Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)
I'm wondering if anyone here also suffers from APD? For those who don't know what it is, it is to do with your hearing. Your brain and your ears don't work together properly to distinguish sounds so people can find it hard to follow conversations or hear when there is background noise.
I've suffered from this all my life but was only diagnosed with it last year. It's the main cause of my social anxiety and why I've developed a phobia of speaking to people on the telephone. I've made a fool of myself so many times on the phone and in front of people because I misheard them or had to pretend that I heard them but later got caught out. I can't go out to clubs or loud places or with groups because when there are too many sounds or voices that everything becomes muddled.
Unfortunately there's no cure for APD, there are small training exercises but they don't seem to be working for me. It seems to be getting worse. There's not a lot of information about this on the internet and it's hardly known about here in the UK and I don't know anybody else who has this condition. Its so sad to think that I might never overcome my social anxiety because of my APD.
Hey @Peepsqueak , welcome on 7cups!
We are so happy that you joined our community <3
I'm sorry you are dealing with an auditory processing disorder, this one makes social interactions hard because it affects understanding and memory. we are easilly overwhelmed by all noises around. have trouble to filter those we need to focus on, and those more in background. and all those cause much stress and anxiety.
I have something similar, but which affects all the senses, so I can relate. On 7cups we can remove the sounds, which is helpful. For remove the sounds, you can go in any 1-on-1 conversation, there is a button for removing the sounds.
While I don't have APD, my brother does, so I often see how it affects him. LIke you, he has often had to pretend to understand someone after asking them to repeat what they said and still not comprehending.
I'm not sure if these books are available anymore, but "When the Brain Can't Hear" by Teri James Bellis, PH.D., and "Like Sound Through Water" by Karen J. Foli might be helpful if getting more information about APD or hearing someone else's story is something you're interested in.
Although I myself don't have it, I send all my heart to you. *hugs*
@Peepsqueak
I heard of something here in the states called hearing neuropathy that sounds like what you have. But it's just being explored and most audiologists haven't heard of it. They tried to test me for it and said I probably don't have it. But I have hearing aids and still a LOT of trouble understanding speech and am hoping in the future the scientists can sort out why I'm experiencing so much difficulty. In the meantime, I just press on and do my best.
@peepsqueak I have the same thing! I've never met anyone with it- if you want to talk about it my inbox is always open- same goes to anyone else