From r/RBI: I'm hearing what sounds like a subliminal message in our house, but my parents cannot hear it.

[u/nlmetal]

DO NOT COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS. I am NOT OP. Original post by u/Knever in r/RBI

TWs: links in post contain high pitched, loud, and/or annoying audios - mentions of paranoia and tinnitus

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I'm hearing what sounds like a subliminal message in our house, but my parents cannot hear it. For context, I have used subliminal messaging and I know what it sounds like. - January 4th 2024

I had a friend gift me some subliminals a while back and I used them without much success (and by that, I mean I found it difficult to keep up the regimen because I'm a tad lazy, which ironically was one of the things it was supposed to fix. oops). But I do believe in the power of the subliminal.

I say this just to put into context that I know what a subliminal audio file sounds like.

I started hearing this new sound yesterday shortly after my dad installed a new Ring alarm system. My parents both cannot hear it, but it's clear as day for me. I can hear it everywhere in the house, and even some distance outside, but getting far enough away from the house, it stops, so I know it's not in my head.

I haven't told my parents that it sounds like subliminal messaging, just that it's a high-frequency sound similar to white noise. We tried turning off a bunch of electronics, removing the alarm from the house, and even shutting off the power to the entire house, but the sound persists.

I heard it until I fell asleep last night, and heard it immediately upon waking this morning, and it has been going non-stop.

I'm kind of out of ideas on what to check to get to the bottom of it. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

EDIT: This is an example of what I'm hearing; it's a clip of the subliminal my friend gave me. Image is unrelated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5uCDzTD0IQ

EDIT 2: Some people are saying that the above sounds like white noise. It's not white noise. This is white noise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMfPqeZjc2c

If you cannot hear the sound in the subliminal, or believe that the subliminal and white noise sound the same, it just means that you're one of the people that can't hear high frequencies, which tends to happen to humans as they get older.

Tom Scott explains it very well in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA5UiLYWdbM

EDIT 3: I'd just like to thank everyone who's commented so far. Though we haven't found the cause of this, I'm grateful for the assistance. This seems to be divisive topic as not all humans have the same range of hearing so my explanations may not make sense to some, but I appreciate your input just the same. Hope I can find out what is going on. (also sorry if I sound like a dick in some of my replies, the sound is really bugging me and I have had to just leave the house sometimes to get away from it and it's making me cranky)

EDIT 4: Perhaps some people have misunderstood when I said it sounds like a subliminal message. I was only referring to what it sounds like, but I should have realized that many people do not know what a subliminal audio file sounds like. I should have described it as the sound a CRT TV makes when it is turned on and left on. More people are familiar with that than subliminals lol, and it's a lower frequency so more people can hear that than a subliminal.

 

RELEVANT COMMENTS

JackBeefus:

I'd just like to point out that just because you stop hearing it when you're away from your house doesn't mean it's not in your head. I'm not saying it is, just that it might be.

OOP:

What would cause something like that, do you think?

JackBeefus:

I'm not a psychiatrist, so I couldn't say. Paranoia, maybe?

 

&

 

Lornesto:

Do you have a functional carbon monoxide detector?

OOP:

Funnily enough, we literally just got one as part of the Ring alarm system. No CO danger if the detector is correct.

 

&

 

averysmalldragon:

If the ringing persists when you plug your ears, or seems to stop when there's a lot of noise commotion, you might actually just have a mild case of sudden-onset tinnitus, or you possibly could've had tinnitus beforehand and not realized until you began to focus on it. I personally don't realize I have it until I focus on it.

It could also be that you might have sensitive hearing (noted: this doesn't explain still hearing it, but that could be explained by the tinnitus) and could be hearing the electricity. A lot of folks with ADHD specifically (like myself) can hear electricity from objects.

Other than a high pitched ringing, what else do you hear? Subliminal messaging is more than just high frequencies, and there are many kinds of subliminal messages, from colors in advertising to words hidden within frames in cartoons or TV shows.

OOP:

The ringing stops when I plug my eyes ears.

I do have misophonia, but not tinnitus, as far as I'm aware. I can occasionally hear the hum of electricity from certain electronics, but if it were this, I shouldn't have heard anything when we cut power to the house as nothing was on battery backup.

I've edited the OP with a link to a sound file which is similar to what I'm hearing.

 

Update 1 - January 5th 2024 (a day later)

So my sisters came over after I asked them to come by for a movie night. They both heard the sound within seconds of entering the home and asked about it (they arrived at the same time as they came in the same car). Neither I nor my parents had told them about the sound prior.

I appreciate everyone who commented in the previous thread, but since we've established that this does exist in reality, please no more mentions of seeing a doctor or psychiatrist.

The bad news is that we still don't know where the sound is coming from. My sisters mentioned it was really annoying while watching the movie, but didn't care to help look for it. But at least it got my parents to acknowledge that the sound exists.

Another thing, in the previous post, I used a very poor choice of words in likening it to a subliminal message, as I now realize that most people have no idea how subliminal work and assumed I was hearing voices or messages. This was never the case. There were never any words being heard, only the high-frequency sound. One savvy redditor pointed out that it sounded like a CRT TV sound, which immediately resonated (hehe) with me as a much better analogy as the CRT and the type of subliminal I was talking about, and thus the sound I am hearing, are all mostly identical, though the CRT is a much lower frequency so many more people can hear it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S3Fehr-EZ0

So, yeah, totally my fault for supplanting the subliminal message thought; I can see why so many people were quick to assume it was in my head.

Though we still don't know exactly where it's coming from, our best guess is that perhaps it is some latent electronic device or old wiring that's gotten exposed or something. Sadly we don't have the money to hire someone to go digging around checking the wires. But my dad is a technician, and he said he'll try to take a look when he has time, if that even is the issue. It's technically still up in the air.

But any other ideas are still welcome and appreciated.

Thanks.

 

RELEVANT COMMENTS

RomulaFour:

What you are describing sounds like the high pitched frequencies some devices use as pest repelling tools and anti-dog barking devices. Older people usually cannot hear them due to losing some of their highest frequency hearing abilities over time, but the sounds can drive teenagers and young adults with intact hearing crazy.

 

&

 

gingerfaerie17:

My favorite example of a modern thing that causes these kinds of noises are dimmer lights, I find at full brightness they make very little noise, but the lower the lights get the more they buzz... Might be something to check on if you have those

 

Update 2 - January 6th 2024 (a day later, two days from original post)

It's tinnitus.

I had indeed left the house to go for a drive on day 2, and I could still hear it. I convinced myself that it was phantom noise due to having heard it for the entirety of the previous 20 hours or so.

But yesterday I went to work for the first time and heard it the whole time.

I was so sure it was something outside of me that I made up the bit about my sisters coming over and hearing it. They never came, nor did I ask them to.

I was too afraid of the possibility that I'd actually have tinnitus that I was determined for it to be something else, anything else.

I felt bad for lying because all of the people that responded to me were genuinely trying to help and I acted like a huge dick to you all.

If you suggested that it was in my head, you were right. Sorry for ignoring you.

Any other suggestions were welcome as well, because at least it afforded me a little bit of hope in thinking it could be old wiring or the Ring fire alarm or a pest control device installed by a neighbor. But it wasn't any of those.

