How to stop hearing noises at night

[TheHatedOne]

This might sound stupid, but almost every night, after 12 or 1 AM I start to hear noises around the apartment I live in as if someone is inside. I can't quite describe the noises because of my lack of English vocabulary, but they aren't so loud, but still can be heard.

I live alone at the 9th floor. I've checked the apartment so many times when it happened, every damn corner but I never find anything. I have to mention that I check everywhere even before going to bed to make sure.

But the noises can still be heard. Two nights ago I heard as if someone was knocking at the entrance door.

These days I'm scared, afraid, terrified, however you want to call it, for no reason at all. It only skyrockets when I start to hear those fucking noises.

It all starts after I turn off the lights in my room, close to midnight or even after.

Last night was the worst. I heard noises MULTIPLE times in a row and simply paralyzed. Didn't have the courage to check anymore. I stopped drinking and playing games and just sat in my bed looking at the bedroom door.

I always feel as if the bedroom door is gonna shut open with someone appearing and going towards me to do awful stuff to me.

Rationally it's unlikely that I'd get robbed or something like that. Who'd go way up to the 9th floor to rob a broke college aged person? I have no clue. It's more likely that it could be a person I know, like my "parents" that would come do something to me, but I don't think so.

I try to think rationally every night but it doesn't help that much. I hear a noise again and then go back into my frightened state.

I don't know what to do anymore. I know this post really sounds stupid, but I've been terrified for days and it needs to stop for the sake of my sanity. In such moments I long to have a person around me the most, to talk to me.

 

[Snake of Eden]

Silicone earplugs. You can get them from alibaba or aliexpress for cheap and they last. Life savers

 

[Nightmare Painting]

You could just be imagining noises because of stress or you've become hypersensitive to noise. Many years back I became super sensitive to noise after severe isolation, lack of self care, and various stressors. Someone simply opening a door, eating noises, footsteps, and just about any normal noise would make me jumpy or angry.

 

[Live Free or Die]

I have feelings like these too. I actually barricade my front door at night, so if someone comes in I will hear all the noise of everything falling/being jammed against the wall. I also feel like I see shadowy forms staring at me from the darkness. It's quite an eerie feeling to shake. Usually turning the TV on to something funny, turning the sound down low and then I can sleep again. The light from the TV illuminates the shadows and the comedy that I can subconsciously hear while sleeping usually gives me light hearted dreams instead of nightmares.


You know how you can "sense" when someone comes into your room or house. I believe it's mostly the air pressure change of them opening a door or moving about. Maybe we can sense their electromagnetic field or their energy, I dunno. But I get this feeling in the middle of the night and when I open my eyes I see shadows veering around the corner at me.. then they dissipate. Of course, I do believe it's all in my mind. But perception is reality and what our mind believes it creates. Manifestation.

 

[freedompass]

I know what you mean. I have similar fears and even have scary dreams of intruders entering my home. I've often been frozen with terror hearing some unidentifiable noise at the dead of night. It's not been so bad lately. There are 'house noises' or in your case 'apartment noises'. Creaking in the walls, the hot water pipes, or simply a neighbour doing something. I had a cat, that helped because they will be the first to notice if there was anyone trying to get in. But the chances of a stranger doing that and attacking you are infinitesimally small.

 

[TooConscious]

They use targeted energy weapons to fuck people's heads up, people are in mental care units because of the CIA making them believe theyre possessed by ghosts.
That's famous case of the nsa worker scaring people outa of a home to impress his girlfriend, and it was her that exposed him when they split up, (once she was settled in the house of course).

 

[Live Free or Die]

I think that's a great point. When I had pets, they almost always alleviated all these fears. When I had a dog and I could seem him sleeping calmly, I felt safe and secure. I knew no one would be coming in without him barking and attacking. When he was at ease and calm, so was I. Almost felt safe and protected at most times. Damn, I might have to get a dog now .

 

[Sherri]

In h flat I can hear high heels at silly hours, and my neighbour from above peeing. Drives me insane. But as Xero said, silicon earplugs.

 

[Gsvko]

You can get earplugs from a drugstore

 

[Live Free or Die]

I could never sleep with earplugs in. SI tells me I have to be able to hear incase someone comes in a door or breaks a window. With earplugs in you have no way of sensing an intruder before they are standing over your sleeping body.

 

[Foresight]

I just went through psychosis so I relate to your fear. It's not stupid at all

My theory is that we're convincing our psyches that it's in a life or death battle on a daily basis. Our minds don't function well thinking about death and the stresses of life constantly. We're kind of screwing with our systems unfortunately. It puts our minds in a state of hyper-vigilance and fear. The threat is us. We're threatening our survival, but our mind will make things go bump in the night when we're in this fight or flight mode. I remember in my worst days I would wake up screaming thinking the house was on fire.

You have to calm your mind. I personally do this with breathing exercises. Allow yourself to smile with some comedy or cute animal videos. It sounds bizarre but smiling/laughing alerts our subconscious we're okay. Otherwise the fear will take over completely. I've been there. Does steady noises help at all? I don't sleep without my fan. The silence allows my mind to fill in the blanks which can be no good. Maybe try some peaceful sleep sounds or white noise. I hope you feel better and get some good sleep.

