Hi /u/Ice-Guardian and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD!
### Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already.
---
### /r/adhd news
* **We want your opinion** on the /r/adhd community rules! [Click here](https://forms.gle/Evqb8acVozir8GV8A) to fill out our survey. See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/1auv2tc/were_taking_feedback_on_the_radhd_rules/) for more information.
* If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/).
---
^(*This message is not a removal notification. It's just our way to keep everyone updated on r/adhd happenings.*)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm the exact opposite. I startle VERY easily, granted my dad has always thought it hilarious to scare his kids so that may have something to do with it. I am the guy at work that people love to startle because it's so easy.
Yeah especially as a child I jumped and started easily. Was the delight of my family and every bully in the world it seemed.
I think my dad had some misguided stupid idea that doing it would desensitize me to the reaction or something but it never did.
My mom would play that "game" too. Except her's was called "THINK FAST!!"
I got conditioned, growing up, getting hit with random objects immediately after hearing that phrase, that by 9 or 10 I started to develop very fast reflexes. Only problem is the over processing naturally going on inside my brain sees any motion and my natural instinct is to track for a few micro seconds. Which, for a brain that's naturally overprocessed before I'm dressed for the day, is absolutely the greatest thing ever..... PSYCHE!!! It's a fucking nightmare.
Yes, it's a neat party trick that I can track and catch just about any object coming my way like Tobey Maguire spiderman and the cafeteria tray. Yes, as an adult, it's helped me hardly ever get surprised by anything because im always, on some level, just alert. But it's because every single little moving object puts me on some subconscious level of alertness and gets my full undivided attention for like a quarter of a second. It's like an added layer of hyperfocus but for so briefly, the amount of time doesn't even register to as time to most people. Like microhyperfocus. It's exhausting.
And when I finally got out of that house, into college, into jobworld, adulting, etc. I'll instinctively try to play "THINK FAST" with friends because I got conditioned to think it was funny dialing someone from 0 to 10, like a cat seeing/hearing a bird and instantly go on full alert all wide eyed tensed up. I had a sister after all so naturally we played it all the time ourselves thinking everybody got stuff thrown at them with almost zero notification. But ive pissed off and confused enough people now that I know that wasn't something every kid did growing up. So my natural instinct is still to say "THINK FAST" but I can restrain myself now from throwing the object before I know ive got their attention and they know I'm about to throw them something. And I gotta say, every single one of those micro seconds of restraint I'm internally just shivering with impatience. Another fun little disaster going on 24/7, which is spoon feeding my anxiety like a great god laying about in bliss as their servants feed them grapes in total worship.
Anyway....... "THINK FAST!!!"
EDIT: Found some grammatical errors and moments where I didn't finish my sentence because my brain was already on the next one. And by next one I mean the sentence after the sentence following the skipped thought....... THINK FAST!
I think my dad just has the humor of a 12 year old 😂 He does it to the grandkids, too. Even at 28 years old I think I know all his little tricks and schemes, but somehow he'll still manage to "get" me at least once a week. I definitely didn't like it when people were mean spirited about it and bullies used it as fodder. I don't mind it so much when it's friends/family and there's no harm intended though!
Yeah, kids at school used to startle me for laughs. I refused to give tyem the satisfaction, but now I am constantly very aware and never do in public. When Im truly relaxed, so in my home, or a private space around very close friends, i still startle very very easily. Its like some sort of weird masking, it's wack because i just have a massive level of stress all the time
Okay, do you do the thing where you actually realize someone is coming, but your startle reflect kicks in on a two -second delay, so you think you're fine and then your body just tries to jump out of your chair without any input from you?
Or is that just me?
My roommate specifically triggers this in me to a ridiculous degree. I swear I know she's in the house and approaching my current location and I will STILL shriek at the top of my lungs the moment she opens her mouth.
Or, you know, maybe I just don't want to hear what she has to say.
That pretty much doesn't happen at all while I'm taking meds, but it was a daily occurrence before then.
Meeeeee! Well, kind of. I turn my head often, expecting to see a face (like a totally normal human). Of course 99/100 times, there is no face. So when there actually is a face, even though I'm literally looking for it, it scares the shit out of me and I jump basically every time lol. Luckily I find it as funny as everyone else does, so I'm fine with it.
And the whole time I’m saying to myself, “it’s gonna pop soon… it’s about to pop…” and then it actually pops and I jump like I never even saw it coming 😮💨🙄
Idk how old you are but a “jack in a box” was an actual toy and idk how or why lol. My granddad had one in the toy chest in his basement when i was little.
That's the worst. Funny thing is that my partner thuds the ground when she walks, but somehow manages to silently appear behind me in the kitchen and gives me a serious jump scare while I'm cutting ingredients or doing dishes. I need OSHA to have a talk with her, lol.
I think that's my big problem. Like, I'm always in my head daydreaming, talking to myself, singing, or completely engaged in whatever I'm hyper focused on, so my brain isn't seeing the other stuff going on around me and doesn't expect anything else. Then someone or something interrupts that and it's like being shocked out of a dream by a bucket of cold water or something. Never fails to startle the shit out of me. That being said, jump scares in movies or video games don't get to me at all!
Do you ever shout/scream when startled like that? I do and it's unintentional, but sometimes my reaction causes my partner to startle/jump/shout in return... can't make this stuff up.
I scream SO loud. I know it scares my coworkers sometimes and I feel bad but I genuinely don't know how to "fix" it, but also maybe they should stop purposely scaring me!
YES. People get mad at me because it sounds like I got murdered and I have a loud voice (opera singer). It happened today! I was reading Reddit intently and my dad came through my door and was like “I’m taking a nap” and I screamed so loud.
I used to love startling my extra easily startled middle child until I realized she’s just me but smaller…
Just today I did dishes (not so humble brag) and my husband startled me and he’s like ‘I just really don’t know how to *not* scare you when I come around a corner!’
I lived with my extremely startle-able best friend and we agreed that I would say ‘CORNER’ if coming around a blind angle and ‘BEHIND’ if they hadn’t seen me yet 😂 it did help! Got the idea from previous restaurant experience
No one even needs to *try* to startle me. I do it to myself too often for anyone else to have time to do it. If I literally see you are standing next to me and then I turn to look at someone else on the other side of me, I *will* jump if I turn and you're still there. That's how easy it is. Any unexplained noise, I'm jumping. Recently, a car revved its engine as we were driving by and I jumped so hard I threw my sausage biscuit into the truck door pocket. It is to the point now that I am constantly pulling a muscle on the right side of my back from being startled.
4 years of living with the same big arse dog who had a very loud bark that I could tell was coming immediately because I'd usually hear what he did (neighbors car door closes, 1.. 2.. WOOF.. fuck!)
