Understanding Sound Sensitivity with Dr Emma O’Byrne
As a psychologist who works with neurodivergent people, and as a sensory sensitive person, I feel passionately about the benefits of intentional noise reduction and management using earplugs. Whether the below information relates to you, or perhaps someone you love, understanding sound sensitivity and how to manage it is important for less stress, more ease and better focus. Recent research shows that although sound sensitivity affects those with ADHD or autistic people more than neurotypical counterparts, the benefits of managing sound input is often experienced by all.
Modern life places increasing demands on our senses.
We live in a world that demands our attention and overwhelms our senses from morning to night. The impact of this on our attention, nervous and sensory systems can vary from person to person, and day to day. Our ability to filter sensory stimulation effectively i.e. direct attention to what is important and ignore the rest, is an important part of how we stay calm and achieve day to day goals. Without this filtering system life would be extremely difficult and too overwhelming to comprehend. Despite this system working quite well to manage our sensory input subconsciously, we also have conscious control over our sensory input. Closing our eyes for a moment in a busy park, or on a packed train can provide a moment of relief for our visual system. Using noise cancellation headphones or earplugs in a busy restaurant or walking through a noisy city or shopping centre can give relief to our auditory system. Stepping out of a room with an overwhelming smell. We have the power to turn some of the volume down on the stimulation around us and for many people this is an essential part of fully and happily engaging in day to day life.
How does sound sensitivity affect everyday life for the neurodivergent or sensory sensitive community.
For many people, sound is simply part of the background of everyday life. But for others—especially neurodivergent people such as those with ADHD and autistic people—sound can feel impossible to ignore and contributes to everyday feelings of stress, overwhelm and irritation.
A busy café, an open office, traffic outside the window, several conversations happening at once, someone eating soup at the table beside you, or even the low hum of appliances can become exhausting to process. Sound sensitivity is often misunderstood as being “too sensitive” or simply a dislike of noise. Some people may even feel like it’s a universal experience and those who express distress towards noise need to “get over it.” In reality, it is a neurological difference related to how the brain receives, filters and responds to auditory information.
Sensitivity to sound is not static, and the intensity can depend on our state of psychological and physiological stress. If we are feeling tired, hungry or overwhelmed by demands in our life, processing the sound of everyday environments can feel more stressful and lead to overloading the nervous system. This feeling of having our senses, especially sound, overwhelmed can lead to stress, fatigue, irritability, difficulty concentrating, or the feeling of wanting to withdraw from the source of stress e.g. a loud restaurant, a room with a ticking clock, a busy work office.
For those who are neurodivergent, learning to manage sensory input depending on their needs and feelings is an important skill to a more regulated nervous system and focused day. When I work with newly identified autistic or ADHD individuals with sound sensitivities the goal is for them to become aware and attuned to their own sensory needs and respond to those by reducing sensory load as required. The needs of each individual are different but the same techniques and tools can be supportive for many.
For someone with ADHD, competing sounds can make attention feel scattered and difficult to direct. For autistic people, certain sounds may feel intensely present or impossible to filter out. Highly sensitive individuals may simply experience a lower threshold before environments begin to feel overwhelming and they too feel distracted and unable to filter out the noise around them. Earplugs that dull the volume and intensity of sound around us are a useful tool that provides more control to individuals no matter the environment or their baseline sound tolerance that day. For many autistic and ADHD individuals, earplugs/ear defenders or noise cancelling headphones are part of their weekly if not daily life.
Why certain sound environments can feel especially demanding on some days and then at other times are more easily tolerated.
Navigating day to day life requires our sensory system to take in, process and respond to an enormous amount of stimuli. Sound is one source of input that is constant throughout the day with some environments feeling more demanding than others. This can confuse people who assume it is a specific sound alone that causes distress. Sensory sensitivity is often more complex than that. The sound and volume are not always the challenge, noise sensitivity is a changeable interplay of many factors that are highly individual. Often distress from sound is due to a combination of: Physiological factors such as tiredness, hunger, pain, feeling too hot or too cold; psychological factors such as looming deadlines, pressures in home or family life, feeling like the demands on you in a moment in time exceed your capacity to cope with them; and environmental factors; too many sounds at once, unexpected noise, noise alongside other sensory discomforts such as rain and wind, large crowds of people etc.
When our sensory load builds throughout the day, people may notice they become more tired, distracted, emotionally reactive, or less able to focus due to this overload. The brain is constantly working to decide which sensory information deserves attention and which can fade into the background. This includes information from our external senses (sound, visuals, smells, tastes and touch) as well as our internal senses (hunger, pain, need for the toilet, interoceptive senses).