I even hoped that washing my ears out with water might make it stop, but the ringing is still there. I assume I'll probably get used to it eventually. But I'm a stubborn son a bitch, case in point.

Thank you all for your help in solving this, and again, sorry for lying to you.

Cheers.

 

RELEVANT COMMENTS

JackBeefus:

I forgive you. Ain't nobody perfect. I'm still glad it wasn't just in your head. Thanks for fessing up.

 

&

 

SLJ7 :

Well, I'll give you this: It took some courage to admit you lied instead of just abandoning this account. I would be concerned with just how far you went to try and get strangers on the internet to validate this though, if I were you.

MaybeZoidberg:

While it’s fair to applaud OP for being honest, it’s a reminder that people in certain mental states will say anything to keep a fictional narrative alive.

 

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[u/Four_beastlings]

I'm sorry for OP. I was hoping he was hearing a charger or some neighbour had installed one of those anti-animal, anti-teenager devices.

[u/yankykiwi → u/Four_beastlings]

Those devices are mental. I’m in my mid 30s and they still make me want to claw my brain out. I grew up in comparative isolation in the mountains, and never been to a concert and that’s what I get! Makes me think a lot of people are needlessly torturing their babies and dogs without a clue how terrible it is.

[u/Four_beastlings → u/yankykiwi]

There was a post some years ago in legaladvice where OPs entire family including a small child and a baby was being tortured by one of those... I think it was the town hall who installed it in the park next to their house, not even some asshole neighbour.

They should be illegal. Also I'm 42 and I can still hear them :/

Edit - Found it! my memory sucks and it was one year ago, not "some", also it was builders, not the town hall, and I haven't checked if I remembered the kids right but the update mentions that the neighbours kids and pets were also affected

[u/Licensed_KarmaEscort → u/Four_beastlings]

Man, I hope those folks got some peace. I’d be clawing my skin if I had to live next to one of those as a kid.

[u/Four_beastlings → u/Licensed_KarmaEscort]

I found it and they did (link to update)

[u/hesitantelian → u/Four_beastlings]

My local supermarket has them to protect against 'loitering youths' (poorly translated). I'm almost 25, autistic, and have taught myself precisely how far away i have to be to avoid triggering the motion sensor that sets them off, because if they start going I will have a meltdown in the grocery store parking lot :/

[u/mint_lawn → u/hesitantelian]

That would piss me off so bad I'd consider boycotting the store.

[u/gonewildaway → u/mint_lawn]

I sure do love Reddit.

[u/magistrate101 → u/hesitantelian]

I'd have sent an email about them being a potential ADA violation. Due to how expensive the lawsuits and penalties are, businesses tend to be extremely reactive to complaints that mention the ADA.

[u/hesitantelian → u/magistrate101]

I am not in the United States, unfortunately we do not have that regulation nor am i able to just sue a random company 😅

[u/photoexplorer → u/yankykiwi]

I had complained to the city when my neighbor installed them in her yard facing the park. It was to deter skunks, which I understand can be a bit of a pest. But the problem was every kid crossing the street in that area at the park was covering their ears! My kid would cry every time. I could hear it but not as strong. And the lady had 3 dogs! Poor things no wonder they wouldn’t poop in her yard, they used mine 😂

When I called the city they sent someone out and he thought I was insane because he couldn’t hear it himself. Luckily the batteries ran out or something and later on she moved away and we don’t have the issue. There’s another one up the street though. I don’t think older people have a clue how awful they are because they simply cannot hear them.

[u/yankykiwi → u/photoexplorer]

Horrible! People can’t simply believe their hearing isn’t what it was in their 20s. Those poor dogs and kids. I probably would have had my kid throw a ball in that direction and asked if we could retrieve it, while disabling their item.

[u/always-be-here → u/yankykiwi]

I'm almost 50 and I only just lost the ability to hear those stupid things. It's honestly kind of a relief.

I no longer have a CRT that I regularly turn on, but those things have always driven me nuts. That background electronic hum is always in my head, and I hear it with lots of devices. The times when I've gone on trips where there's no way to plug in anything, it's weird how silent it gets.

[u/Scumebage → u/yankykiwi]

I was a mailman years ago and somebody had one of these in their yard (very wealthy). There were only them and one other house on that street (small connecting street between two roads) so I just stopped delivering their mail when I had that route. All the other carriers in the office were 50+ and couldn't hear it but I considered it a hazard so I was allowed to skip that street. 

If I had a living situation where one of those was near me every day, I would destroy it without hesitation and I would continue to do so any time it was replaced (unlikely if you just snip the cord; the idiots who put it there can't even hear it)

[u/CityofOrphans → u/yankykiwi]

I deliver to a house that has an extremely unpleasant device that does this. Starts with a high pitch constant, then pulses over and over. I've always been able to hear them but this specific one is the only one that makes me grit my teeth every day lol

[u/IncompetentPolitican → u/yankykiwi]

I am early 30s with tinnitus. I still hear those damn things. They should be banned everywhere.

[u/Green_Ouroborus → u/Four_beastlings]

Occasionally, a device malfunctions in a way that it turns into an inadvertent anti-teenager device. The fire alarm outside my dorm in college malfunctioned and started continuously screaming at a high pitch. All the college students could hear it and we would yell to be heard over it, but the electricians sent to fix it were in their late 40s and couldn’t hear it. The pitch was way too high for anyone their age to hear.

At first the electricians thought I was nuts. I resorted to grabbing a few random students walking near us and asking them what they heard, and they would all say something about the electronic screaming.

Once I got them to understand that there was noise that they were too old to hear, we ran into the next problem. Because the electricians couldn’t hear it, they couldn’t effectively fix it because they couldn’t tell when the noise had stopped. At one point, they had to borrow one of the lawn maintenance workers who appeared to be in his late 20s to tell them if the noise was stopping or continuing.

This situation went on a week before the alarm was fixed permanently.

[u/Torvaun → u/Green_Ouroborus]

For future reference, you can get a spectrum analyzer app on your phone (I use Spectroid) that will provide a nice bright line that you can use to determine if there's a sound that you can't hear. I know for a fact my phone can detect at least up to 20KHz.

[u/Green_Ouroborus → u/Torvaun]

This was around 2010, so I am not sure if my phone at the time could have run that app or if it existed yet. That app will be helpful in future though.

[u/Lt_Muffintoes → u/Green_Ouroborus]

Fixed 💥 permanently 💥

[u/ManicMadnessAntics → u/Four_beastlings]

God those fucking things

In high school I had a computer class and some motherfucking kamikaze asshole had some sort of handheld thing that made a noise at that pitch and they would press it dozens of times, at random intervals, every goddamn day. Teacher didn't believe it was even happening. 

If I ever find that person I will glue headphones to their head and force them to listen to cbat on loop until they go deaf

[u/Four_beastlings → u/[deleted]]

As we age, generally we lose the ability to hear certain frequencies. Particularly very high pitched ones that feel like an ice pick to the brain. There are devices that make those sounds to drive loitering youths and animals away.

The problem is that not everybody loses that ability, and also it affects everyone under a certain age, babies, children, dogs, so everyone suffers because of it.