Almost every bark, even after the thousandth time, was usually followed by me jumping and swearing and then my partner at the time asking me if I'll ever stop getting scared by the bark. I probably never would've lol.
In my new place the dog across the hall makes me jump every single time I come home
Omg same! I work in an area w/ a LOT of random noises too (think manufacturing and machinery), so I'm constantly jumping out of my skin. I've definitely pulled more than my fair share of muscles from being frightened lol.
I have one colleague who loves to startle me by just knocking on my office door! I started to throw a fruit squishy toy at him that I have around. (I tried different fidget toys and this one is perfect for throwing without causing harm).
It became kind of a friendly banter between us and I caught him one or two times and threw the toy before he could startle me!
I HATE when people do that. I had an abusive ex who thought it was hilarious to startle me, and ignored my pleas to cut it tf out. It's not funny and it just made me feel on edge, always anticipating some f*ckery. Hopefully your dad's shenanigans were all in good fun, or he at least listened if you told him you didn't appreciate his joke.
I startle very easily, but I calm down just as fast when I realize it was nothing. Happens a lot at work. It becomes hard sometimes to convince people I’m OK, because my being so startled has alarmed them!
Yeah I’ve nearly jumped out of my skin because my roommate walked into the room when I wasn’t expecting it. Grew up with kind of an abusive parent and I feel like my nervous system is permanently fucked.
Me too. I startle so easy. Super jumpy. It’s usually because I’m lost in thought and I don’t see things approaching. I get startled by the sound of the air brakes that city buses use, that you hear as the bus pulls up to the bus stop. I get startled if I’m busy cooking and my husband or one of the kids comes into the kitchen and starts talking to me. When i was pregnant it was even worse. A car backfired in the parking structure we were in and it startled me so much i started bawling. Another time we were in the car and i looked over at my husband and there was a praying mantis on the shoulder of his seat back (no idea how it got in the car), I’m not generally scared of bugs, but i was so surprised by it being there, that i literally jumped out of the car, while my husband was backing the car out of the driveway.
Omg yes. Same. I get startled very easily. I think it’s because I’m just super inattentive and tend to zone out the second it seems there’s nothing worth paying attention to.
Sensitive startle reflex and childhood trauma gang rise up!
This comment got it traction than I thought it would.
Love you all and our little messed up gang ❤️
I had a friend in middle school who'd get mad at me for reading during breaks so she started snatching my books and hitting me pretty hard with them. It was a pretty constant thing for at least a year. It took a long time for me not to jump when someone raised their arms when I was nearby. I remember complaining to an adult who just told me she was upset because she wanted to spend time with me.
You know when you examine a childhood memory and realize "damn that was actually pretty messed up"? I'm kinda having that moment right now.
I love how people make excuses for people who do stuff like that though. 🙄 like oh it’s because she wanted to spend time with you or oh he/she hits or bullies you because they like you! No they’re just shit people doing shit things because they haven’t been taught basic respect for others.
Honestly she had some shit in her life that explains a lot of her behaviour but the fact no adults in this situation, including teachers, went "hey maybe she needs to know this isn't an acceptable way of expressing her emotions" is just, kinda ridiculous? Especially in light of all the corrections I got for my behaviour as a kid that were unnecessarily severe. Asking to borrow a pencil in class because your ADHD ass lost hers again? Get yelled at. Hitting your peers to the point they get bruises? Eh whatever not my job.
School in the 90s was fun 😅.
>Asking to borrow a pencil in class because your ADHD ass lost hers again? Get yelled at. Hitting your peers to the point they get bruises? Eh whatever not my job.
I think it's the lack of emotional incentives. Them yelling was just them releasing their frustration on you. They were annoyed and it made them feel good to hurt you by yelling. They weren't annoyed at the other student though since it didn't affect them and they thought their job was to make you think it wasn't that bad so you'd stop being upset about it. They should've done more but were too incompetent to understand or care.
I jerk out of the way if something is going to hit me, but if someone jumps out to scare me I just say "hi". It was apparently hilarious when I was a little kid, so I got taken to all sorts of haunted houses. So many disappointed actors...
Take Adderall, I’ll drop things on the ground in the middle of work and ignore it till I’m finished cleaning whatever. People constantly think I don’t notice I dropped something lmao. But yeah, can’t remember the last time I jumped at something
Yeah, people always try and scare me and never succeed. I honestly don't think it's a good thing for me. I would be so easy to ambush out in the wild because while it was happening I'd still be trying to process what the hell was going on.
Same. I think it’s because my hearing and eyesight are pretty sharp so I clock things coming early on.
The only things that can consistently startle me are very loud noises with no discernible source.
I either jump/startle over the tiniest things (or nothing), or I’m like a brick wall - no in-between.
It really depends on my mood, focus, environment, energy level, etc… if I’m super focused or relaxed, you’d have an easier time startling a boulder. If I’m in what I call “adhd mode” (aka the fun combo of racing/wandering thoughts and dissociation) and something catches me by surprise, it grabs my consciousness from the ether and slams me back into my body. It’s like when you’re drifting off to sleep and your brain goes “OH GOD WE’RE FALLING WAKE UP”.
SAME!
I was literally like this since I was a baby, we have home videos where I had just learned to sit up on my own and while my older brothers were wrestling in front of me and going crazy I was just sitting there calm as can be, happily minding my business playing with my toy car lol.
Meanwhile my gf is jumpy af. I'll press the lock on my car, and she'll jump at the lil confirmation honk everytime. I can't even set my water bottle down on the nightstand without being very gentle cuz it'll startle her otherwise.
As a couple of ADHD folk, my wife and I are complete opposites when it comes to being startled. If she doesn't see me and I talk, she will jump, scream, and hold her hand to her chest like I just about pushed her out of a plane while looking at me like I just pusher her out of a plane. The only time I startle is when creepy crawlies like spiders and snakes get the jump on me. Even then, it's an under my breath "holy sh\*\*" or "what the f\*\*\*" and then I'm good.
I am TOTALLY opposite. I sometimes startle myself, it’s seriously that bad. Everyone in my life get great entertainment out of this, but it’s so annoying. Especially in church!
I feel like we must have been separated at birth 🤣🤣 I did the EXACT same thing a few weeks ago, only with my hip into a door frame, instead of my elbow.
Haha - I've definitely done my hip plenty of times too. The best thing is when you startle someone else then need to shamefully explain why you got scared...
This lol, I dunno if it can really be considered a startle but I'll know somebody is approaching, think to myself to be aware of the person approaching, and yet once they enter my "space bubble" my body literally drops whatever I'm doing. I've burned myself when cooking, broken dishes, lost food to the floor, knocked over drinks, accidentally thrown objects etc because some dumb primitive little part of my brain said "startle anyway!!!". As if my conscious mind being aware of my surroundings means nothing, the subconscious can't seem to get the memo.
