costello: I was actually able to ignore these types of things better when I was in a busy house. There was always so much drama going on, there would be no reason to dwell on a random noise here & there for more than about 5 minutes before trying to find some other type of distraction. But that article is really interesting, especially since this is also my first time living in a big city. I remember one time I thought I heard the noise from "the Grudge" directly in my ear... Turns out it was someone mowing the grass 17 stories down. Kind of weirds me out how the acoustics allowed me to misperceive something from so far away as being right next to me! Ugh.

tsunami & anika: Thank you so much. I'm not glad either of you have to go through this either, but I'm definitely comforted by not being alone. I was just the only person I knew of that had really severe problems with communicating that it was starting to make me paranoid that a lot more was wrong with me than I thought... I stutter sometimes too, but usually I just get really frustrated. A lot of my "therapy" right now is trying to sort out what goes on in my head with my boyfriend. He's really the only person I've been honest with, so a big issue has been trying to convey my thoughts. But like you, Tsumani, I tend to just get wide eyed & go quiet because the stress of trying to form a sentence or remember anything properly is too much.

Thank you all so ridiculously much. This means a lot.