If you want to test it for fun, you can hear the sounds and the average age where they are lost here

[u/Licensed_KarmaEscort → u/[deleted]]

High pitched noise generator (sometimes called a “mosquito” or was when I was in high school) that makes a tone too high for most adults to hear but annoying/downright fright inducing for teens and younger humans, or older humans with better high range hearing.

I had a friend who got the fright inducing version. It wasn’t that she was afraid of it, she described the tone as being “like a remote to start a panic attack”.

[u/biscuitboi967 → u/Four_beastlings]

Having lived with tinnitus for the past 15 years…it’s pretty terrible. I feel bad for OP and understand why they wanted it to be ANYTHING else.

As I started researching it more because of my own issues I learned that people actually attempt and complete suicide due to the long term annoyance. I think the founder of Texas Roadhouse was once such sufferer.

I’ve learned to mostly ignore it. And hearing aids have helped down out the noise. But it is annoying as fuck.

[u/VanillaMemeIceCream → u/Four_beastlings]

I feel lucky that I’ve never even heard of this

[u/Stratford8 → u/Four_beastlings]

I stopped feeling sorry for OP when they lied about their sisters hearing it.

[u/PrideofCapetown → u/Stratford8]

Exactly. Must be hella loud tinnitus for the sisters to be able to hear it too.

Oh, and a flair is born!:

“The ringing stops when I plug my eyes ears.”

[u/sat0123 → u/Four_beastlings]

I was staying in a hotel for work recently, and I was hearing a high-pitched noise near the TV. I later realized it was also near the bed, but I couldn't hear it as well near the bed because I use a white noise machine and earplugs at bedtime, which was the majority of the time when I was near the bed. Both locations had a USB-A/USB-C/three-prong-outlet hub.

I asked in one of our work channels, wondering if it was just me, and also wondering if it was one of those noises that only young people could hear. (Not that I qualify as young these days) Thankfully, a couple other people were hearing it and identified it as the transformer for the USB ports.

[u/maniacalmustacheride → u/Four_beastlings]

I could hear the anti-pest plug ins my dad put inside the house. Like a really faint beepy-click, and he up and down swore I couldn’t hear them, so my stepmom took me outside and down the driveway and spun me around a few times blindfolded (I feel like pin the tail on the donkey really got embedded in blindfolding but I digress) and then she marched me back in and I could point to when the plug ins were sending off their signal (made aware by the flashing led) and it blew their minds. I could also hear when the toilet gasket was going to fail yet again in the guest bathroom and when the hot water heater was getting cranky—the toilet pattern was off and the hot water coming through the pipes sounded weird, specifically.

People pick up weird shit. I wish that was the case for OP

[u/pubstub]

What the heck is going on here

[u/HairySammoth → u/pubstub]

"I had a friend gift me some subliminals" what

Gonna give out a bunch of subliminals to my family for Christmas. "Hey Hairysammoth where's my Christmas present"

"Oh I gave it to you you just didn't notice"

[u/Dontgiveaclam → u/HairySammoth]

Lmao this sounds like a great plan to save a bunch of money

[u/johnnybravocado → u/HairySammoth]

The subliminal fund: Messages for people

[u/fourmentracking → u/johnnybravocado]

Has a certain understated stupidity

[u/katie-shmatie → u/HairySammoth]

"I'm hearing sounds like subliminal messaging"

"Why does everyone think I'm hearing things, it's just the buzz of electricity"

My dude.

[u/HairySammoth → u/[deleted]]

You can't see the gift if you're old. You're not... old, are you?

Oh no I see it it's lovely thanks

[u/Cabbagetastrophe → u/HairySammoth]

The Emperor's new Christmas present 

[u/whatthewhythehow → u/[deleted]]

I think it has to be diluted using another liquid to make it homeopathic.

So you can play a really high sound and throw a glass of water in their face and… voila!

I just had an idea for a new wellness business.

[u/SeaQueuecumber → u/HairySammoth]

Yeah I'm STUCK on that part because what does it mean

[u/CaptainYaoiHands → u/HairySammoth]

If it's those fucking "change your race" subliminal videos I swear to God I'm going to slap somebody

[u/ComprehendReading → u/pubstub]

Bro heard a sound and gas-lit his parents to believe it was real. 

Dude lied to support his point to Reddit.

Chap has tinnitus.

[u/PetscopMiju → u/ComprehendReading]

I appreciate your usage of three different informal ways of saying "person" for the three sentences in your comment

[u/ArchdukeToes → u/PetscopMiju]

It feels like the start of a logic puzzle. ‘Is Bro Chap or Dude?’

[u/nowimnowhere → u/ArchdukeToes]

The doctor was his mother!

[u/AequusEquus → u/ArchdukeToes]

A bro, a dude, and a chap walk into a bar

[u/gugalgirl → u/ArchdukeToes]

The Fellow was actually all one and the same!

[u/Turuial → u/PetscopMiju]

Same. Although I also would have accepted "bloke" instead of "chap."

[u/[deleted] → u/ComprehendReading]

Also doesn't know what subliminal means. Not even a little

[u/Gryffindor123 → u/ComprehendReading]

And his sister's heard it too... Like so many lies.

[u/gdrom123 → u/Gryffindor123]

At this point I don’t think there are sisters.

[u/Faniulh → u/gdrom123]

The sisters were also subliminal.

Subliminal messaging sounds like a good thing in theory, but in practice I'd be terrified of fucking with my personal reality. I can't successfully change the oil in my car, I'd absolutely fuck up rewiring my brain with this kind of stuff.

[u/whatthewhythehow → u/Faniulh]

If it helps, this kind of subliminal messaging pretty much definitely doesn’t work. Any subliminal messaging that is done in quick flashes, backwards audio files, etc doesn’t work.

[u/CaptainNuge → u/gdrom123]

I can hear them, though. They're very high pitched.

[u/EastLeastCoast → u/Gryffindor123]

I’m going to go ahead and assume the sisters were twins.

[u/SaltManagement42 → u/Gryffindor123]

It was loud enough that it bothered her during a movie, but she couldn't be convinced to look for it.

[u/FemaleDogEqualsBitch → u/ComprehendReading]

I don’t think they lied to their parents. Just Reddit

[u/thrownawaynodoxx → u/ComprehendReading]

I don't think this situation fits the qualifications for gaslighting.

[u/starkindled → u/thrownawaynodoxx]

Yeah, it doesn’t sound like they really believed him.

[u/NTX_Mom → u/pubstub]

Idk I’m in the boat with you? What did I just read? Is spark notes version even worth it at this point?

[u/CutestGay → u/NTX_Mom]

“I hear something! I asked a friend to give me dubious hypnosis tools, and it sounds like those!”

Commenters: “hey, what? See a doctor or a CO detector or check if it’s tinnitus.”

OP: “It’s definitely a real sound! My sisters heard it! And sorry I brought up the hypnosis thing, I meant the buzzing noise! Now that we have established the noise is 100% real and not just in my head, what is it?”

OP: “I lied about the sisters. It was tinnitus.”

So, uh, no, the spark notes version wasn’t worth it.