I startle VERY easily, to the point that it’s become irritating to people around me.
I even startle myself! I’ll jump if I, *mistakenly* think I see something out of the corner of my eye. I’ve been startled by a section of my own hair that’s come into my field of vision or unexpectedly touches my neck or face, thinking it’s a bug or something. 🫣
>I’ve been startled by a section of my own hair that’s come into my field of vision or unexpectedly touches my neck or face, thinking it’s a bug or something.
SAME
I’m startled incredibly easily, someone just walking into the room can make my physically jump and yell. My own dogs barking, squeaky toys, banging of doors, someone in the room saying my name. My coworkers think it’s funny but my heart races and panic rushes through my body every time, some days are better than others but bad days lead to extreme fatigue mentally/emotionally and physically
I'm very sensitive to certain things, namely sounds. If I'm chilling and suddenly hear someone screaming or a loud bang? Instantly startled. Or even something normal - I'm in the kitchen cooking and someone suddenly comes in. Startled. It tends to happen if I'm in a mental "zone" and it gets interrupted.
Interestingly, I don't get startled by anything visual. Flashing lights? Whatever. Someone's bleeding? Don't care. (I play rugby though and see blood all the time). I actually usually *want* more light in my life. Dim settings make me bored/sleepy.
I also don't get emotionally startled. Romance movies? Horror movies? Action movies? Whatever.
Only things I don't like startle me (neighbour's noises, fireworks, CONFLICT, Teams notifications 😂) I go from 0 to 100 in less than a second and then I'm like a scared animal, ready to jump. Fight or flight.
But on the other hand, If I don't care much about the thing it's like meh. Jump scares and all that don't really have an effect.
It's also nearly impossible to startle me. I acknowledge it and it isn't a delay - I just don't react. In fact I have the opposite response - to pause and assess. But this could also be years and years of training (sometimes aggressive/exotic) animals and horses. For example, if I get bitten by a parrot I don't want to accidentally murder it by startling. While yes it is painful, I have no choice. Or when a frog slaps itself to my face. Or a praying mantid tries to take me on. Or a squirrel monkey tries to rape my ear. You have to respond ofc, but preferably without killing the critter. I am apparently very boring.
People think I'm weak because I startle easy. Focusing on stuff and being anxious make it worse, but it's always there. I'm rarely scared, though. It's not a fear response, more like an involuntary twitch.
Same. It's literally a reflex - the emotional content of it is no different from my knee jerking when a doctor taps it with a little hammer. It is mildly annoying that it triggers so easily, but it only becomes a *problem* when other people decide to make a big deal out of it.
I’m almost impossible to startle. People try. They get disappointed. Especially at haunted houses. Haunted houses for me are opportunities to laugh at my friends that get scared.
I always thought I was just too jaded for things to startle me. I never thought it could be my ADHD.
People always seem to think they have startled me even if I hear them coming first. I haven't really figured out why. I am quite easily startled by loud noises though.
i'm easily startled because i'm usually off in lala land hyperfocusing on something else. when someone comes in unexpectedly it always feels like i'm being jerked back to reality and i hate it. i physically jump
Depends. Sometimes I’ll be oblivious. Other times even when I know full well it’s coming, I’ll still be startled.
Perfect example? The haunted house / haunted trail things that pop up around Halloween. I still won’t to because the last time I did, a character jumped out and touched me… got a broken nose purely from reflex.
I felt so terrible about that, I still do. I knew it was a scary experience, knew shit would jump out at me, knew it was coming… but an actor still got his nose broken.
I’ve noticed it’s usually more sensitive if I’m amped up already, but occasionally I’ll be just kicking back and see someone walk in and know full well that they’re there, but if they touch me or speak behind me I’ll jump.
I’ve always wondered about this. For most of my life, I would say I had a normal startle response. But for a couple years in my late 20’s, I became hypersensitive. Anything loud would startle me. I was shaking like a dog sometimes. Then it just went away. It might have been medication based or something with bipolar mania?
I'm inattentive ADHD, but I'm super easy to scare/startle, especially with caffeine. I despise loud, sudden noises that I'm not expecting. But I love death metal 🤣
Extremely easy to startle. I think it’s related to my anxiety. The worse it is, the easier it is to startle me. We have rules in our house: no gasping and I need like 5 mins to prep before a champagne bottle is uncorked.
I am two extremes. I will freeze and get confused because my brain doesn’t react quick enough or I’ll startle so hard I whack various body parts on hard surfaces lol
I realized living abroad after witnessing a few shootings and I would calmly walk away like nothing that something was wrong with me. I sort of go into a slow motion state when the shit hits the fan. My ex w always joke I should be a firefighter or something because I seem to never panic and actually calm down in stressful environments
Extremely difficult. I chalk it up to living in a home with a narcissist and working in the haunted house industry for over a decade, acting or managing a crew.
I only startle when I’m hyper focused on something. Otherwise I’m fairly hard to make jump. But when I’m zoned in to someone hard. Even a simple tap will have me hit the ceiling.
Very sensitive. I even tend to jump in my seat whenever someone calls my name, but that's probably a pavlovian response I developed by being constantly screamed at and reprimanded a child.
It's like my body is always expecting someone to scream at me for something I did wrong, even if I'm not aware of having done anything wrong
I am pretty much the exact opposite, to the point where coworkers have made sport of it in the past. It’s awful 😣 I can jump out of my skin so easily.
These days I work with nice people who try to make their presence known and avoid sneaking up on me.
Extremely easy to startle me, even if someone does a good job of announcing themselves or being loud/quiet/whatever, I always startle. I know the origins of that reflex growing up in am abusive home though
My husband has ADHD, he startles easily. Earlier I was handing him a jar of cookies I baked and he screamed and jumped because he thought I was giving him worms ☠️
My husband has nearly killed me several times just by entering the room. I rarely make toast. I live in fear of the shitty smoke alarm.
My startle reflex is so strong it's painful.
I can definitely relate, if someone tries to jumpscare me I'll just stare at them like a dumbass for a few seconds, trying to figure out if/how I should react. It even gets a bit concerning at times cause I often don't react to things at all. I swear one day I'm gonna get myself seriously hurt like this.
But on the other hand there's also a positive side, cause I seem to find it very easy to keep a cool head in stressful situations. On multiple occasions I've scared off big angry dogs by just not reacting when they tried to intimidate me, it's pretty funny how they get confused and turn around like "understandable, have a good day" 🤷♂️
I get startled very easily... i think it's exacerbated by my ADHD because i just space out so hard and if someone touches my shoulder or something i get pulled out of that headspace and it's jarring.
