four purple answers before it's allowed.
  6. Respect privacy as well as truth: Don’t ask for or share any personal information or slander anyone. A rule of thumb is if something is enough info to go by that it "would be a copyright violation if the info was art" as another group put it, or that it alone can be used to narrow someone down to 150 physical humans (Dunbar's Number) or less, it's considered an excess breach of privacy. Slander is defined by intentional utilitarian misguidance at the expense (positive or negative) of a sentient entity. This often links back to or mixes with rule one, which implies, for example, that even something that is true can still amount to what slander is trying to achieve, and that will be looked down upon.

Casual conversation communities:

Related discussion-focused communities

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
64
I think I have tinnitus (self.casualconversation)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by pepperonisalami to c/[email protected]
 

One random night, I lay on my bed in my silent bedroom, and I felt that the silence is uncomfortable. Why, I asked myself, that the silence felt sharp, like I prefer the noise of my annoyingly loud dehumidifier, or the muffled sound of traffic in my old apartment?

I realized that the silence was ringing, in a high pitched noise that we all associate with being hit near the ears. My inner voice told myself: "man, you have tinnitus."

Thinking back, that wasn't the first time I thought that I have tinnitus, but I was probably in denial for years, or it just got louder. The sad part is that I'm only 26, and somehow, I feared getting tinnitus ever since my childhood.

Even worse, I just ordered a pair of headphones with ANC, and when I don't play anything through it, the ringing gets very clear.

Was depressed for a few days, thinking that it's not fair that I got it even though I don't expose myself to loud noises often, I listen to music at a couple levels lower than my preference, and I don't turn up my music to drown out noises.

But nothing in life is fair, and to compared to the suffering of others, this is only a mild discomfort. So I'll try to keep positive about it, and be grateful that I still enjoy a comparatively luxurious life.

I'll visit a doctor soon though!

Any of you have a similar experience? I'll be happy to read your stories!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 month ago (4 children)

I have had tinnitus all my life, and honestly did not know the ringing wasnt a normal thing until I watched an episode of Archer. Becoming truly aware of it was a terrible day for me.

Generally, it isn't something that is treatable, but in my opinion it is better to have it at an earlier age, when your brain is more adaptable, as it makes it easier to adapt to the constant ringing, and learn ways to tune it out.

If you need to, get some sort of white noise/nature sound generator and keep it playing during the quiet times, and focus on those noises. I find that tinnitus is worst when you are focusing on it, and the more you think about it, the more you notice it.

One thing I have found to NEVER work is mentally playing with the volume/pitch - those sliders only go up, and stay up until I have focused on something else for awhile.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

White noise for the goddamn win.

Brown noise to be exact.

A search for a 15 minute brown noise MP3 track years ago saved me

[–] pepperonisalami 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's just like Jesus, even though he's brown, people keep on making the mistake of assuming that he's white 😂 Jokes aside, I'll look into it, I might need it in the office.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

If for any reason you don't quite like the noise video/track, it's almost trivially easy to create your own white, brown, or pink noise track in an audio editor like Audacity. Then you can adjust the EQ, high/low filters, mix in other sounds, etc and really make it your personalized sleep track for offline listening (good for planes).

[–] anomnom 3 points 1 month ago

iOS can add background sound for dead spots in audio too. I like it for reminding me that the podcast ended while I’m working mindless tasks.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] stringere 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] stringere 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] stringere 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] stringere 2 points 1 month ago
[–] pepperonisalami 5 points 1 month ago

Yes, the awareness is the terrible part, it's like noticing a smudge on an otherwise perfectly clean surface - not gonna kill you but you'll keep looking at it 😂

And to be overly positive; at least now I will take an extra good care of my ears - limiting loud noise and all, and maybe I'll avoid hearing loss in my old age.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 month ago

Drag can make it go down.