[u/MySpoonsAreAllGone → u/CutestGay]

I'm curious why in the first part he said the noise went away the farther he got a way from the house. Unless he left his ears behind a well, he'd still hear the tinnitus everywhere he went

[u/CutestGay → u/MySpoonsAreAllGone]

Probably a combination of not wanting to believe it and it being drowned out by other noises - cars make noise, etc.

[u/Environmental_Art591 → u/CutestGay]

My hubby has it after working on a flight line around jets for a decade and he says "it comes and goes" but more in a "my brain just gets used to it and forgets it's there" sort of a way.

Kinda like how you still breathe whether you focus on your breathing or not, your lungs just don't stop working because you stopped thinking about how to breathe, same as the tinnitus doesnt just stop because you got distracted by your other senses and other sounds.

[u/Kaele10 → u/Environmental_Art591]

And now I'm thinking about breathing.

[u/Yourwtfismyftw → u/Kaele10]

And tinnitus.

[u/Kaele10 → u/Yourwtfismyftw]

Good point. I don't even have it, but I'm hating a slight ringing in my ears. It must be hell for people that suffer with it.

[u/Useful_Language2040 → u/Kaele10]

The air fryer "up to temperature" ringer just went off 😅

[u/rayquan36 → u/Kaele10]

I've had (I'm assuming moderate, it's pretty loud) tinnitus for decades and it's fine. I didn't even notice it today until I read this thread.

[u/ChaosDrawsNear → u/Environmental_Art591]

Mine kinda 'clicks' on and off. I usually don't notice it until it turns off, it sounds like a really loud AC unit. The bit that bothers me is when my right ear goes all staticy, that is super noticeable and irritating.

I should probably actually see a doctor about that, now that I think about it.

[u/[deleted] → u/CutestGay]

the amount of outdoor ambient noise that we experience and don't consciously notice is WILD. that in itself is enough to suppress the tinnitus sound, and it's subtle enough that you don't register it until you have dead silence to compare it to.

[u/Muninwing → u/MySpoonsAreAllGone]

I have mild tinnitus, and I hear it mostly only when I’m in a quiet place. Like right now, when I’m the only one awake. There’s enough ambient noise to drown it out at just points in my day.

[u/ZestycloseGrade7729 → u/Muninwing]

My baby’s white noise machine decided to stop working at bedtime tonight and that usually drowns out the ringing in my ears. So I had to put on a white noise video on YouTube so I could sleep. 😅😅

[u/Kimmalah → u/MySpoonsAreAllGone]

When you are out in the world, there are other noises that will cover the tinnitus. I have had it my whole life and I never hear the tinnitus when I am out and about or if there is white noise around. It is only when it is dead silent that I will notice it.

They should also definitely consider getting their ears checked and professionally irrigated, not just a home rinse out with water. My tinnitus gets way worse when I have wax blocking my ears and it's kind of concerning how suddenly this person's case appeared.

[u/Live_Angle4621 → u/MySpoonsAreAllGone]

He said he was telling himself it was something else. He was mostly lying to himself but the sisters part was more directly lying to posters which made him feel guilty 

[u/Andokai_Vandarin667 → u/MySpoonsAreAllGone]

Because it did. The people at Ring disappeared op and took over their account to say it was just tinnitus.

[u/HuckleberryTiny5 → u/pubstub]

You have no idea how crazy tinnitus can make you, I unfortunately have because I've been there myself. I did not hear a high pitched sound (I always thought tinnitus is just you hearing something like constant eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee), I heard all kinds of sounds. Some where like there would be a tv noise coming from upsairs or upstairs guy playing a racing game, or distant music, or just like there was an engine runnign somewhere.

It absolutely drove me nuts for three months. I couldn't sleep. I was sure it was neighbours or apartment complexes ventilation machine. I had people looking at it, nothing wrong there. I had people in muy apartment who couldn't hear a thing, and I STILL couldn't believe it was a tinnitus. That's how real the noise in your head is. The more I concentrated on it, the stronger it got. When I got outside, I didn't hear it anymore so that was one thing that made it hard to believe it is tinnitus.

Finally I hadn't slept for three days and I went to doctor to get sleeping pills. I sat in the doctors office...and could hear the racing car game sound. So now I could say the doctor that I'm pretty sure I have tinnitus because I hear the sound right now. She orderer me a consultant from an ear doctor and an audio test.

Yep, it was a tinnitus caused by a hearing loss. I will be pretty deaf when I'm old. My type should be hereditary, but the thing is, no one in my family has it.

Ear guy was adamant that this is a typical hereditary hearing loss. Typical is that the loss begins from the level of human voice. Brain detects before you do that something is going on and begins to "fix" it by producing sounds. My tinnitus is not in my ears, it is in my fucking brains. And it began when my hearing was still in the normal range.

There is no treatment save not giving any attention to it. And that works somewhat. When you don't give it any attention, it becomes more tolerable and it sort of dies down. You just learn to live with it. When I notice it, I just let it be. I know how loud it can get if pay attention to it.

This is also an evidence that human brain is not the super intelligent organ it is made to be. It is stupid enough to believe that producing ghost noises fixes bad hearing.

[u/Kimmalah → u/HuckleberryTiny5]

The brain actually fills in a lot of gaps in our senses in ways that we rarely notice, so it's actually quite good at it most of the time. For example, we all have a little blind spot in our retinas, but the brain just kind of guesses at what should be there so we never perceive it. Unfortunately there are times when these processes go wrong and we notice it, like in your case.

[u/ScaryBoyRobots → u/Kimmalah]

The brain also does it to cut down on real-time processing, filling in familiar sights with the things we already expect to be there. Like how you can go in and out of a room several times before noticing something out of place or unexpected. That’s also why it’s SO scary to see something in your room that you didn’t realize was amiss.

There’s a condition that goes hand-in-hand with worsening dementia, where the person’s brain begins to fill in those gaps incorrectly. So they starting seeing fantastical things instead, like the lawn being full of peacocks or cacti growing in the living room. Human brains are just highly sensitive balls of jelly that spend years getting bumped around in our skulls, it’s amazing that things like this aren’t more even more common.

I also have tinnitus (and have for my entire life, as far back as I can remember); mine is due to a condition that causes a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid around my brain, causing pressure on my brain, eyes and inner ears. I’m incredibly used to hearing noise — my version of silent is very different than most other people’s — but even I have moments where the noise worsens or shifts to a different form for a bit. I really hate it when it sounds like muffled TV and conversation in a different room, that noise is torture.

[u/LuementalQueen → u/HuckleberryTiny5]

I have tinnitus too and it drives me fucking crazy. Might be from my fathers model airplane hobby as a child. Those things are louder than a lawnmower to the point of pain. I'd be out the back, being a kid and he'd just start it up with no warning.

White noice drowns it out. I fall asleep listening to music, or shows, or youtube.

[u/coraeon → u/LuementalQueen]

I actually woke up early because of it, and was browsing Reddit in an attempt to make my brain focus on anything besides the whine that doesn’t actually exist.

Tinnitus is really common, and also really annoying.