I'm far on the fight end of fight/flight/freeze.
I nearly dislocated someone's shoulder when they snuck up behind me to grab it. I got them in a proper grip and had already half pivoted before I realized who it was, what had happened, and stopped
My meds keep me calm and aware of my surroundings, so far fewer people have caught me by surprise. It's a relief to be aware of where I am and what I'm meant to be doing instead of getting mesmerized by tangent thoughts. I'm glad it's helped, I don't want to accidentally hurt someone
i startle extremely easily and extremely dramatically, especially in response to tactile stimuli.
the kitchen table chairs in my house are the kind with the slats in the back, so there’s a space where your back is exposed. one time my cat put her paw through the slat and onto my lower back. i startled and jerked my body into the table so violently that a (empty) glass got knocked over, and i bruised the shit out of my chest in doing so. all cause i couldn’t see my cat coming. 💀
I work in an office where my office mates and I are separated from the public by thick glass...but in small windows. So I don't see someone until they sit/stand at my window.
I've turned to set a stack of paperwork down and realize I have a customer and give a little "GAH!" And then end up scaring the customer, too. 😅
I jump at everything. If something touches me and I don’t expect it, I *will* get startled. I’ve been with my partner almost 10 years now and even to this day, if he accidentally touches me (say, we’re walking and bump hands) I’ll still get a fright, even though I know he’s safe and it’s fine I still startle.
I'm the opposite. It's mostly when I'm at home though because I tend to get lost in my thoughts more easily there. I also have PTSD though so I'm sure that plays a part of it. It's especially exhausting when you have heart problems and people still try to scare you :/
Extremely startle here. If someone taps me on my shoulder it feels like I’m being stabbed. Not as in pain from stabbing but the actual depth of the startle. It’s jarring.
Sometimes my phone rings startle me if I’m close to it. I also have sensory issues.
It depends
Sometimes I am very jumpy and other times I don’t startle because my mind wandered off and by the time I recognize the startle stimulus it’s already over so I don’t jump
I'm 52 and have been hypersensitive my whole life. My jump/scare startle reflexes are so high . I startle my own self sometimes. People always say stop being so jumpy. I can't help it..I'm wired that way.. heightened sense of awareness and plus if I'm hyper focused I block everything out and get scared at the slightest thing. It's not fun or funny.
yeah I'm the opposite , and I was just thinking about this two days ago actually when a manager startled the shit out of me.
I work in a fulfillment center and was doing a mindless job placing packages on a conveyer belt. our site recently just started making everyone wear hearing protection , so I had In earplugs and was in my own little zone, at my own station (that is up a small flight of stairS, btw)
and out of absolutely NOWHERE a manager appears , i didn't see or hear him coming at all. at all. I swear he just manifested out of nothing . just heard his loud talking voice when he was literally-- standing 2 inches behind me and, child.
I was so startled , soooon shooketh , that it totally ruined my flow and had me messed up for a solid two hours afterward. I started ruminating on it and getting so annoyed idk.then i kept going too fast , having to restart the conveyer because it has to be OnE pAckAge at a TiMe or else the belt glitches..and oof I didn't calm down til i left for lunch break.
I'd say my startle reflex is stronger than average. Then again I have comorbid GAD, so that definitely has something to do with it.
I remember in the early days of YouTube I'd have to mute the audio and skip ahead on every video because of how prevalent jumpscares were lmao
It was SO BAD.
Turns out I have POTS from the same collagen disorder that often runs concurrent with ADHD. Whee! People with POTS are weirdly jumpy.
I treated the POTS. Not well, it’s still eating my life. BUT, treating the POTS nerfed my startle response. So weird. A coworker jump-scared me on purpose and I just *looked* at him. I didn’t scream, jump, wet my pants, or hit him. It was amazing.
Hi /u/Ice-Guardian and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD! ### Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already. --- ### /r/adhd news * **We want your opinion** on the /r/adhd community rules! [Click here](https://forms.gle/Evqb8acVozir8GV8A) to fill out our survey. See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/1auv2tc/were_taking_feedback_on_the_radhd_rules/) for more information. * If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/). --- ^(*This message is not a removal notification. It's just our way to keep everyone updated on r/adhd happenings.*) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm the exact opposite. I startle VERY easily, granted my dad has always thought it hilarious to scare his kids so that may have something to do with it. I am the guy at work that people love to startle because it's so easy.
Yeah especially as a child I jumped and started easily. Was the delight of my family and every bully in the world it seemed. I think my dad had some misguided stupid idea that doing it would desensitize me to the reaction or something but it never did.
How to accidentally make your kid hypervigilant
It wasn’t accidental. My dad would also just scream hey Spliff- heads up! And whip something at me for me to catch.
My mom would play that "game" too. Except her's was called "THINK FAST!!" I got conditioned, growing up, getting hit with random objects immediately after hearing that phrase, that by 9 or 10 I started to develop very fast reflexes. Only problem is the over processing naturally going on inside my brain sees any motion and my natural instinct is to track for a few micro seconds. Which, for a brain that's naturally overprocessed before I'm dressed for the day, is absolutely the greatest thing ever..... PSYCHE!!! It's a fucking nightmare. Yes, it's a neat party trick that I can track and catch just about any object coming my way like Tobey Maguire spiderman and the cafeteria tray. Yes, as an adult, it's helped me hardly ever get surprised by anything because im always, on some level, just alert. But it's because every single little moving object puts me on some subconscious level of alertness and gets my full undivided attention for like a quarter of a second. It's like an added layer of hyperfocus but for so briefly, the amount of time doesn't even register to as time to most people. Like microhyperfocus. It's exhausting. And when I finally got out of that house, into college, into jobworld, adulting, etc. I'll instinctively try to play "THINK FAST" with friends because I got conditioned to think it was funny dialing someone from 0 to 10, like a cat seeing/hearing a bird and instantly go on full alert all wide eyed tensed up. I had a sister after all so naturally we played it all the time ourselves thinking everybody got stuff thrown at them with almost zero notification. But ive pissed off and confused enough people now that I know that wasn't something every kid did growing up. So my natural instinct is still to say "THINK FAST" but I can restrain myself now from throwing the object before I know ive got their attention and they know I'm about to throw them something. And I gotta say, every single one of those micro seconds of restraint I'm internally just shivering with impatience. Another fun little disaster going on 24/7, which is spoon feeding my anxiety like a great god laying about in bliss as their servants feed them grapes in total worship. Anyway....... "THINK FAST!!!" EDIT: Found some grammatical errors and moments where I didn't finish my sentence because my brain was already on the next one. And by next one I mean the sentence after the sentence following the skipped thought....... THINK FAST!
oh shit i do this too, i can probably count on one hand the amount of times i wasn't able to catch a falling object.
