The suggestion to block threads has been very helpful to me. I used to have a particular forum blocked, but then i unblocked it, and now i have been getting upset / triggered by some of the threads without really consciously realizing it.

So yesterday / today has been much better without those "pings"! Nothing that would bother a "normal" person, but i did once yell at a cube mate for breathing, so... Probably more than one cube mate, now that i think about it.

So thanks for the thoughtful discussions and hints.