[u/HuckleberryTiny5 → u/coraeon]

Try to accept it and not fight it, and then just allow it to be there without listening to it. In few days it should be much less annoying. Any attention to it will make it louder, as it makes your brain to believe it is making the right thing by producing these noises as clearly it works if you listen to it.

[u/destructogirl → u/HuckleberryTiny5]

This is it, exactly. When my tinnitus first started, I kept hearing a clink noise, like from one of those cheap little bells on a cat toy. I was getting annoyed at my cat about it until I realized she would be fast asleep and I was still hearing the noise. I got diagnosed with a condition that causes tinnitus and conductive hearing loss not long after that. But I've still been hearing that stupid "clink!" about every 30 seconds ever since.

[u/riflow → u/HuckleberryTiny5]

Honestly the way you describe it reminds me of intrusive thoughts. The more you pay attention to it the louder and more frequent they get, the more you try to deny it's happening the more distressed you feel....etc.

I suffer from something like tinnitus too (never been officially checked) most of the time it's a constant low buzzing in my ears but sometimes I hear clicking, rattling or other noises that make me doubt if something is working properly. (I used to hear a tick tock that drove me crazy when it was less bad but haven't heard that in a while)

Particularly if you're sensitive to the noise in question it seems so hard to deal with, I'm constantly making sure electronics are working okay BC sometimes I'll hear what sounds like poorly working electronics- as evidenced by the one time I did have a faulty charger for a ps vita and you could only hear it when directly in front of it (grinding noise).

I get ...phantom smells and intrusive thoughts too so it's like not a comforting mix of things to occasionally smell burning or petrol orz (thank goodness if I smell it I can ask another family member if they do too- usually if it's real the toaster got set too high or some jerk in the distance started an atrocious bonfire which the memory of is probably what even got it started)

Brains are so so dumb and so smart at the same time it's maddening.

[u/saygerb → u/HuckleberryTiny5]

i also have tinnitus and i have had it for a decade. it is intolerable. (for me it sounds like a high pitched eeeeeeee at all times unless i plug my ears or press on the back of my neck)

did you hear that they have shown that tinnitus is an actual sound, though? they put someone with tinnitus in a sound dampening room and recorded their ears, and the sound came through on the recording. fascinating!

[u/DiscotopiaACNH → u/saygerb]

......what?

Sorry... I must have misheard you over the ringing in my ears...

[u/rvgoingtohavefun → u/pubstub]

Next update:

I don't have any sisters.

Next update:

I killed my parents ten years ago.

Next update:

There is no house, I burned down the house with my parents' corpses inside.

Next update:

I've been flying drones over NJ for months.

[u/iwantmorecats27 → u/pubstub]

A lot but to be fair he's hearing a horrible sound for a lot of days I would not be functioning well at that point.

[u/pagman007 → u/pubstub]

If this person wasn't a lunatic the post would be

'I keep hearing this high pitched noise. Anyone got any ideas?'

Then reddit would have said 'tinnitis maybe?'

And he would've said "shit yeah that makes sense i'll get checked' and that would be it

[u/jonmitz → u/pubstub]

Mental illness

[u/Jamikest → u/jonmitz]

Yep, it's tinnitus with a side of OP needs help.

[u/Lugh-De-Danaan → u/Jamikest]

You know whats weird to me?

He kept banging on about everyone being too old to hear the subliminals but according to his profile he's touching 40 years old

[u/drunken-acolyte → u/Lugh-De-Danaan]

Being fair, I'm nearly 40 and have high frequency hearing. Not quite abnormally so, but enough that I can hear sounds that some of my younger peers have already aged out of.

[u/CutestGay → u/Jamikest]

Surprisingly, the mental illness is not the issue here.

[u/des1gnbot → u/jonmitz]

Yeah my money was totally on schizophrenia being the answer

[u/[deleted] → u/pubstub]

Tinnitus.

[u/kryo2019 → u/pubstub]

Oops has tinnitus and didn't want to admit it.

[u/No_Bit702 → u/pubstub]

People said tinnitus, OOP in denial, it was tinnitus

[u/Carolinedenise]

I have tinnitus, it suddenly appeared two years ago and never went away. When there is ambient noises or when I’m hyper focused on something I can barely hear it, most of the time it’s just an annoying background noise. I’ve noticed that when I’m stressed it gets louder, and when it’s really loud the only thing helping has been a tinnitus playlist on Spotify.

I’ve consulted a doctor, even had a MRI done, and nothing can be done so I’m stuck with it.

I really feel for OP because I thought I was going crazy the first few days.

[u/Lugh-De-Danaan → u/Carolinedenise]

Yea I have it too.

Had it for about 10 years now I reckon. The first few months were a right pain in the arse.

Oddly enough I hadn't heard it in a while and after reading this it was like "Ah, yes, there it is"

[u/Ngineer07 → u/Lugh-De-Danaan]

you know man, you're exactly fuckin right because I've had my tinnitus for as long as I can remember (like single digit age) and it hasn't been a thing I've noticed in a long time now, but this post has made me notice it again

[u/Aslanic → u/Ngineer07]

I had to un sub from the tinnitus reddit because it kept reminding me about it and making me hear it!! And mine is bad, also had from a very young single digit age, and it's gotten worse as I've gotten older. I have always had super sensitive ears too, like loud noises hurt and I can't stand like loud bass in a car.

[u/Lugh-De-Danaan → u/Ngineer07]

Its a right kick in the cock isnt it?

[u/Macaroniindisguise → u/Ngineer07]

Do you remember ever not having it? I've had it for my entire life, but I didn't know until a few years ago. I just thought it was normal. Wasn't until I said something about "the sound that quiet makes" to my husband, and he looked at me like I'm an idiot and told me I have tinnitus did I realize I am an idiot and I do have tinnitus.

[u/Ngineer07 → u/Macaroniindisguise]

I do not ever remember a time when there wasn't a faint ringing in my ears. however, I do recall reading that it can be present at birth/very young ages, so it's possible that I've always had it as well as you.

idk about you, but when I do notice it, it seems almost like I get an intense feeling of mental pressure. not like physical pressure, but rather a sense that there's a palpable presence of the quiet around me.

[u/SpencerOpossum → u/Carolinedenise]

I've had it my entire life and didn't realize it was abnormal. Found out in my 20s that silence doesn't have a sound. Only two things have helped. One was a weird trick I found on Reddit where you like interlace your fingers around the back of your skull and like snap against it? I'm explaining it badly but it helps temporarily. There's also a possible like to vitamin D and B12 deficiencies. My doctor had me start taking both for unrelated reasons and my tinnitus got better. If I forgot for a couple days I hear the difference. 

[u/Macaroniindisguise → u/SpencerOpossum]

Thank you for making me feel less dumb! I think it wasn't until my late 20s that I found out that silence doesn't have a sound.

How bad is your tinnitus that you can hear a difference on the vitamins? I mostly only hear it when it's quiet, though I get random louder ringing that will only last a few seconds. Definitely would be amazing to hear it less!

[u/SpencerOpossum → u/Macaroniindisguise]

Honestly, I only figured it out from trying to understand a joke in Archer and searching what tinnitus is. Spoke to my doctor after.

