Every so often, I’ll be going about my business in my quiet home and realize that I thought that I had been listening to a TV or a conversation in the background, but the TV wasn’t on and I’m alone.
The noise is always indistinct, exactly like a TV going in the other room at a volume loud enough to hear some things, but not loud enough to make out the dialogue.
If I think I’m hearing people talking, it sounds like background coversations that you’d hear a couple of cubicles over at work; again, not distinct voices.
It freaked me out the first couple of times I heard it; the usual “am I losing my mind?!” thing. Now, though, I’d just like to see if anyone else gets this.
I think that if you are used to an environment of noise (tv or radio always on, people around always talking, street noise) and then you go into a quiet environment, your mind will play tricks like that. It’s probably a pattern-seeking effect of the human brain, i.e. the brain is always on the search for patterns in the environment that will elicit the flight or fight response (we REALLY do have spider-sense!), thus when you are around a constant noise source it will fade to the background of your attention once the brain determines there’s nothing interesting about it, and when the constant noise is removed it takes awhile for the brain to ‘notice’ it’s gone because it’s not a priority and will search a little for it (thus the reminant noise you think you hear). Or, if you will, repeated noises are annoying to your brain and they are filed into a trash bin as much as possible so you can concentrate on the task at hand, and when they stop your brain/trash filing program perks up and says, 'hey, where the hell is that annoying noise I was processing? Should I close program on that now?"
I’ve mistaken the sound of gurgling baseboard radiators for a muffled but normal conversation in another room. I couldn’t make out words, of course; I simply had the impression that others were home and talking in another room
That’ s happened to me a couple of times. I once heard my dad yell my name, but usually the sounds are indistinct. I’ve also smelled things that weren’t there. Usually orange or ammonia.
I used to hear voices as well. Medication made it stop.
I doubt yours is a mental condition shuch as mine was because it is usually during times of mania or stress that it happens to people with a psychological disorder.
I wouldn’t worry about it.
(IANAD of course…)
It happens to me - I never actually hear people talking or things happening, but I get moments where I suddenly become aware and have a vague feeling that before that moment I had been hearing something. I usually just shrug and forget about it. I guess it’s the brain not being tuned into how quiet it is, and then suddenly tuning in.