self soothing

Self-Sooth

Was reading up on self-soothing, since I am lousy at it.
Well, lo and behold this site says it's often about the senses.
And that's precisely my problem - my senses of smell and hearing especially are being offended upon massively and frequently, and there's generally no escape.
No wonder I'd rather be dead.

Hi h3rmit ,

I can definitely relate to this. I attempt to practice a lot of self-soothing but find that certain sense stimuli actually make it worse!! (Especially hearing) I try to avoid these and focus on the others. I focus on the sense of touch -- soft blankets, comfy clothes, the feel of a fruit, the feel of the fresh grass, the soft fur of a kitten or plushy. I focus on visual self-soothing, photographs of happy nostalgic memories, the sunset...drive to a nature spot and take it all in visually, the landscape, the trees, the leaves moving in the wind, the wildflowers etc.

But I can definitely relate to what you're saying...there's no escape from the senses that seem to be offended constantly...I think maybe at some point I can learn to soothe via those senses as well so I can correlate good experiences with them...but one step at a time.

Self-soothing gets easier, in my experience, the more you do it. But it's hard, I understand.

Thanks so much for your caring response, strat (if I may shorten that - since that's what Stratocasters are usually called). Your comment made a big difference to me.

Today I wore my earplugs AND a construction type noise-reduction earmuffs on my lengthy commute. I heard a little crap, but no actual conversations or distinctive voices. What a relief. I habitually just use earplugs, but I'll be wearing those earmuffs every day, and my husband will have to get a new pair for himself.