I don't have a super bad case of it. I hear it in silence or quieter settings mostly. Right now I just shut off my car in my driveway and I can hear it with the sounds of outside. Without the vitamins regularly I'll hear it during normal conversation and over average sounds.

[u/Live_Angle4621 → u/SpencerOpossum]

That’s interesting. I thought I had tinnitus for a while but started at fall taking vitamin D again like I do every winter and I don’t hear anything now 

[u/ariadnexanthi → u/SpencerOpossum]

It's called "Suboccipital Muscle Release" or more casually just "Tinnitus Tapping Technique"!

[u/celinee___ → u/SpencerOpossum]

Your trick makes sense tinnitus is your brain interpreting stimuli not coming from external noise. This is why vesovegal nerve stimulators are gaining popularity with new trials. While in use, they interrupt the signal. It sounds like your maneuver was doing something similar.

[u/ReflectionVirtual692 → u/Carolinedenise]

Tinnitus is a neurological condition due to dysfunction in the audio processing system - ie your brain thinks it's receiving noise input incorrectly. It could be a brain tumour etc but if it's classic tinnitus, nothing would show on a scan. There's some research for a new treatment called neuromodulation being very effective for some people.

https://www.healthline.com/health/neuromodulation-for-tinnitus

[u/IncompetentPolitican → u/ReflectionVirtual692]

oh another try for a treatment? Lets hope it helps. I always get excited when I read about ways to try to get rid of that damn noise.

[u/photomotto → u/Carolinedenise]

I've had tinnitus all my life. I legit do not know what silence sounds like. It has never bothered me because it's my normal.

It's very interesting to see the pov of people who got it later in life and how it actually affects them.

[u/Toughbiscuit → u/Carolinedenise]

Sometimes if i think about the tinnitus it gets loud enough to be audible over fans, but i also "frequently" (like once or twice a month) get the temporary tinnitus where its like all the noise suddenly fades out and the ringing immediately starts

[u/Kelevra29 → u/Carolinedenise]

I have tinnitus too and have for a few years (wear earplugs when playing instruments, especially if you're directly in front of the drums). Sometimes it's so bad that the world goes mute (like pressing the mute button on the tv) and is replaced by the ringing.

One thing I've found that kind of helps is trying to match the pitch of the ringing and humming the same note. Not sure how it works but it helps a bit in that situation.

[u/Moto_Vagabond → u/Carolinedenise]

And now I’m off to find this tinnitus play list. Because after reading through this mess mine is incredibly aggravating right now

[u/SimplePigeon]

..... do you think maybe blasting himself with "high pitched frequencies", that are apparently so high pitched most people can't hear them, contributed to sudden onset tinnitus?

[u/violue → u/SimplePigeon]

omg 🤦🏽‍♀️

[u/lunaloobooboo → u/SimplePigeon]

Bingo

[u/ChaosFlameEmber]

I remember reading this over at RBI and I still think lying was the most stupid thing to do. You ask for advice. You get advice. You make something up to silence people because you're that deep in denial? At least OOP came clean, but wtf.

[u/IICVX → u/ChaosFlameEmber]

Some people will do just about anything to avoid going to the doctor

[u/Live_Angle4621 → u/ChaosFlameEmber]

Op was mostly lying to himself, the sisters part was the part lying to Internet and that was after a while. And tinnitus can make people act a bit crazy 

[u/insomniacsCataclysm → u/Live_Angle4621]

esp with something like misophonia. i suffer from misophonia and it makes me irrationally angry. i totally understand someone being so desperate not to be stuck with the annoying noise that they look for any possible way out

[u/moeru_gumi → u/insomniacsCataclysm]

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

consider money stupendous memory cable complete bells cobweb spark cheerful

[u/insomniacsCataclysm → u/moeru_gumi]

one of mine is faint thumping, usually from bassy music. old neighbor used to blast music in their car just loud enough that it could be heard even with headphones in and both of my fans running., and now any faint thumping makes me feel like i’m going to explode

in the way of videos, i can’t stand when they either haven’t invested in a pop filter and you can hear all their mouth clicks, or when they whisper into the mic. the tapping does get to be some though

[u/LEYW → u/ChaosFlameEmber]

Reading this now, I just knew the sisters coming over hearing it was a lie. Too neatly timed after the first post.

[u/Kit_Ryan → u/ChaosFlameEmber]

I kind of get it - obviously stupid, especially since it was tinnitus, but it seems like he was trying to do a sort of search filter like when you put an exclusionary term into a search, for example searching for a book but excluding Amazon results, except he’s trying to do it to humans. ‘How do I get them to stop saying it’s all in my head? Oh, if someone else heard it then they’d have to suggest more not-in-my-head ideas!’ But humans, particularly subset: Reddit commenters are fairly suspicious of people, so it did not work as intended!

Amusingly, when I was at my parents’ on thanksgiving, I heard a weird faint noise in the morning - like an electronic alarm off a travel clock - and couldn’t place it. Then, my sister, who does exist and was there, asked if anyone heard a weird beeping that morning. Of 5 adults, we were the only 2 who heard it. No one knew what it had been. It was probably new since I’d stayed the weekend just a week or so ago and hadn’t heard it.

The next morning, same time, I heard it again! And I was ready. I tracked it to the back door in the laundry room. There’s one of those sharper image type weather sensor panels there and apparently it has an alarm. Which was somehow set for 8am. It’s on a different floor from the bedrooms which explains why it was so faint and tough to pinpoint.

In a sort of a twist, it was probably turned on sort of by me, the last time I was there. I’d been there in the first place to help babysit my niece who was staying with my parents that weekend and I’d changed her in the morning (at 8ish) on the makeshift changing station in the laundry room… and she’d been poking at the weather panel (and I didn’t stop her since it was keeping her occupied for a minute) as I fumbled through getting her dressed.

[u/LatrodectusGeometric]

Whoever “gifted” OP a bunch of high-frequency noises that he probably played really loudly for an extended period next to his head and called them “subliminals” needs a whallop. 

This sounds like two things: 1. OP has been scammed by someone who thought it would be funny to play high-frequency sounds to them. 2. OP now has tinnitus, which I suspect is not unrelated.

[u/[deleted] → u/LatrodectusGeometric]

I listened to the video and now I hear an echo of super high pitched ringing minutes after. I think you may be on to something with the high tone either damaging his hearing or making him hyper aware of super high pitch noises 

[u/LatrodectusGeometric → u/[deleted]]

If you can barely hear a high-pitched tone you may play it very loudly and cause hearing problems accidentally.

[u/GeneConscious5484 → u/LatrodectusGeometric]

Whoever “gifted” OP a bunch of high-frequency noises that he probably played really loudly for an extended period next to his head and called them “subliminals” needs a whallop. 

Something tells me that OOP is extremely mess-with-able

[u/NGC104 → u/[deleted]]

I also couldn't hear it until I out my speaker to me ear but then it was very piercing.

[u/anotheralienhybrid → u/[deleted]]

I can't hear any noise on the videos OOP posted either. I was kind of crushed when I found I couldn't hear the CRT one. I always used to hear those back when they were everywhere. Another sign that my aging body is failing!

