Problem: I’m being driven mad by voices speaking to me thru white noise. Need white noise to sleep
Psychiatrist today suggested:
- normal human speech has typical rhythm, cadence
- fans, white noise audio files are always looped, rhythms in it
- brain is hearing those patterns as human voices
- I need to introduce staggered rhythms to disrupt
Possibilities:
- Willie Nelson, William Shatner speak with atypical cadence. Play at same time as white noise
- phone app that vibrates atypically
- machine in room that generates atypical rhythms, vibrations
Options, ideas? I’d like not to go further insane
Idk about staggered cadence, as that kinda sounds like overengineering a solution to me. But when I’m having trouble sleeping because of thoughts racing in my head (AuDHD, common problem for me), any audio with human speech is pretty good at disrupting that. My go-to is softly spoken ASMR videos, but I’ve also fallen asleep watching chill cartoons like Futurama and 90s Batman. I’ve also had it work with audiobooks but this is suboptimal because then I lose my place.
My theory is that it works because my thoughts are like a voice in my head being spoken by my internal dialogue, and it’s hard to hear two people talking over eachother. So introducing another voice occupies the language-processing part of my brain and therefore blocks my ruminating thoughts.
So far, new ideas are Buddhist podcasts, asmr videos, futurama and 90s batman. None of which I’d consider on my own. Thank you, internet, for randomly specific variety!
Dunno about staggered cadence but when I’ve been hearing voices I’ve found listening to very boring Buddhist dharma talks on podcast to help. They block out the voices and the dull, drone of the bikkhu lulls me to sleep.
Worth a try?
There is an app https://github.com/trynoice (F-droid, Playstore, on the web) that
‘Noice is an app that allows you to create personalised sound environments. It enables you to combine different sounds at different volume levels to create perfect ambient atmospheres. These custom sound surroundings let you drown out distractions and allow you to concentrate. You can also use it to generate a serene, peaceful aura that encourages you to relax and fall asleep.’
As well as nature sounds there are things like ‘conversation’ and ‘coffeeshop’. You might try that
I use TMSoft’s White Noise which runs on most platforms, or stream. It has plain white noise, yes, but it also has a wide range of other sounds that you can use (brown noise, railroad, city street, stream, etc). You can also upload your own sound, get sounds/mixes from other users, or make your own mix.
My personal mix has a mild background of pink noise, with both a thunderstorm and some rain mixed in: the pink noise filters out common background, the rain helps with masking as well, and the thunder helps me sleep through bass sounds like lawn mowers and trucks.
Do you find the sound of rain and distant thunder relaxing? If so there are plenty of recordings on YouTube and YT music that are hours long and not loops. Search for keywords with “rain forest”.
