Our senses are tied to our memories in very big ways. So much so that when we hear certain sounds it can bring back a flood of emotions. A truly visceral reaction is elicited when the sound hits out ears.
Sometimes we have associated that sound with a bad memory, a stressful event, a troubling time in our lives, or it was just plain annoying to hear. Some have found that they're not alone in their dreadful sound associations.
Redditor cigarandcreamsoda wanted to know:
"What sound automatically fills you with horror and dread?"
Here's a few of those anxiety inducing noises. Even reading some of these caused an involuntary shudder!
Knock knock.
"Sudden loud knocking on the door."
- dionesav
"One of the delivery guys at the restaurant I work for is famous for the 'cop knock' - it scares the living bejeezus out of me every time."
"What's worse is the time he did that and then leaned in to stare creepily in the front window at me."
"For me its literally any knocking on my door whatsoever. I'm a 30 year old with kids but my *ss will still get incredibly silent and sneak over to the window to get a peak at whose at my door before I even THINK about opening it or announcing my presence. Most of the time if I don't recognize the person I will just pretend I'm not home."
Work stress.
"Microsoft Teams incoming call tone."
"This traumatizes me just thinking about it."
"The message tone or Outlook's email/event notification will do the same thing. When I hear it, I shudder."
"It probably says more about the job I walked out of with acute stress in February, but the sound of it genuinely makes my stomach turn."
A sound from deep within.
"I am a very adventurous eater. If it is edible or I think its edible I will take a bite. More than one time I have nearly bitten into candles. While this leads to many good experiences I am somewhat well known for getting food poisoning. I ate something I shouldn't have like gas station sushi.
"So, there is a very specific sound your insides make when things are going to sh!t. There is the deep cavernous bellow, but it comes from lower on your torso, almost near your pelvis. It's like the growl of some ancient beast. Slow, deep, rumbling, and it usually leads to cold sweat dripping down my neck. I know I need to find a bathroom or a somewhat sturdy garbage can ASAP."
Relatable.
"My alarm."
Some sound advice.
"An advice. Never keep your favorite music or sound as your alarm. It will make you hate that song."
"Unless the opening melody is soft and smooth and not that which just starts booming."
"Even better: when I was a kid I was gifted an alarm clock that could play different sounds like waterfall or ocean to help you sleep, and you could pick different sounds to wake you up. Well, I picked bird sounds for the alarm and even though I haven't had that alarm clock for years EVERY TIME I hear a bird when I'm sleeping I wake up. Every time. For the rest of my life. Birds. Wake. Me. Up."
Introverts' worst nightmare.
"'Let's go around and introduce ourselves.'"
"'Tell everyone one interesting fact about yourself.'"
Do people use these anymore?
"The landline phone ringing cause it meant a ton of anxiety."
"Every time that thing rings I always expect a family member to be dead, because only my uncles use it and it's to either tell us a funeral date or to catch up with us."
A cringeworthy sound for artists.
"A Pencil with an unusable eraser's metal parts scratching against paper."
- hresniuy
"As an artist... I heard this comment... ugh."
The connection to these sounds can really ruin your day. Thankfully, we can commiserate with one another as we all collectively cringe, even at the thought.
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