extreme fear of disturbing neighbors below in apartment building

[nomoreapartmentanxiety001]

Because I can here neighbor that lives above (large objects drop, footsteps if wearing heel), I automatically assume I may be disturbing neighbor living below with my own footsteps and any object dropping and I constantly worry about this. even worse is I cannot seem to convince myself that I can talk over the phone with a normal voice level without thinking someone downstairs is annoyed I am speaking too loudly again. this is really affecting my standard of living; I cant play my keyboard as I am very nervous about upsetting others.

Can someone offer me help out of this mess?

[Teafrenzy]

why not just knock on their door and ask?

[aml0017]

If you know you are just going about your life in a normal way then you have nothing to worry about. I mean you are not running around blasting music and banging pots or anything. I'm sure you are not bothering anyone. If you drop something to me to time then oh well it happens. You also should be able to play your keyboard at a reasonable volume level as long as you don't play it too late at night or early in the morning. If the neighbors are bothered by normal noise oh well that's their problem, they are living in the wrong place. But... They probably are not, your anxiety is making this all up. It is not really rational.

[The Intolerable Kid]

Teafrenzy offers a good suggestion. I moved into a more rural setting and decided I would target practice on my land. Before I fired any guns, I went down the road to my neighbors place to let them know I'd be firing a .22 rifle so they wouldn't get the wrong idea. I was very nervous about it because I hadn't met them before. The best part of the story was they weren't even home! I was relieved and enjoyed shooting on my Friday afternoon, knowing I wasn't bothering anyone. When I did talk to them, all they asked was that I not target shoot during deer season, when they wanted to shoot. So I found out we have something in common and it all worked out. So maybe give your neighbor a chance, they could pleasantly surprise you and be tolerant of your keyboard playing.

[Anne1221]

I understand your question. But I can tell you this from first hand experience; those lucky ducks in the upstairs apartment don't hear hardly anything from us down below because noise doesn't travel up unless it's very loud. But those of us stuck on the bottom, hear everything. I have had neighbor after neighbor tell me they just don't hear me unless I blast my music up super loud. Go ahead and live because they tell me they can't hear a thing. I can guarantee you they don't hear your footsteps or something dropping, for sure. You may want to post a note on their door that says, "Please let me know if my keyboard playing bothers you."

I had one neighbor a long time ago tell me "I thought you were a nun. I didn't hear anything from you below." I was so relieved to hear that. Also, I used to worry and a guy said to me, "I'll tell you a secret about this. Noise doesn't travel up."

Now, if only they were as concerned about us as we are about them. I hear things that sound like someone dropping weights or bowling balls sometimes.