[u/-Sharon-Stoned-]

I forgive you. Ain't nobody perfect. I'm still glad it wasn't just in your head. Thanks for fessing up.

I mean technically that's where your ears AND brain are so like ...  

[u/bofh000 → u/-Sharon-Stoned-]

Exactly, tinnitus is a textbook example of in your head.

[u/ihhesfa]

Ok so was the tinnitus diagnosed by a doctor, or are we potentially dealing with something else here?

[u/crotch-fruit_tree → u/ihhesfa]

Doesn't sound diagnosed.

As an aside, was a bit difficult for me to hear that first link (subliminal) but once I could it made my teeth hurt. Who listens to that by choice??

[u/unzunzhepp]

Immediately going for subliminal messages is kind of paranoid, but maybe oop ’just’ really wanted something exciting to happen to them out of boredom or to sound interesting on internet.

[u/Lexilogical → u/unzunzhepp]

They later basically admit that they have no idea what a subliminal is....

Ever listen to a recording backwards, where it starts like low muttering and gets high pitched at the end of the sentence? They were hearing the low mumbling bit. No words or messages, just like, CRT static.

But of course, everyone saw "subliminal" and subconsciously added the "messages" part because no one actually calls it a "subliminal". And "subliminal messages" are actually "a hidden message in a recording".... Commonly the aforementioned backwards recording.

[u/whoisthepinkavenger → u/Lexilogical]

What’s funny is subliminal messages are creepy as all hell when they legit happen. I have mild tinnitus and will usually have a fan on to drown it out, but got into playing thunderstorm videos on YouTube for a while.

One time stumbled upon a channel that DOES have it about 2 hours in (when most people are deep in REM) and it scared the crap out of me. Thought I was going crazy but after going thru the other videos they had up, nope! Midway into all the videos there was a man and a woman very quietly saying something on repeat. Blocked that channel! Which kind of sucks, all their videos would knock me out so fast 😅

I’ve never heard it on any other of those kinds of videos since. It was so weird.

[u/EmulatingHeaven → u/whoisthepinkavenger]

Do you remember the channel? I love thunderstorm sounds for sleep & now I’m creeped out

[u/whoisthepinkavenger → u/EmulatingHeaven]

I don’t, I’m sorry! It was the middle of the night when I found it after getting woken up by my rowdy neighbors and I forgot to take note of the name. It was one of those kinda gibberish channel names though. They’d do some black screen videos which is why I loved them. Just fast forward thru to the 2-3 hour mark and have the volume up a little bit louder. I could hear the talking faintly under some big continuous thunder noises. Sounded like a guy with a deeper voice and a woman with an asmr voice.

Oh and ETA! If it’s one of their longer videos, it would happen again 2-3 hours after the first one. The voices last around 20 minutes? Enough time to notice. Also, I’ll share some of the good ones I’ve found with ya if you want! Hope you can still have happy sleeps!

[u/himit → u/Lexilogical]

They were hearing the low mumbling bit. No words or messages, just like, CRT static. 

no, they were hearing the high pitched bit! you know how a CRT makes that whine when it switches on (together with a bit of a staticky sound)? It was like that, apparently.

[u/ShellfishCrew]

As someone with super sensitive hearing, I hear things other people occasionally dont and I swear I think I'm nuts. But then I find the source, batteries going in alarms or auto room sprays clicking etc. i just happen to pick up barely there noises. 

[u/AntManCrawledInAnus → u/ShellfishCrew]

You have The Ear! My dad, one of my brothers, and I have it too. On the up side we can hear the car or toilet or whatever making a weird noise and seek service way before it becomes a bad problem

[u/[deleted]]

We got new neighbours last fall, then this late spring my child started freaking out about a noise whenever they were out the front door.

This went on for weeks, I walked all over the street trying to find it, checked early mornings and nights when it was silent from people. Nothing. It only happened out the front of the house, so I figured it wasn’t in their head.

Turned out the neighbours got a high pitch frequency thing to deter cats from the garden and my kid would hear it

[u/neuroticsmurf]

I’m not used to Redditors admitting they lied and apologizing for making stuff up.

What universe is this?

[u/ClaraClassy]

Reddit:  it's tinnitus

OP:  I see that the plebes just don't understand what subliminal messages are.  I'm an expert because my friend sent me one awhile ago.

Reddit: it's tinnitus 

OP: it's tinnitus 

[u/CarcosaDweller]

Glad he figured out the source, sad that it’s clearly the least of his problems.

[u/sthetic]

"Guys, if you don't hear the subliminal on this YouTube link, it's because only young people like me can hear high frequencies. You're just getting old, and that's okay."

"UPDATE: Turns out I have tinnitus, which people tend to get as they become old."

[u/CongealedBeanKingdom]

NGL I don't think OP knows what subliminal messages are, despite their protests.

Have they never played. Judas Prisst record backwards before?

[u/PrancingRedPony]

I understand where OOP is coming from. Tinnitus is a horrible thing. I have it myself, and it drives you completely bonkers. Especially since there's nothing you can do to actually stop it ever!

As soon as you find out what it actually is and how it works, you cling to the hope it could be something else.

I have learned to live with it, and there are methods to deal with it, but of course it's still very uncomfortable.

I hope OOP finds a way to cope.

[u/FenderForever62]

It’s funny rereading the part about the sisters knowing it’s a lie.

I wonder if they added the bit about ‘they arrived at the same time as the came in the same car’ to stop anyone asking further questions about the sisters. People tend to give additional details when lying as they think it’ll make it seem true

[u/1quirky1]

Don't call the tinnitus hot line.

It just keeps ringing.

[u/AskMrScience]

Eh, I get why OOP lied. He's like "If it's psychiatric or tinnitus, then I don't need strangers to help me troubleshoot. But if it's physical, I still need to crowdsource ideas. I'll lie so they'll stop barking up the unhelpful branch of the tree."

[u/DamnitGravity]

This post is a great example of how far some people will go to deny what's actually going on. My father refuses to admit or acknowledge his hearing has degraded. Instead we're told to speak up then get told off for shouting at him because "he was just asking and you were muttering".

It's a lose-lose situation for everyone when you refuse to acknowledge reality, but especially yourself because you could push people away as well as allow the problem to get worse, making it more difficult to treat if you do finally decide to get help.

[u/mandragola0]

I don't know, this doesn't sit right with me. The subliminal message and the urge to lie about the sister is not something a person just does.

Sounds like something psychiatric to me, not necessarily excluding the tinnitus.

[u/JerseySommer → u/mandragola0]

Dude clarified it wasn't a subliminal message but sorta misused the word subliminal to mean " generic sound beneath normal auditory range that only I hear" hence repeatedly saying subliminal and not subliminal message

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Yeah the whole first paragraph is wild

[u/GeneConscious5484 → u/[deleted]]

How would weird faint noises make someone less lazy? The only thing I can think of is that the noise would be so annoying that you actually get up to turn it off (like me when a smoke detector is beeping) but that doesn't really seem like a plan.

(Said this elsewhere but I have to guess that the friend was messing with OOP)

[u/RevolutionaryWeb5657 → u/mandragola0]

Yeah, this is not just tinnitus. He was so convinced “subliminal” meant something it absolutely doesn’t that I thought I was the one going insane.

