Is This a Mental Disorder?

Hi M.,

This sounds to me like it be be a mild form of Asperger's syndrome. Do a search for Asperger's syndrome and noises in Google or some search engine and you will find some information. This come from a website on Aspergers, "A common characteristic of Asperger's is extreme sensitivity to light, pain or noise. Someone with Asperger's might find a dim light to be too bright or a slight noise like the television to be deafening."

Here's a website with some more information:
http://www.pamf.org/preteen/mybody/bodyscience/ae/asperge...

Oh, and sometimes Asperger's can be mistaken for ADHD. People think the person is just doing this stuff for attention or to be funny, etc. Hope this helps!

.

If you are asking if this is "mental" as in a psychological problem, I do not have an opinion. But if you mean something physical that has affected his brain, then yes. There are a multitude of complex issues that can affect the way genes work, mitochondria work, brain works, etc, and it often can greatly affect brain neurons and function.

One common brain symptom is the inability to filter out sounds. They can feel overwhelming. Some kids are born this way and get better over time. Some kids have it develop and it can be a symptom of worse to come. It can happen from psychological factors... of course, and it can be physical by epigenetic changes triggered by toxins, drugs, severe stress, viral infections, etc. It can be hormonal problems, nutritional problems, allergies, brain lesions, migraines....

And yes, this can be a prodrome to a set of symptoms which collectively get labeled "schizophrenia". The problem is that there is currently no medical diagnostic test for that, and many different possible etiologies, so it is only diagnosed by the symptoms. However, there are risk factors, and methods to help lower risks and severity. Any way they look at that -- the earlier steps (fish oil, lifestyle changes, pharmaceutical meds, etc) are taken, the better the outcome, statistically.

We cannot diagnose what is happening with your son, so I would start with getting him to a doctor for a general check-up, and let the doctor know that your son has become very sensitive and irritable to sounds.

You can take a look at caffeine intake, sleep habits, nutrition, allergies, possible drug use, etc.

And I'll hope that it is just a phase he is going through, since that is also a possibility.

You might get some ideas from http://www.itsnotmental.com , and in the meantime, ask him if he would like to use ear plugs, or if music might help him. Hmmm... not sure if this would help or irritate him, but consider a device that produces "white noise" in his room.

Hi M., I hate that you are having to experience this. My best friend is an Occupational Therapist and this totally sounds like a sensory issue. Usuallly this type of thing starts young so I'm unsure why it would just now show up. My suggestion would go see his doctor. Hope this helps.

Hi M.,
I have a friend who's daughter has some type of sensory disorder that causes her to be very sensitive to sounds. Her daughter is much younger than your son, but I'm not sure how or when this disorder manifests itself. I am sorry that you all are having to go through this and I wish I could be of more help, but hopefully this might give you a little to go on. Maybe you can look up sensory disorders on the web or contact your sons doctor to look into it further. Good luck with it and let us know how it turns out. And you are right, motherhood when you are older is the best!!!
T.

Hi M.,

Of course as you already know, there is definitely something going on, his nerve endings and senosories are really really sensitive. Sounds like autism, I would take him to the Dr so they can figure out what is wrong and help him. Just imagine how he feels, if his behavior is getting on your nerves try and put yourself in his shoes, I am sure he is having a real hard time dealing with this on top of dealing with the puberty issues. Try and be patient with him and understanding. I wish you and him both luck. Just remember the things he is doing might seem stupid to you, however, they are not stupid to him.

As some of the other mothers have said it does sound possibly like a sensory issue, yes I understand that it normally presents at ayounger age but maybe he has had these feelings for a while and is just now voicing them since he feels more "grown up" at sixteen. I also have issues with chewing and ICE CHOMPING it drives me crazy, My doctor has told me it is part of my anxiety issues and can also be connected to a type of bipolar depression.

My suggestion is to talk to him and maybe a counselor in your area to see if this really is something he has trouble with or if he is just that wonderful age between sweet and innocent, and grown.:)

Good luck I have three teen girls and on a good day only lose half my hair.lol.

I might would have him talk with his doctor, sometimes kids can develope OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder, you may know what it is, but the least little things can drive them crazy, also they might check the door at night to make sure its lock, parinoid about things, anyway it may be a faze he is going through, but I would talk to the Dr... Good Luck.

Hi M.,

There are some wonderful responses here with great info.

I'd just like to stick up for the underdog - people like me!

I understand you are incredibly frustrated by your son's behavior, and I sure can understand how it would get on your nerves. But, from the other side of the coin, I have always been bothered by noise. (Gee, guess I could be autistic, schizophrenic, bipolar, and just plain irritable, wrapped up into one!) My hearing picks up sound on the upper end of the spectrum, and I hear noise that most others don't. It is literally, enough to drive one crazy, especially given an environment that is adapted to people who live at the other end of the hearing spectrum. In my case, I think it may have something to do with sensory processing issues that were never diagnosed. Whatever the case with your son, maybe it would help (at least until you figure out if there's anything organic going on) to remember that the sounds he is hearing may not only be annoying to him, but also may physically hurt.

I can of course speak only from my experience, and I may be way off as far as your son is concerned since you describe many different noises that bother, but I remember many times as a young teen when noise (the high pitched wail of security systems at the mall, the background noise of window fan motors) nearly brought me to my knees because it *hurt*. My parents thought I was just looking for attention. There are security systems sold now that cater to this very fact: younger people hear high pitched noises that older adults don't. http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/deterrent_news_167.html

I have increased trouble with noise in gneral when I'm not feeling well, have a headache, or am tired. Has your son been exposed to any severely loud noise (a music concert, loud video games, machinery) lately? If I have to be around extremely loud noise for some reason, it takes days for my ears to recover - everything hurts for awhile.

Just thought I'd throw that out there. I know living with teens can be demanding of its own accord. Good luck to you and your son, and I hope things even out soon.

It is very common for psychological stresses to manifest themselves as physical symptoms or irritability. For more information go to www.myofascialrelease.com for articles. I am a physical therapist in charlotte that specializes in this technique. Please contact me for more information.

sounds a little bit like autism i would talk to his doctor