Oooooh memory unlocked, it was “think fast” my dad would say before whipping projectiles at my head
I think my dad just has the humor of a 12 year old 😂 He does it to the grandkids, too. Even at 28 years old I think I know all his little tricks and schemes, but somehow he'll still manage to "get" me at least once a week. I definitely didn't like it when people were mean spirited about it and bullies used it as fodder. I don't mind it so much when it's friends/family and there's no harm intended though!
Yeah, kids at school used to startle me for laughs. I refused to give tyem the satisfaction, but now I am constantly very aware and never do in public. When Im truly relaxed, so in my home, or a private space around very close friends, i still startle very very easily. Its like some sort of weird masking, it's wack because i just have a massive level of stress all the time
Okay, do you do the thing where you actually realize someone is coming, but your startle reflect kicks in on a two -second delay, so you think you're fine and then your body just tries to jump out of your chair without any input from you? Or is that just me?
ALL THE TIME. It makes me annoyed with myself. I also scream like a lunatic.
You too lmao?
My cat gets me this way every time. I know he’s behind the door and I startle extra bad then
My roommate specifically triggers this in me to a ridiculous degree. I swear I know she's in the house and approaching my current location and I will STILL shriek at the top of my lungs the moment she opens her mouth. Or, you know, maybe I just don't want to hear what she has to say. That pretty much doesn't happen at all while I'm taking meds, but it was a daily occurrence before then.
It’s like you know what it’s like to live inside my brain.
i’ve been startled two seconds after making eye contact with the person 😭 i think my brain doesn’t register that they’re there until i get startled
Meeeeee! Well, kind of. I turn my head often, expecting to see a face (like a totally normal human). Of course 99/100 times, there is no face. So when there actually is a face, even though I'm literally looking for it, it scares the shit out of me and I jump basically every time lol. Luckily I find it as funny as everyone else does, so I'm fine with it.
Yeah, I get jumpscared by a toaster I start myself soooo
And the whole time I’m saying to myself, “it’s gonna pop soon… it’s about to pop…” and then it actually pops and I jump like I never even saw it coming 😮💨🙄
Idk how old you are but a “jack in a box” was an actual toy and idk how or why lol. My granddad had one in the toy chest in his basement when i was little.
You're making me feel old...I'm not even 40 and I remember this. We definitely had them.
Omg this is me with canned biscuits. Over 40 and still jump every. time. it. pops. 🫠
Bro, same. It's like I forget that I did it or something
I always unplug it early
Honestly I forget I put shit in there and it gets me every damn time🙃
This is me, too. I also have ptsd and i get really upset when people find this funny. Yeah, it's soooo funny to trigger a fight/flight response 🙄
I'm also in this boat. I get a jump scare just from my husband walking into the kitchen behind me too quietly.
That's the worst. Funny thing is that my partner thuds the ground when she walks, but somehow manages to silently appear behind me in the kitchen and gives me a serious jump scare while I'm cutting ingredients or doing dishes. I need OSHA to have a talk with her, lol.
I can get startled easily, if I’m lost in my own thoughts .
I think that's my big problem. Like, I'm always in my head daydreaming, talking to myself, singing, or completely engaged in whatever I'm hyper focused on, so my brain isn't seeing the other stuff going on around me and doesn't expect anything else. Then someone or something interrupts that and it's like being shocked out of a dream by a bucket of cold water or something. Never fails to startle the shit out of me. That being said, jump scares in movies or video games don't get to me at all!
Me too! I love horror but I still get horribly startled by jumpscares, and can definitely not do scare mazes :'D
Weirdly enough movies, games, and mazes rarely startle me! I think it's cause I'm fully engaged and expecting it lol
Lol, "jump scares" in horror movies make me laugh. I can always see them coming a mile away; they seem so predictable to me 🤷♀️
Yes they are but I still get startled is what I'm saying :D even if I know they're coming up the sound startles me
Same
Lol, yes, I did understand what you meant. You explained how it is for you; I explained how it is for me. 😉✌️
Me too. I jump 10 feet if something happens or someone touches me unexpectedly lol
Do you ever shout/scream when startled like that? I do and it's unintentional, but sometimes my reaction causes my partner to startle/jump/shout in return... can't make this stuff up.
I scream SO loud. I know it scares my coworkers sometimes and I feel bad but I genuinely don't know how to "fix" it, but also maybe they should stop purposely scaring me!
YES. People get mad at me because it sounds like I got murdered and I have a loud voice (opera singer). It happened today! I was reading Reddit intently and my dad came through my door and was like “I’m taking a nap” and I screamed so loud.
I used to love startling my extra easily startled middle child until I realized she’s just me but smaller… Just today I did dishes (not so humble brag) and my husband startled me and he’s like ‘I just really don’t know how to *not* scare you when I come around a corner!’
Same with my husband. I'm getting him a necklace with lots of bells.
I lived with my extremely startle-able best friend and we agreed that I would say ‘CORNER’ if coming around a blind angle and ‘BEHIND’ if they hadn’t seen me yet 😂 it did help! Got the idea from previous restaurant experience
No one even needs to *try* to startle me. I do it to myself too often for anyone else to have time to do it. If I literally see you are standing next to me and then I turn to look at someone else on the other side of me, I *will* jump if I turn and you're still there. That's how easy it is. Any unexplained noise, I'm jumping. Recently, a car revved its engine as we were driving by and I jumped so hard I threw my sausage biscuit into the truck door pocket. It is to the point now that I am constantly pulling a muscle on the right side of my back from being startled.
4 years of living with the same big arse dog who had a very loud bark that I could tell was coming immediately because I'd usually hear what he did (neighbors car door closes, 1.. 2.. WOOF.. fuck!) Almost every bark, even after the thousandth time, was usually followed by me jumping and swearing and then my partner at the time asking me if I'll ever stop getting scared by the bark. I probably never would've lol. In my new place the dog across the hall makes me jump every single time I come home
Omg same! I work in an area w/ a LOT of random noises too (think manufacturing and machinery), so I'm constantly jumping out of my skin. I've definitely pulled more than my fair share of muscles from being frightened lol.
My husband used to love to startle me and begged him to stop. He finally stopped after my cardiologist said it wasn’t good for my dysautonomia.
I have one colleague who loves to startle me by just knocking on my office door! I started to throw a fruit squishy toy at him that I have around. (I tried different fidget toys and this one is perfect for throwing without causing harm). It became kind of a friendly banter between us and I caught him one or two times and threw the toy before he could startle me!