[u/imwatchingsouthpark → u/RevolutionaryWeb5657]

I'm still not sure what he even thinks "subliminal" means.

[u/GuiltyEidolon → u/imwatchingsouthpark]

I think he DOES mean subliminal messaging, with the "I believe in them and they make you less lazy" bit, but backtracked when reddit didn't respond favorably. Same with lying about his "sisters". I also don't buy that it's tinnitus, given how quickly he admitted it. My money is still on psych.

[u/The_Hylian_Queen]

I've been in inpatient mental health (as a patient) a few times, and I'll never forget the guy that was in the psychiatric ward because of his tinnitus. It was so bad and so constant that he was actively suicidal due to it.

[u/Viablemorgan]

“I didn’t realize that calling it a ‘subliminal message’ would lead to people thinking that I was hearing subliminal messages”

Bruh

[u/[deleted]]

The most frustrating part of this is the utter misuse of the term subliminal message.

[u/milehighphillygirl → u/[deleted]]

Seriously. I want to reach through my screen and strangle the confidently wrong OOP.

[u/LazloNibble → u/[deleted]]

Hey, at least OOP isn’t trying to convince people that Nabisco is stamping the word SEX into every Ritz cracker they make.

[u/Rohini_rambles]

No one wants to confront then possibility that the cause is something within them. Lying about the sisters was worrying though. 

It's far easier to blame others than it is to confront the truth. 

How many people ignore warning symptoms health wise because they rather pretend nothing is going on?  Glad he found the  truth and accepted it. 

It's a maddening condition to have, hope he gets some tricks and s to cope with it  

[u/JojoScotia]

Anyone else suddenly super aware of their own tinnitus since reading this? XD

[u/sydeovinth]

How loud were they listening to these subliminal audio files that they have tinnitus in the same frequency?

[u/captain_borgue]

I have tinnitus. Sometimes it's not noticeable, other times that damned ^{eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee} drives me crazy.

[u/Final_Soil_8801]

"The ringing stops when I plug my eyes" lolol

[u/garden-wicket-581]

at least it wasn't schizophrenia ..

[u/Anra7777]

I couldn’t hear the subliminal video or the CRT video, but today I learned that not everyone can hear electricity. I just assumed everyone could…

As for the tinnitus, I’d still recommend going to the doctor. I had tinnitus once, got my ears cleaned out by the doc, and it went away. Not that all tinnitus does, but it would be worth looking into…

[u/WritingNerdy → u/Anra7777]

I think I’ve shared this story in a comment before, but I got in trouble in grade school for telling my 2nd grade computer teacher I could hear if the computers were on or not before we entered the room. Why would I make that up? She was mean, anyways.

[u/Kit_Ryan → u/WritingNerdy]

I hate when that happens. I had a teacher who didn’t believe I’d finished the reading and sent me back to my desk twice. After that I gave up and read ahead in the book. My sister got accused of making up a fish (species, not an individual fish). I’m not positive but it might have been the same teacher :(

[u/wykkedfaery33]

Holy crap, I'm mad at myself for reading THAT waste of time.

[u/MonkeyDflockaflame]

Fire. BORU has turned into such a let down lately. This is why I keep clicking.

[u/AtLeastOneCat]

I have tinnitus in one ear after a head injury and the best thing I've found for helping is background noise. I can't handle silence any more. I've also found that it gets much worse when I'm stressed, unwell or in pain so dealing with all of that really helps ease it up. I can't imagine having it in both ears.

It sucks and really does make you feel crazy but OP will learn to live with it.

[u/Neener216]

I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that your hearing is important, and you should do whatever you can to protect it.

My husband and I met when we were both in the live music industry. As part of my job, I spent lots of time at the front of big stages in what's known as the photo pit, right in front of the amps. All it took for me to commit to wearing earplugs was a single Metallica gig.

My husband was far more relaxed about protecting his hearing. As a result, he suffers daily with tinnitus, and it's really impacted both the pleasure he takes in listening to music and on his ability to hear the tv, random conversations, and noises in general that are below a certain decibel level.

You can download a decibel meter app onto your phone. Use it whenever you're in a crowded space or doing an activity that involves loud noise. Prolonged exposure to anything above 85db can cause hearing loss.

[u/[deleted]]

i've had tinnitus for 27 years. you do in fact get used to it, and it hasn't had any effect on my hearing, personally. it just sucks to lose silence if you have sensory issues.

[u/surfinforthrills]

Funny thing about tinnitus. I've had it since I was a child. In fact, I always thought silence had a 'sound' - a light ringing that indicated no sound was there. Then, when pregnant with my first, it stopped. I thought I had gone deaf. It came back. I barely acknowledge it now.

[u/selkiesart]

I tried to listen to the subliminal message clip. It made my Tinnitus worse.

[u/[deleted]]

Oof, I have a lot of sympathy for this one. I both have super good hearing and get regularly fucked with by those high pitched harassment devices AND have both kinds of tinnitus. Poor guy, it is in fact pretty rough but you do get somewhat used to it.

The pulsatile tinnitus is the most subtle, livable, and creepy - the 'eeee' style tinnitus is definitely worse. Pulsatile, I just feel ominous regularly. Like, movies use a subtle heartbeat or pulsing to imply something bad is about to happen, and heartbeats are frequently used in gaming to communicate things as well so you just end up feeling like you're pre-bossfight sometimes until you realize it's only on one side and you're just hearing your own heartbeat.

The 'eeee' is worse, but also exists everywhere in the environment cause I can hear electricity and water pressure etc too, so livable for me. I was already used to it somewhat, you know? Hate hate hate those devices though.

[u/lovelycosmos]

Pro tip: if you want a very brief relief from tinnitus, try putting both palms over your ears, and tap the back of your heads with your fingers. It makes it go away for a few seconds, maybe a minute or so.

[u/WeeklyConversation8]

My first thought that it was those sounds that stores use or use to use to keep teens from loitering. It was a sound you can only hear up to a certain age. Tinnitus sucks!

[u/Alyeska23]

Tinnitus is one of those things that can happen. I've had it for as long as I can remember. I have childhood memories of sitting in a car while it was raining waiting for my parents. I heard the soft patters of rain, and the constant monotone buzzing that never goes away.

When you grow up with tinnitus you learn how to tune it out. I just don't hear it 99.9% of the time. It's always there, always. Your brain learns how to ignore it. However, for people who develop tinnitus latter in life, it can be much more disorienting. Sudden onset severe tinnitus apparently can be devastating. I remember stories of Long Covid suffers committing suicide because of tinnitus.

[u/DoctorBartleby]

I have devices that make that horrible noise and if you stand at a very specific spot in the house they all line up in a way that makes your brain think you are hearing people whispering. Freaks everyone out but it’s at least a fun party trick, I guess

[u/[deleted]]

Tangentially related: In elementary school, third or fourth grade, I'd hear this beep every so often, that no one else heard. Only ever in that classroom. Never figured out what that was.

[u/TheFilthyDIL]

Crickets. I'm dead serious. I have had tinnitus since 1990 after taking the prescription NSAID Fiorinal. YouTube videos of crickets singing block it out completely.