When filtering this information becomes more effortful, everyday environments can start to feel deeply uncomfortable or mentally noisy, sometimes our stress response is triggered and panic ensues. However, sensory overload is not always dramatic. Sometimes it looks like fatigue, wanting to block out a source of stimulation, difficulty thinking clearly, slower processing of information, needing more recovery time, or wanting to leave situations earlier than planned. Sometimes it is dramatic and can lead to a large display of distress or a total shutdown. A shutdown is when someone retreats inwards, stops talking and tries to block out stimulation through psychological withdrawal.
How earplugs can work as a simple tool for intentional reduction of sensory load.
One helpful way to think about sensory support is not as avoidance, but as adjustment. For example, when we are cold we can adjust our temperature by putting on a jumper and find greater comfort. Sometimes we feel the cold more intensely than others (feeling tired, illness, level of movement) and may need an extra layer to reach the desired temperature for comfort. Earplugs work in a similar way and can be a supportive means to reduce the amount of sensory information reaching the nervous system at any one time. Rather than blocking the world out completely, many people use earplugs to soften and reduce environmental sound, so it feels more manageable.
This can be useful in situations such as:
- Commuting during busy periods
- Working in shared spaces
- Spending time in cafés or public places
- Social events where conversation is important but background noise feels draining
- Resting after a demanding day
- Creating calmer transitions between activities
- When sleeping
- When studying/in deep work
For some people, lowering overall sound allows them to concentrate better (ADHD). For others, it reduces stress, supports emotional regulation, or makes social situations feel less effortful (autistic people, those with noise sensitivity).
Like any support strategy, earplugs work best when they are used intentionally and proactively. Having a pair in your bag, coat pocket, beside your bed, ensures you are always prepared to manage your noise input depending on your sensory tolerance at a given moment.
Benefits to being more aware of our sensory input and responses.
Supporting sound sensitivity is not about creating a perfectly quiet life. It is about recognizing that environments affect people differently, and that small adjustments can make participation feel easier and more sustainable. Tools such as breaks, quieter spaces, predictable routines, movement, and quality earplugs can help people regulate rather than push through sensory discomfort. For many people, reducing sensory intensity allows them to feel safer and more regulated, thereby allowing them to focus more on what is important to them.
Reducing auditory input is also a tool that allows us to focus more on our internal experience. It allows us to hear our own thoughts and notice our feelings. It is hard to reflect and tune inward when the external world is so loud – this is why many people find nature calming, it is far quieter than the spaces we typically inhabit day to day. Using earplugs to support meditation, sleep or journaling is a bonus benefit!
Key Take Aways.
- Sound sensitivity effects neurodivergent people more commonly and significantly than neurotypical peers. However, many neurotypical individuals also experience sensory sensitivity, and/or will experience increased sensitivity to sound at different times in life (high stress, anxiety).
- Sensitivity to sound is not just about the specific sound or volume. It is linked to the individual’s capacity to tolerate additional demands and sensory input at a moment in time. If our sensory system is already quite full (multiple sources of stimulation) our response to competing, unexpected and (personally) irritating sounds will be more intense.
- All sounds can cause challenges – it is a unique, complex and personal experience.
- Some research shows that for most neurodivergent or sensory sensitive people, exposure to triggering sounds does not reduce distress over time, and learning to manage and reduce the intensity of these sounds is a more effective way to intervene.
- Earplugs are a useful tool for managing daily auditory input and stimulation. Alongside general stress management, routines, and taking sufficient breaks from overwhelming situations and/or environments.
- A bonus use of earplugs is to support interoception and reflection. It is hard to tune inward to our own voice and feelings when we are bombarded by the noise of the world around us. Using earplugs can support us all to tune into our own inner world.
Article written by Dr Emma O’Byrne.
Dr Emma O’Byrne is a Clinical Psychologist and a Chartered member of the Psychological Society of Ireland (M13131C). She has years of experience working in the Irish health system supportig a wide demographic of people in varied settings (hospital, community, disability services). In 2024 she embarked on a new adventure and opened New Perspectives Psychology Practice. The ethos of the practice is to meet people where they are, and provide psychological support that is personalised and accessible. Respect, authenticity and connection are core values of the practice. Dr Emma and her colleagues provide psychological assessment, consultation, and support to people across the lifespan, for a variety of psychological challenges. This includes Autism, ADHD and general psychological assessments. Dr Emma has a special interest in neurodivergence and is passionate about providing a neuroaffirmative service to those with ADHD or autistic people, and learning more about this community through listening to their voices. New Perspectives Practice provides support both in person from clinics in Carlow and Dublin, as well as supporting many people online. You can learn more about Emma and the team here.