Noise related Anxiety?

[tirediron]

I'm a 60 year old retired pipefitter. No real financial, marital, or health issues. Two great sons, and five healthy grandsons. For whatever reason, loud noises can make my chest tighten up, and send me to an anxious frame of mind. I worked in a chemical plant for a little over 40 years and have suffered some hearing loss, but I don't know if that's the problem or not. Oddly, I love motorsports and have an old race car myself. I enjoy target shooting also, but wear hearing protection with both activities, as well as when I cut the grass, use a chainsaw, etc. It seems as if I'm expecting the noise, it doesn't bother me. There's a guy down the street with a 4 wheeler that is without a doubt the loudest ATV, (think Harley Davidson with open pipes), I have ever heard. I can hear it in every room of my house. He doesn't ride it all the time, but when he fires it up, I cringe. He rides it on the street while racing his buddies. He's out of high school, but I don't know his age. We plan to move soon, and I have this fear that potential buyers will walk because of this. Is this anxiety? I've had these same feelings just prior to retiring on June 30, 2014. The doctor prescribed 10mg of Escitalopram daily. I took it for a month and stopped when I ran out. It seemed to help, but once the stress of all that paperwork was gone I was pretty good. Anyone have any ideas?

[Anne1221]

It's a legitimate concern that the noise from your neighbor can deter potential buyers. It was also understandable to have anxiety about retiring. Those things are normal. But if you find yourself worrying on and on, or without good reason, that could be anxiety.
A doctor must have prescribed the escitalopram for you for a reason so he/she must have felt you have an anxiety issue. Maybe talk to your doctor again about this?

[tirediron]

Thank you for your reply, Anne. He prescribed the escitalopram because of what I guess was retirement anxiety. I couldn't sleep, and worried that everything was in order, couldn't concentrate, and was training my replacement at the same time. I never noticed how much traffic we had on our street and didn't pay much attention to noise in general until I retired. Like many urban areas, ours exploded in growth the last 15-20 years. I just wondered if there was such thing as "noise induced anxiety". Or maybe I should go back to work.

[Anne1221]

Well, yes, there is such a thing as noise induced anxiety. I think your options now besides going back to work are to see a doctor/therapist and try to get help for it or maybe taking medication again.

[tidalpine]

I also do the same thing. Intense dramatic music gives me anxiety. and when theres a lot of noise , and crowds too.

[tirediron]

I can understand. We live in such a loud world, and there's very little courtesy or others. Crazy loud car stereos are an issue with me too. It can almost be disorienting. I need to move to the sticks somewhere!

[Snakeadelic]

100% YES there is noise-induced and noise-related anxiety. Even when it's only me and my nearest & dearest (a list of about 5 people right now) in my airspace, sudden noises make me leap and squeak, and if they're loud and near enough they can absolutely trigger a panic attack. It doesn't help that I live in a 4-unit apartment building and 2 of the units are occupied by people who have ZERO respect for the effect their noise has on others around them. One violates the complex's noise curfew EVERY single night and the other has loud non-tenant child company nearly daily--and since the kid isn't ALLOWED outside, she runs around the 650-sf-or-so unit slamming doors and cabinets nearly daily. Management can do nothing about either.

[tirediron]

I know I've had some hearing loss after 40 years in a factory, but I have been around motorsports and shooting sports since my teens. Those noises don't bother me but, of course, I know what's coming and I wear ear protection, as I did at work. It's the sudden and unexpected BOOM! that gets me. Especially when I can hear it everywhere in my house. Even at work where unexpected noises were common, I never flinched. I guess I never noticed how loud it is at home until I retired. Thanks for the reply, and I hope things get better for you.