Okay, I shouldn't say this is my pet peeve, because I think a lot of things qualify, but specifically, OMG you guys I just cannot deal with screaming. I try really, really hard. It's mostly not my fault- when I was little, my parents and doctor thought I was maybe autistic there for a little while, partially because excessive auditory input stresses me out hardcore. So, yeah, obviously this issue has not been resolved in adulthood and whenever I am around someone who is screaming constantly I pretty much want to either lose my shit and scream back or run far, far away.
Don't lecture me. I know it's wrong. I legitimately cannot help the feeling, and I've learned to override it for short periods and then I'm like "OMG I NEED TO GTFO OF HERE YESTERDAY" and then I basically just have to run away. One of the many reasons I could never work L&D.
But, I guess my point is, despite my intolerance, I want to understand. I've been in pain, but I guess in not enough pain? When I hurt, I just want to curl into a ball and try to breathe and just hope I pass out maybe. Screaming, at that point, seems like a lot of energy. Are there studies about this? Does this help anyone? Am I the only crazy person who literally cannot deal with this?
I have exactly the same reaction. Good to know I am not totally alone.
ReplyDeleteI have the same reaction when in pain - curl into a ball and suffer in silence. I can't deal with screamers either. However, I react differently when dealing with a screamer, I tend to tune them out completely and become stoic. I've been accused of being cold-hearted when I do this. I'd love to hear if there are studies about this too.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a nurse, but I can't stand too much noise either. It's like a have a threshold and if the noise goes over that, I get all ants-in-the-pants. As a mom of two small boys and wife to a husband who likes to talk while watching TV at full volume... yeah. I'm getting antsy just writing that.
ReplyDeleteI was quiet for 2 bouts of pancreatitis (apart from the wretching) but screamed during the pushing phase of childbirth. In that instance, I think that I felt like the sound would give me additional power, like a martial arts kiyai
ReplyDeleteSame here. The whole time during my L&D clinicals I just kept thinking, "I cannot listen to people scream for 12 hours."
ReplyDeleteIt's a thing for me too. Any raised voices pretty much make me shut down to the point I just see moving mouths. Normally that applies only outside of work. I have bizarre ability to tune out screaming in the ER. Thank God!
ReplyDelete"I've been in pain, but I guess in not enough pain? Try pleurisy.
ReplyDeleteI kind of doubt pleuritic pain would be helped by screaming...
DeleteI woke up from an orthopedic surgery (broken femur & tibia), and only the non-surgical side was numb from the epidural. It was rapidly fixed, of course, and a broken femur is as painful as they say :p However, I didn't scream. I just kept bearing down and holding my breath. I guess like you said, maybe screaming would have been wasted energy? All I know is that I wanted to pass out and promptly fell back asleep when it was fixed....
ReplyDeletescreaming in a high pitch makes the pain worse. If you bellow in a low, deep pitch, it actually helps. At least with labor pain, it helps.
ReplyDeleteOn shifts when the night has maxxed out my Auditory Enjoyment Meter, I've found that a couple of USP cotton balls, one to each auditory canal, cut the decibels down enough to keep me from killing every loud person in traige long enough for them to all go away.
ReplyDeleteI think the 87th screaming baby between 6PM and midnight on shift during flu season was the final straw.
Come to the fluffy white side.
The peculiar look of peace and serenity will really mess with your co-workers' heads, and you can still use your stethoscope.
But proof of my contention that no one, in world history, has ever asked a nurse what they wanted in an ER, is the fact that not a single ER in existence comes with a universal remote "MUTE" switch for everything.
Co-workers who ignore clanging alarms to update their SpaceDork status, and who leave room doors open even knowing they are about to administer medical torture to infants, thus sharing the screaming love to all the rest of their coleagues, are douches. It's misdemenaor douchebaggery, I'll grant you, but it's still a crime.
There is nothing worse than that high pitched screaming of a baby with colic..... Omg, it makes me frantic and I don't even have kids. But kids or people who scream for shits and giggles? Is you life in immediate danger? Are you activly dying? No?? Then shut the fuck up before I use a staple gun on that gaping maw you call a mouth.
ReplyDeleteI am the same way too you're not alone! I particularly hate pots and pans banging, or the garbage truck lifting up the huge garbage bins, or loud ringtones, or babies or children screaming for extended periods of time...