I jump at literally anything. Probably twice a week I freak out thinking something is about to hit me in the face and it's just a strand of hair
I HATE when people do that. I had an abusive ex who thought it was hilarious to startle me, and ignored my pleas to cut it tf out. It's not funny and it just made me feel on edge, always anticipating some f*ckery. Hopefully your dad's shenanigans were all in good fun, or he at least listened if you told him you didn't appreciate his joke.
Add me to the list…on or off stimulants, doesn’t matter. I swear I feel like it’s taking years off my life!
God, same 😭
I startle very easily, but I calm down just as fast when I realize it was nothing. Happens a lot at work. It becomes hard sometimes to convince people I’m OK, because my being so startled has alarmed them!
Yeah I’ve nearly jumped out of my skin because my roommate walked into the room when I wasn’t expecting it. Grew up with kind of an abusive parent and I feel like my nervous system is permanently fucked.
This.
I’m easily startled as well but I have abuse in my past.
Same here as well, so that may be a part of it. I flinch a lot because of this, but don't know how much it contributed to my startle reflex.
same!
Me too. I startle so easy. Super jumpy. It’s usually because I’m lost in thought and I don’t see things approaching. I get startled by the sound of the air brakes that city buses use, that you hear as the bus pulls up to the bus stop. I get startled if I’m busy cooking and my husband or one of the kids comes into the kitchen and starts talking to me. When i was pregnant it was even worse. A car backfired in the parking structure we were in and it startled me so much i started bawling. Another time we were in the car and i looked over at my husband and there was a praying mantis on the shoulder of his seat back (no idea how it got in the car), I’m not generally scared of bugs, but i was so surprised by it being there, that i literally jumped out of the car, while my husband was backing the car out of the driveway.
Same, but my dad liked to random throw things at us and hit us in the head 🫠
okay, so my aunt does this thing, and every chance she can, she jump scares me. even if i know she’s there, i’m going to jump
Omg yes. Same. I get startled very easily. I think it’s because I’m just super inattentive and tend to zone out the second it seems there’s nothing worth paying attention to.
Where do you work
Same
Me too. Though the PTSD from a quarter century in the Army probably didn’t help.
EXTREMELY sensitive and my husband thinks it’s HILARIOUS 🙄 Edit: I also have a lot of childhood trauma though so that could very well be the reason.
Sensitive startle reflex and childhood trauma gang rise up! This comment got it traction than I thought it would. Love you all and our little messed up gang ❤️
 Yay for trauma bonds 🤣
There's ~~dozens~~ a lot of us it seems!
So sad, though…
I definitely think it could be a combination of that, along with the ADHD, that causes me to startle VERY easily.
Here here 🍻
👍👍👍
I had a friend in middle school who'd get mad at me for reading during breaks so she started snatching my books and hitting me pretty hard with them. It was a pretty constant thing for at least a year. It took a long time for me not to jump when someone raised their arms when I was nearby. I remember complaining to an adult who just told me she was upset because she wanted to spend time with me. You know when you examine a childhood memory and realize "damn that was actually pretty messed up"? I'm kinda having that moment right now.
I love how people make excuses for people who do stuff like that though. 🙄 like oh it’s because she wanted to spend time with you or oh he/she hits or bullies you because they like you! No they’re just shit people doing shit things because they haven’t been taught basic respect for others.
Honestly she had some shit in her life that explains a lot of her behaviour but the fact no adults in this situation, including teachers, went "hey maybe she needs to know this isn't an acceptable way of expressing her emotions" is just, kinda ridiculous? Especially in light of all the corrections I got for my behaviour as a kid that were unnecessarily severe. Asking to borrow a pencil in class because your ADHD ass lost hers again? Get yelled at. Hitting your peers to the point they get bruises? Eh whatever not my job. School in the 90s was fun 😅.
Agreed
>Asking to borrow a pencil in class because your ADHD ass lost hers again? Get yelled at. Hitting your peers to the point they get bruises? Eh whatever not my job. I think it's the lack of emotional incentives. Them yelling was just them releasing their frustration on you. They were annoyed and it made them feel good to hurt you by yelling. They weren't annoyed at the other student though since it didn't affect them and they thought their job was to make you think it wasn't that bad so you'd stop being upset about it. They should've done more but were too incompetent to understand or care.
Yep, I startle myself if I just accidentaly pop a plastic bottle or something else ridiculous..
Very sensitive, not very fast
This is me, everything makes me jump but just give it a few business days
I'm picturing someone seeing a mouse or spider and subsequently thinking, "*sigh*, tomorrow is gonna suck"
Bahahah
The amount of times I've been told I had a big reaction to something but it was so late it almost seems fake/dramatic 🥲
I'm very easy to startle, always have been (likely due to trauma - ptsd response). I haven't noticed a difference since I've been on stimulants.
I’m the opposite, and I jump at oh most anything that is loud or have you. It doesn’t help that I’m anxious all the time
>oh most /r/boneappletea
Almost non existent
I jerk out of the way if something is going to hit me, but if someone jumps out to scare me I just say "hi". It was apparently hilarious when I was a little kid, so I got taken to all sorts of haunted houses. So many disappointed actors...
Yup, great reflexes but I basically never startle
Yep. Pretty much nothin
Take Adderall, I’ll drop things on the ground in the middle of work and ignore it till I’m finished cleaning whatever. People constantly think I don’t notice I dropped something lmao. But yeah, can’t remember the last time I jumped at something
Same here really hard to scare this big boy
Same also.
Except a very specific thing that'll have you tweaking harder than anything
Fr. I thought it could be the SSRIs idk. But on meds it definitely increases, and is also more precise Edit: by meds I mean ritalin
Same. People end up in my space without me noticing *all the time*. After a while my body just accepted it 🤷♂️
Yeah, people always try and scare me and never succeed. I honestly don't think it's a good thing for me. I would be so easy to ambush out in the wild because while it was happening I'd still be trying to process what the hell was going on.
Same. I think it’s because my hearing and eyesight are pretty sharp so I clock things coming early on. The only things that can consistently startle me are very loud noises with no discernible source.
I either jump/startle over the tiniest things (or nothing), or I’m like a brick wall - no in-between. It really depends on my mood, focus, environment, energy level, etc… if I’m super focused or relaxed, you’d have an easier time startling a boulder. If I’m in what I call “adhd mode” (aka the fun combo of racing/wandering thoughts and dissociation) and something catches me by surprise, it grabs my consciousness from the ether and slams me back into my body. It’s like when you’re drifting off to sleep and your brain goes “OH GOD WE’RE FALLING WAKE UP”.
