By TheLadyOpal - 13/12/2013 07:55 - United States

Today, I have such an irrational fear of the noise my smoke detector makes when it goes off, that dying in my sleep from smoke inhalation or carbon monoxide poisoning sounds absolutely peachy by comparison. FML
I agree, your life sucks 35 828
You deserved it 6 265

TheLadyOpal tells us more.

TheLadyOpal 30

Aaaah! I finally got an FML published :D Awesome. Now to clear a few things up: I have had an irrational fear of sudden loud noises my whole life. Not necessarily the noise itself - (although there are exceptions if it's particularly loud, like the smoke alarm), but the anticipation of the noise - one of the reasons I hated school was because I would sit in class and worry about whether or not we'd be having a fire drill that day. And I don't keep an alarm clock. I have tried to keep one in the past, only to realize that if I'm expecting an alarm to wake me up in the morning, I don't sleep. I don't have a cell phone either, and I live alone, so to the smartass who suggested someone mess with my phone to set an alarm ring-tone, sorry to burst your bubble :P And no, I don't actually WANT to die - I was just thinking about this the other day and saying to myself, would I actually rather die in my sleep than wake up in the middle of the night to a terrible noise and have to maybe evacuate my house and call 911 and probably dissolve into a sobbing wreck due to all the anxiety? No, death is not the better solution, obviously, but irrational feelings tend to disregard logic.

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Top comments

ineedalogin 19

Alarm clocks make everyone cry

65 0

Comments

foxy_grampa 19

You should condition yourself to run outside whenever you hear the noise. At least that way you'll be safe

1 3
INDYSTRUCTABLE 43

me to. ever since I was a kid no one was able to figure out why I'm terrified of smoke detectors. I'm 25 and ill still cry if I hear one go off. its embarrassing & frustrating

2 1
FlyingPie 17

Having to start each FML with "Today", some just sound odd, such as this one. I imagine OP's fear didn't suddenly start today. Perhaps this one could be worded better, such as "Today, I realized that my fear of my smoke alarm is so great..."

3 3
TheLadyOpal 30

I think I did originally word it like that... Oh well. At least the point of the FML is still understandable :)

5 0
sanecatlady 13

When I first moved into an apartment years ago I had really bad anxiety problems and just the sound of the doorbell ringing would make me scream and jump to the ceiling, even if I knew someone was coming over.

3 0
worldclassrager 39

Maybe you can wire your defectors to give a more pleasant sound...

1 1
Hiimhaileypotter 52

Is that possible??

1 0
onorexveritas 23

make sense. those sounds induce panic and stress in already stressful situations

1 0
EmmaMK 35

I understand. I'm scared of the noise my burglar alarm makes. It goes off frequently (it's sensitive).

3 0
FireFlie07 20

They make ones for deaf people that just have lights and don't make that noise.

4 0
TheLadyOpal 30

Aaaah! I finally got an FML published :D Awesome. Now to clear a few things up: I have had an irrational fear of sudden loud noises my whole life. Not necessarily the noise itself - (although there are exceptions if it's particularly loud, like the smoke alarm), but the anticipation of the noise - one of the reasons I hated school was because I would sit in class and worry about whether or not we'd be having a fire drill that day. And I don't keep an alarm clock. I have tried to keep one in the past, only to realize that if I'm expecting an alarm to wake me up in the morning, I don't sleep. I don't have a cell phone either, and I live alone, so to the smartass who suggested someone mess with my phone to set an alarm ring-tone, sorry to burst your bubble :P And no, I don't actually WANT to die - I was just thinking about this the other day and saying to myself, would I actually rather die in my sleep than wake up in the middle of the night to a terrible noise and have to maybe evacuate my house and call 911 and probably dissolve into a sobbing wreck due to all the anxiety? No, death is not the better solution, obviously, but irrational feelings tend to disregard logic.

53 6
plaguer 26

I feel your pain, this is exactly why I'm afraid of balloons. Waiting for them to pop is terrifying, but everyone thinks I'm silly for being scared of them.

39 7
summerguy97 16

I feel the same way, but only about the EAS. I don't know why I just hate hearing the sound of it on the tv/radio.

12 1
Migole 36

How do wake up in the morning then? Without an alarm or another person? I'm genuinely curious. Also do you have a landline phone? But that sure sounds inconvenient for everyday life :( Can't this be treated like other anxieties? Again, I'm just curious since I've never encountered someone with something similar. Small story time: At my university they have alarms on every door and if one is open for too long it goes off. That shit is louder than the fire drill and goes off at least once an hour...

31 0
Lemurcat 12

58, it's possible to wake up early without an alarm. What I assume normal people do when they don't have an alarm is they go to bed at a reasonable time. What my dumbass does is get anxious over having to wake up at a certain time and that'll usually wake me up about an hour before. :D

14 3
TheLadyOpal 30

#58: If there's something important that I need to be awake for by a certain time, I can usually manage to wake up on my own. I just have to make sure I don't let myself go back to sleep if I happen to wake up an hour too early.

17 0
ThatFancyPenn 18

I completely know how you feel. I'm scared of loud noises especially when my parents fight, the school fire alarm, things banging against each other etc.. they just scare me.

8 1
laurenasabutton 26

But how do you get up for work or school every day? Does your body just regulate to getting up at the right time?

5 2
Lemurcat 12

actually, 65, it does. I've been out of school for 2 years and i still wake up at 7 lol no alarm needed.

9 1
NSN82 13

I'm the exact same way! I'm constantly afraid that the fire alarm will go off even when I'm not at home. I set an alarm on my phone, but only because the fear of it going off wakes me up every morning. I think we both need to get some help. It sucks living with the fear of loud noises.

3 0
Eternity49 13

I understand! It's not that loud noises just make me anxious that also actually hurt quite a bit and cause uncomfortable physical feelings.

1 0
frizz101 22

I don't know if this would help OP, but you can get smoke/carbon monoxide detectors that have a different sound, I think they are sold online, and there are alarm clocks that are sold that you can program to start of low that get louder so it gently wakes you up. They are a bit pricy and for all I know you've already tried them, but if not you could.

4 0
AninOnin 24

That's pretty impressive, OP. I wake up on my own at random times, but I do NOT have the willpower to get out of bed most days. I have to use an alarm or I'll convince myself that I can wake up in time... Later.

2 0
modelos10 19

evetybody cuestions if she can wake up im more curious about the noises you cant predict. like sirens on cars passimg by conserts etc. or is it different?

1 8
carpedenoctem 9

People with anxiety can be triggered by anything. I personally understand OP's fear of sudden loud noises because I share it with them. No, we cannot predict what will trigger us or why. Just how the issue tends to role.

1 0