ReplyDeleteThe worst part is the people doing the screaming are usually the least sick people in the ED. I work in an ED and in a PICU, and let me tell you, those tough-as-shit critically ill children scream a LOT less than the adult drama queens in the ED. If you're screaming over a hangnail, I'm going to pretty much ignore your histrionics and go on caring for you as usual. People usually tone it down when they realize there will be no payoff.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'd like to hear from a screamer...does it actually help the pain anyways?! I can't see how. If you're screaming (especially over a minor cause), you're not helping your pain AND you're stressing out everybody around you, including other patients. I just don't get it.
DeleteAlly, my recollection is that it did help a little, but not much. But it isn't a strategy, it's a reaction to sudden, unexpected, extreme pain. Don't you think you might scream if someone stabbed you in the chest?
DeleteWhat really works is morphine, or whatever the ED uses these days. By the time I got there I wasn't screaming, because my attending nurse and physician knew what was happening and gave me another pain med before sending me to ED, rather then ignore my "histrionics."
But I agree, I can't see screaming over much less.
Low Intelligence is a co-morbidity factor with Poor Impulse Control. As to which comes first, it's a chicken-and-egg debate for the ages. Either way, if I see one, I assume the presence of the other. YMMV.
ReplyDeleteand remember Nurse K's tip "I can't put you in a room as long as there is screaming."
ReplyDeleteBlegh, screamers give me the shivers too. I just kind of have to ignore it. I get pretty spazzed in the afternoons when both kids are crabby, so the older one is whining at me, the baby is crying (and won't leave the g*d*mn dog bowls alone), so I've put the dog water away, and now the dog won't quit f*cking barking , and I'm trying to get dinner on the table. Lol, that's my personal hell a lot of evenings. At home, and in the ED, I just kind of have to shut down, and pretend I'm not there. Labor was pretty awful, and I couldn't scream- only hold my breath and bear down against it. But that's my only experience with real pain- can't say there aren't situations where I wouldn't scream, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI had a pt with a broken back and broken pelvis scream as we moved him from the gurney to the bed. I felt it was completely warranted. i gave him drugs before and after the transfer but an open book pelvis fracture is excrutating.
ReplyDeleteThey knocked out my dh to reseat a dislocated shoulder, he sat up opened his eyes and screamed when they pulled on it. Most disturbing thing i've ever seen, and he doesnt even remember it. i've always found swearing very loudly helps much more then screaming.
ReplyDeleteI like to have one really good yell and then I suffer in whimpers...
ReplyDeleteIt would make sense if you are highly sensitive to all auditory input. I'm an auditory learner/sensitive. Right now I'm sitting in an office using this computer and the radio is on and I would like to violently kick the radio because it is distracting me from trying to type or read anything.
I don't have the energy to even answer questions when I'm in pain. Talking and thinking makes it so much worse...I can't imagine screaming. However, I've seen enough dislocation resets to feel like I might scream at that. They seem excruciating.
ReplyDeleteI tend to loose my compassion when the screams are accompanied by histrionics...
ReplyDeleteI'm not a screamer but my hubby says I talk very loud. I think that has something to do with me being baby number 10 out of a family of 12 children...you had to be loud to be heard. Now that my sibs are getting older..they are getting deaf...I have three sisters who wear hearing aids and the talk like they have headphones on...they think I can't hear them when I can..it's them who can't hear me. Hubby also has hearing loss,due to work..but of course it is "I" who is the deaf loud one. As for dealing with screaming patients...isn't that what sedatives are for?
ReplyDeletesome time screams helps you to low your anger too and some time your pain too...
ReplyDeletehomecare
Screaming (or constant crying) drives me buggy. And I work in the newborn nursery. Hmmm, maybe that was a bad plan. There are nights I seriously want to run away.
ReplyDeletei also don't get the screaming. if you hurt, doesn't it hurt to scream? also stop screaming, " i can't breathe". i assure you, if you can scream you can breathe so do us a favor and shut the fuck up. i only work with adults. kids get a pass. these fools i work with know better.
ReplyDeleteI went the drug free route for child birth and the only time I screamed in all three labors (the high pitched screaming atyourcervix mentioned) was when I was frustrated in the middle of pushing at the lack of progress. Once. Then I switched up positions, mumbled an oh fuck, and pushed again with the next contraction. Screaming doesn't help. That said, I can completely zone out someone screaming.
ReplyDeleteAt my work we have regular ICU rooms and then we have the baby pod, where there are 4 to 5 infants per room. My nightmare is getting stuck in the baby pod all day, because even if your kid is quiet (intubated) you have to listen to the screaming of all of the other children in the room. I especially can't stand it because they are not supposed to scream for an extended period of time because they have little to no reserve (cardiac babies), so you're running to the bedside every time they make a sound to calm them down. It's frustrating.
ReplyDelete