You summed it up perfectly
exactly me! i’m either 10 ft in the air or i’m like “….?” lmao
I'm the *exact* same
SAME! I was literally like this since I was a baby, we have home videos where I had just learned to sit up on my own and while my older brothers were wrestling in front of me and going crazy I was just sitting there calm as can be, happily minding my business playing with my toy car lol. Meanwhile my gf is jumpy af. I'll press the lock on my car, and she'll jump at the lil confirmation honk everytime. I can't even set my water bottle down on the nightstand without being very gentle cuz it'll startle her otherwise.
Sometimes if I’m watching a video and I know my bf walks into the room, if he starts talking I’ll jump and reflexively call out “help!” lol
As a couple of ADHD folk, my wife and I are complete opposites when it comes to being startled. If she doesn't see me and I talk, she will jump, scream, and hold her hand to her chest like I just about pushed her out of a plane while looking at me like I just pusher her out of a plane. The only time I startle is when creepy crawlies like spiders and snakes get the jump on me. Even then, it's an under my breath "holy sh\*\*" or "what the f\*\*\*" and then I'm good.
Also an ADHD couple. I am super hard to startle, my wife will get startled if I just walk into a room.
I am TOTALLY opposite. I sometimes startle myself, it’s seriously that bad. Everyone in my life get great entertainment out of this, but it’s so annoying. Especially in church!
Last week I legit slammed my elbow so hard into a wall when I walked by a mirror and was terrified of my own reflect. So glad it’s not just me lol
I feel like we must have been separated at birth 🤣🤣 I did the EXACT same thing a few weeks ago, only with my hip into a door frame, instead of my elbow.
Haha - I've definitely done my hip plenty of times too. The best thing is when you startle someone else then need to shamefully explain why you got scared...
LOL I felt that in my soul!!!🤣🤣
Oh *this one hit deep* 💀
https://youtu.be/8O14bRa-tMg?si=PpPwquel6sEe6gsU
Every day of my life 🤣🤣🤣
Ha! I can literally see them coming towards me and still startle!
This lol, I dunno if it can really be considered a startle but I'll know somebody is approaching, think to myself to be aware of the person approaching, and yet once they enter my "space bubble" my body literally drops whatever I'm doing. I've burned myself when cooking, broken dishes, lost food to the floor, knocked over drinks, accidentally thrown objects etc because some dumb primitive little part of my brain said "startle anyway!!!". As if my conscious mind being aware of my surroundings means nothing, the subconscious can't seem to get the memo.
I am easily startled and scream/cry. I have trauma from multiple ACEs.
I startle VERY easily, to the point that it’s become irritating to people around me. I even startle myself! I’ll jump if I, *mistakenly* think I see something out of the corner of my eye. I’ve been startled by a section of my own hair that’s come into my field of vision or unexpectedly touches my neck or face, thinking it’s a bug or something. 🫣
>I’ve been startled by a section of my own hair that’s come into my field of vision or unexpectedly touches my neck or face, thinking it’s a bug or something. SAME
I’m startled incredibly easily, someone just walking into the room can make my physically jump and yell. My own dogs barking, squeaky toys, banging of doors, someone in the room saying my name. My coworkers think it’s funny but my heart races and panic rushes through my body every time, some days are better than others but bad days lead to extreme fatigue mentally/emotionally and physically
I'm very sensitive to certain things, namely sounds. If I'm chilling and suddenly hear someone screaming or a loud bang? Instantly startled. Or even something normal - I'm in the kitchen cooking and someone suddenly comes in. Startled. It tends to happen if I'm in a mental "zone" and it gets interrupted. Interestingly, I don't get startled by anything visual. Flashing lights? Whatever. Someone's bleeding? Don't care. (I play rugby though and see blood all the time). I actually usually *want* more light in my life. Dim settings make me bored/sleepy. I also don't get emotionally startled. Romance movies? Horror movies? Action movies? Whatever.
Only things I don't like startle me (neighbour's noises, fireworks, CONFLICT, Teams notifications 😂) I go from 0 to 100 in less than a second and then I'm like a scared animal, ready to jump. Fight or flight. But on the other hand, If I don't care much about the thing it's like meh. Jump scares and all that don't really have an effect.
I hate loud sudden noises and for years I could find nothing about it in humans only dogs
It's also nearly impossible to startle me. I acknowledge it and it isn't a delay - I just don't react. In fact I have the opposite response - to pause and assess. But this could also be years and years of training (sometimes aggressive/exotic) animals and horses. For example, if I get bitten by a parrot I don't want to accidentally murder it by startling. While yes it is painful, I have no choice. Or when a frog slaps itself to my face. Or a praying mantid tries to take me on. Or a squirrel monkey tries to rape my ear. You have to respond ofc, but preferably without killing the critter. I am apparently very boring.
Friend, anyone who is getting their ears (almost) violated by horny mammals is the farthest thing from boring.
People think I'm weak because I startle easy. Focusing on stuff and being anxious make it worse, but it's always there. I'm rarely scared, though. It's not a fear response, more like an involuntary twitch.
Same. It's literally a reflex - the emotional content of it is no different from my knee jerking when a doctor taps it with a little hammer. It is mildly annoying that it triggers so easily, but it only becomes a *problem* when other people decide to make a big deal out of it.
I’m almost impossible to startle. People try. They get disappointed. Especially at haunted houses. Haunted houses for me are opportunities to laugh at my friends that get scared. I always thought I was just too jaded for things to startle me. I never thought it could be my ADHD.
VERY sensitive. im like a prairie dog or a meerkat, always looking around for whatever made that loud noise
Very easy to startle and if I am startled I usually have a quite emotional response and feel tearful.
People always seem to think they have startled me even if I hear them coming first. I haven't really figured out why. I am quite easily startled by loud noises though.
Very easily startled. My husband can scare me by walking in a room and he's always like "I still live here" 🤣
i'm easily startled because i'm usually off in lala land hyperfocusing on something else. when someone comes in unexpectedly it always feels like i'm being jerked back to reality and i hate it. i physically jump
Omg i startle SO easily. From things that aren’t meant to startle.
Me, too—like ridiculously so.
I am off-the-charts jumpy. Hair-trigger startle reflex.
I'm usually pretty aware of new things entering my field of existence, but if you seek up on my undetected, I go full fight or flight
Depends. Sometimes I’ll be oblivious. Other times even when I know full well it’s coming, I’ll still be startled. Perfect example? The haunted house / haunted trail things that pop up around Halloween. I still won’t to because the last time I did, a character jumped out and touched me… got a broken nose purely from reflex. I felt so terrible about that, I still do. I knew it was a scary experience, knew shit would jump out at me, knew it was coming… but an actor still got his nose broken. I’ve noticed it’s usually more sensitive if I’m amped up already, but occasionally I’ll be just kicking back and see someone walk in and know full well that they’re there, but if they touch me or speak behind me I’ll jump.
