Stressful Listening

Someone slams the door - I jump, startled.

I'm at a party or with a group and the hum of people talking grows louder and louder. It gets uncomfortable - I might leave.

After a lengthy conversation I learn someone has been telling me about their garden, while I've been discussing bargains.

Everyone is listening to someone tell a joke, suddenty everyone bursts into laughter except me. I didn't hear the punch line.

I'm introduced to a pipe-smoking stranger or a person with a mustache - my heart sinks at the thought that I might not understand him or be able to read his lips.

I think I heard my name and someone saying something to me, but I was concentrating on something else and may not know where the sound was coming from. Then the speaker shouts the request again, irritated that I haven't responded, causing me to feel startled and embarrassed.

Yes - I wish people would understand how I feel. I wish someone would clue me in to the topic of conversation, especially when I go on about something unrelated! I wish someone would repeat or tell me the punch line, avoid slamming the door, remove the pipe from his mouth, get my attention before speaking. I want to be involved in the life around me but sometimes the failures are too many so I decide to stop trying. Communication becomes exhausting and "more trouble than it's worth", "not worth the effort", "too embarrassing", or "too dangerous a situation to not hear well".