I know some folks find wind chimes annoying, but a fear of them?

From the paper today,
[B][I]Dear Annie: I have extremely good ears and suspect I suffer from hyperacusis, where I have difficulty tolerating everyday sounds.
I have a phonophobic reaction to many noises, but my greatest fear is wind chimes. I have panic attacks just seeing a wind chime. I can hear them even when I'm indoors. If one of my neighbors should get a wind chime, is there a way I can make them take it down?

My fear is forcing me to stay indoors and avoid roads where I know wind chimes are present. I also cannot go to certain drugstores because they sell them at the door. Am I the only one who complains about this? It seems nobody understands what I'm terrified of.

 

I can fully understand the fear suffered by the author of the letter.

It is a reason I have difficulty wearing hearing aids even though i am 75% deaf. While wearing hearing aids the magnification and deviation from my norm of sounds is very disconcerting.

Although i do not profess to the degree of phonophobia as the author does, i can relate and sympathize.

Read this for a better explanation of phonophobia.

Misophonia and phonophobia can be defined as abnormally strong reactions of the autonomic and limbic systems resulting from enhanced connections between the auditory and limbic systems. Importantly, misophonia and phonophobia do not involve a significant activation of the auditory system. At the behavioral level, patients have negative attitude to sound (misophonia), or are afraid of sound (phonophobia). In cases of misophonia and phonophobia, the strength of the patient

 

Lainey, you know I love windchimes. I always enjoy seeing them and giving them a push, especially when Jerry's with me.

I did have an ear problem for a while where certain frequencies would resonate in one ear and really drive me crazy. It was in tune with my daughter's or son's yelling, as I recall. It was one reason I went back to a chiropractor. He fixed it or it was coincidentally gone after a couple neck adjustments.

 

I love them too, but the quiet tinkling sounds are my favorite. I had one that was too noisy once. It was more like a ship's bell. I got up in the middle of the night during a rainstorm and took it down. It was keeping me awake.

 

^I have one like that. The previous owners left it behind. When we get the Santa Ana winds, it make quite a racket so I take it down.

 

I love them and never take them down. I have found that when the wind is strong enough that the wooden center blows out and over the hand rail close by, there by shutting them off.


Or maybe it is my neighbor....

 

I have no problem with mine and haven't for years. I like the sound and the only time I had a problem was when the wooden piece that rings the chimes was hitting our porch post. I moved it.

 

We have a cathedral wind chimes hanging under our deck. The longest one is about 3 foot long and the shortest is about 1 1/2 foot long. We've had them for the better part of 25 years. They started up in Woodstock and came with us when we moved to New Jersey. We love them. We never take them down.

The woman who wrote the letter above probably needs a psychiatrist more than anything else.

 

^^ I too love windchimes and the peaceful sound they make lull me to sleep at night. I keep a lovely chime out on the patio below my bedroom window and adore the sound it makes. I'm not crazy about those bell chimes that some people have, but remember when I did a silent retreat at a Cistercian Monastery the sound of the cowbells was pleasant at night.

 

Vintage "Windchime Thread"...