 

[summers]

If it's a real noise, then noise canceling shooting ear protection is the way to go. The electronic ones can be adjusted to different levels of sensitivity, and you get the benefit of the passive noise suppression too. Just not sure if you could actually sleep in them,as they are kind of bulky.

12 Best Shooting Ear Protection [Electronic & Passive Hands-On]

Eyes and ears! Find out our favorite shooting ear protection we use when we shoot. From passive to electronic and across all budgets, we've got you covered.

www.pewpewtactical.com

 

[Sanva]

a few months ago i had a similiar thing where I'd hear noises in the middle of the night, then get up and check the whole apartment again and again. i think just wearing earplugs to drown out the noise would make me even more anxious, what helped me was just listening to podcasts as I fell asleep. it's dumb but it makes me feel safer because it doesn't feel like I'm alone when there's people talking if that makes sense.

 

[Smart No More]

Get a white noise app or some kind of white noise tech. You can also get noise cancelling tech if you're really intent/invested. White noise is the quicker easier option though.

 

[Jude]

I live alone too and have a security camera at home. It doesn't even need to be turned on but just putting it there make me feel safer. My neighborhood isn't very quiet so listen to a sleep podcast called sleep with me and it works well for me.

 

[lostautist]

Earplugs, noise generator, fan, radio or television. Buildings settle and noise can travel strangely. You might not be able to hear someone above or below you, but might hear someone slamming the fridge or knocking on a door several floors away. It's likely you're too focused listening for noises than accepting that there is just noise everywhere.

 

[TheHatedOne]

I could never sleep with earplugs in. SI tells me I have to be able to hear incase someone comes in a door or breaks a window. With earplugs in you have no way of sensing an intruder before they are standing over your sleeping body.

a few months ago i had a similiar thing where I'd hear noises in the middle of the night, then get up and check the whole apartment again and again. i think just wearing earplugs to drown out the noise would make me even more anxious, what helped me was just listening to podcasts as I fell asleep. it's dumb but it makes me feel safer because it doesn't feel like I'm alone when there's people talking if that makes sense.

this and this. earplugs sound like a good idea, but in my case I'd get even more scared cause I won't be able to hear much anymore, and what if getting an intruder becomes a reality? After all, you're never safe as long as you live with humans around. I wonder to myself how the hell I could listen to music with my earphones on until now. These days I kept the volume lower because of my frightened mood. I could try to watch a TV channel online (since I don't have a TV) to help me but it'd be difficult when I'd want to listen to music too lol.

I know what you mean. I have similar fears and even have scary dreams of intruders entering my home. I've often been frozen with terror hearing some unidentifiable noise at the dead of night. It's not been so bad lately. There are 'house noises' or in your case 'apartment noises'. Creaking in the walls, the hot water pipes, or simply a neighbour doing something. I had a cat, that helped because they will be the first to notice if there was anyone trying to get in. But the chances of a stranger doing that and attacking you are infinitesimally small.

Once I got scared when I heard the sound of neighbour flushing the toilet at night xDDDD I realized shortly after what it was. However what I'm hearing is as if someone's going smoothly through stuff, inside my apartment. It's also my fault cause for some reason, these days, I'm analyzing every noise ever and if it's not something that I know of, I get scared.

I have feelings like these too. I actually barricade my front door at night, so if someone comes in I will hear all the noise of everything falling/being jammed against the wall. I also feel like I see shadowy forms staring at me from the darkness. It's quite an eerie feeling to shake. Usually turning the TV on to something funny, turning the sound down low and then I can sleep again. The light from the TV illuminates the shadows and the comedy that I can subconsciously hear while sleeping usually gives me light hearted dreams instead of nightmares.


You know how you can "sense" when someone comes into your room or house. I believe it's mostly the air pressure change of them opening a door or moving about. Maybe we can sense their electromagnetic field or their energy, I dunno. But I get this feeling in the middle of the night and when I open my eyes I see shadows veering around the corner at me.. then they dissipate. Of course, I do believe it's all in my mind. But perception is reality and what our mind believes it creates. Manifestation.

I also see shadow humanoid figures, mostly with the corner of my eye. But, some hours ago I saw one behind reflected on a window and of course when I went to check there was nothing. It's awful what the mind does to us.


Also thnx all for the comments, felt much better after I read them. I hear noises again but I try to brush them off. Tonight I'm feeling less frightened and more aggressive. I heard noises before too, but only recently it really started to bother me a lot.

 

[Gsvko]

I sleep with lights on :D
Some secondary one, either on in the next room, doors open enough so I have vision but dark enough to fall asleep; or a lamp that can also be reached by hand in case I decide to off it and change my mind.
I was not to do that when I was younger, but now when I'm my own boss, I don't see why I wouldn't secure myself fear free sleep. Yeah bill is higher, but fck it, I'll smoke less or smth. I know it's irrational too, but it just never goes away.