Tag Archives: abuse

Unabated Breath

Posted in About Me, Depression, HSP, Introversion by

A cartoon of lungs, with the words "sometmes it's OK if the only thing you did today was breathe."This cartoon by Yumi Sakugawa caught my attention for two reasons. First, it affirms my introvert/HSP/recovering depressive need for downtime.

But the second reason is something I’ve been wrestling with for several weeks now. I’ve become aware that a lot of my abdominal muscles live in a constant state of contraction. This is so automatic that I’m utterly unconscious of it most of the time. Even when I turn my attention to those muscles, it’s hard to figure out how to relax them. And the minute I start thinking about something else, they revert to their habitual contraction again.

The contracting is complex. There are at least three different areas involved, and if I try to relax them in the wrong order, the first group contracts again when I relax the second.

One set of muscles is around my waistline, and sucks my abdomen in under my diaphragm. You know, into the space where air is supposed to go when you breathe deeply? I have often noticed that I had trouble taking deep breaths during exercise or yoga. Now I realize it was because I was fighting against the inflexible girdle of my own muscles. What impact has constant under-oxygenation for all those decades had on my physical and mental health?? Continue reading →

It’s only a couple of hours

Posted in HSP by

My noise-sensitive readers will have heard this before, probably many times. It never fails to enrage me. As if it’s perfectly OK to render the homes or workplaces of other people unusable, and rearrange their plans around yours without their consent for any length of time! Those are MY couple of hours, and I choose what I want to do with them!

19th century line drawing of a man with a pained expression covering his earsIT IS NOT OK TO INFLICT INTRUSIVE NOISE ON OTHER PEOPLE. IT IS DISRESPECTFUL, PRESUMPTUOUS AND ABUSIVE.

STOP IT!!!

Many people have filters where they can selectively ignore unwanted noise, though even they feel tired after spending hours with persistent background noise. Ignoring takes energy, whether you are conscious of it or not.

For those of us without filters, the experience – and the impact – of unwanted noise is exponentially more intense. And it escalates.

It’s like this: A man with a rubber mallet is standing next to me. He is slowly, rhythmically hitting me on the head with it. With each strike he hits harder.

Or it’s like this: A predatory animal has reached into my skull and captured my brain in its vicious claws. My brain twists this way and that, trying to free my attention for my own use, but it can’t escape.

Noise pollution adversely affects the lives of millions of people. Studies have shown that there are direct links between noise and health. Problems related to noise include stress related illnesses, high blood pressure, speech interference, hearing loss, sleep disruption, and lost productivity.

Environmental Protection Agency

CAUTIONARY TALE

Read James Thurber’s The Whip-poor-will, and if someone in your sphere is complaining about noise you are inflicting on them, listen – before it’s too late.