Can someone shed some light on what's going on?

[Guest guest]

Hi guys,

I wondered if anyone could help me. I am extremely sensitive to noise. I don't

know why but whenever I hear the faintest noise of a specific type, I start to

panic and my mind starts racing. I lived below a girl last year (on my own) who

was quite loud and played her television loudly which caused me a lot of anxiety

and paranoia. I spent my tenancy wearing earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones

which was helpful but I felt like I was running away from the problem. I have

just gone back to university in a different country and have moved into a house

on my own. It's a lot quieter and while it's on the main road, the traffic noise

isn't bothering me much. However, whenever I hear the slightest noise from my

next-door neighbours, I completely freak out. I panic, my mind goes crazy and I

feel like I'm dying. A family live next door to me and I heard the kid playing

on the piano earlier. It was faint but it caused me to panic a great deal. I

can't rationalise it, even the slightest sound that I can't control causes me to

catastrophise and I start thinking 'what if...?' What am I going through? Why?

What can be done about it? I have worn earplugs to bed for around 14 years,

since my stepdad's snoring kept me awake. Now it has progressed to the stage

that I wear earplugs AND listen to a white noise machine at night because I tend

to pick up the slightest noise if I'm only wearing earplugs. My boyfriend is

getting quite frustrated about this as it means when he comes to visit me, we

won't be able to sleep in the same bed.

Please someone shed some light on this, I feel like I'm falling apart.

Thank you xx