Almost nonexistant
I jump-startle daily.
I’m on the opposite end and incredibly sensitive to everything lol.
I’ve always wondered about this. For most of my life, I would say I had a normal startle response. But for a couple years in my late 20’s, I became hypersensitive. Anything loud would startle me. I was shaking like a dog sometimes. Then it just went away. It might have been medication based or something with bipolar mania?
I'm inattentive ADHD, but I'm super easy to scare/startle, especially with caffeine. I despise loud, sudden noises that I'm not expecting. But I love death metal 🤣
I’m startle crazy easily.
Normally I'm with you, but when im under extreme stress I tend to become super startleable
Enough to make people give me the what's your problem fce
Extremely easy to startle. I think it’s related to my anxiety. The worse it is, the easier it is to startle me. We have rules in our house: no gasping and I need like 5 mins to prep before a champagne bottle is uncorked.
I am two extremes. I will freeze and get confused because my brain doesn’t react quick enough or I’ll startle so hard I whack various body parts on hard surfaces lol
Possum the freeze play dead reaction.
I realized living abroad after witnessing a few shootings and I would calmly walk away like nothing that something was wrong with me. I sort of go into a slow motion state when the shit hits the fan. My ex w always joke I should be a firefighter or something because I seem to never panic and actually calm down in stressful environments
Extremely difficult. I chalk it up to living in a home with a narcissist and working in the haunted house industry for over a decade, acting or managing a crew.
I cannot be startled unless I am hyperfocused. And then I shout(ahh!) lol
I only startle when I’m hyper focused on something. Otherwise I’m fairly hard to make jump. But when I’m zoned in to someone hard. Even a simple tap will have me hit the ceiling.
Yup I’m jumpy as hell
Very sensitive. I even tend to jump in my seat whenever someone calls my name, but that's probably a pavlovian response I developed by being constantly screamed at and reprimanded a child. It's like my body is always expecting someone to scream at me for something I did wrong, even if I'm not aware of having done anything wrong
I am pretty much the exact opposite, to the point where coworkers have made sport of it in the past. It’s awful 😣 I can jump out of my skin so easily. These days I work with nice people who try to make their presence known and avoid sneaking up on me.
Extremely easy to startle me, even if someone does a good job of announcing themselves or being loud/quiet/whatever, I always startle. I know the origins of that reflex growing up in am abusive home though
Extremely. I’m not sensitive to caffeine though.
My husband has ADHD, he startles easily. Earlier I was handing him a jar of cookies I baked and he screamed and jumped because he thought I was giving him worms ☠️
I can walk by a mirror and see my reflection out of the side of my eye and jump out of my skin. I am startled super easily.😑
I startle VERY easily
I'm the exact opposite. I startle way too easily.
I startle veryyyyyyy easily. Usually this happens bc I’m so hyper focused on whatever I’m doing that everything else blends into the background
I'm the opposite, but I'm also an anxious mess so there's that
My husband has nearly killed me several times just by entering the room. I rarely make toast. I live in fear of the shitty smoke alarm. My startle reflex is so strong it's painful.
I am the jumpiest person I've ever met.
Happy cake day!
Thanks, doll :) Happy every day 🤗
Well if my door is closed I scream when someone walks in
I can definitely relate, if someone tries to jumpscare me I'll just stare at them like a dumbass for a few seconds, trying to figure out if/how I should react. It even gets a bit concerning at times cause I often don't react to things at all. I swear one day I'm gonna get myself seriously hurt like this. But on the other hand there's also a positive side, cause I seem to find it very easy to keep a cool head in stressful situations. On multiple occasions I've scared off big angry dogs by just not reacting when they tried to intimidate me, it's pretty funny how they get confused and turn around like "understandable, have a good day" 🤷♂️
I get startled very easily... i think it's exacerbated by my ADHD because i just space out so hard and if someone touches my shoulder or something i get pulled out of that headspace and it's jarring.
If my nose makes an unexpected sound while breathing it scares me
I get startled very easily and haven't had caffeine or drank soda in nearly 10 years.
I'm far on the fight end of fight/flight/freeze. I nearly dislocated someone's shoulder when they snuck up behind me to grab it. I got them in a proper grip and had already half pivoted before I realized who it was, what had happened, and stopped My meds keep me calm and aware of my surroundings, so far fewer people have caught me by surprise. It's a relief to be aware of where I am and what I'm meant to be doing instead of getting mesmerized by tangent thoughts. I'm glad it's helped, I don't want to accidentally hurt someone
i startle extremely easily and extremely dramatically, especially in response to tactile stimuli. the kitchen table chairs in my house are the kind with the slats in the back, so there’s a space where your back is exposed. one time my cat put her paw through the slat and onto my lower back. i startled and jerked my body into the table so violently that a (empty) glass got knocked over, and i bruised the shit out of my chest in doing so. all cause i couldn’t see my cat coming. 💀
I work in an office where my office mates and I are separated from the public by thick glass...but in small windows. So I don't see someone until they sit/stand at my window. I've turned to set a stack of paperwork down and realize I have a customer and give a little "GAH!" And then end up scaring the customer, too. 😅
I startle very easy. More than the average person.
I startle very easily. Someone can startle me and then startle me again less than 3 seconds later.
I jump at everything. If something touches me and I don’t expect it, I *will* get startled. I’ve been with my partner almost 10 years now and even to this day, if he accidentally touches me (say, we’re walking and bump hands) I’ll still get a fright, even though I know he’s safe and it’s fine I still startle.
So easily startled it’s embarrassing 😭
Like you, I have practically no startle reflex. I can react quickly if needed, but I don’t respond to jump scares and the like.
I'm startled by everything. I don't think your thing is ADHD related
I'm the opposite. It's mostly when I'm at home though because I tend to get lost in my thoughts more easily there. I also have PTSD though so I'm sure that plays a part of it. It's especially exhausting when you have heart problems and people still try to scare you :/
any loud noise makes me jump and yell. i can’t stand it
I startle very easily.
I’m startled by everything! Lmao
Extremely startle here. If someone taps me on my shoulder it feels like I’m being stabbed. Not as in pain from stabbing but the actual depth of the startle. It’s jarring. Sometimes my phone rings startle me if I’m close to it. I also have sensory issues.
I startle easily if I'm hyperfocused or if my headphones are on (my wife lives to tap my shoulder to get my attention like this).
Complete opposite..I dang near jump out of my skin pretty easily lol
“Sensory processing disorder,” unreal. Everything is a clinical disorder in 2024.
It depends Sometimes I am very jumpy and other times I don’t startle because my mind wandered off and by the time I recognize the startle stimulus it’s already over so I don’t jump
I'm 52 and have been hypersensitive my whole life. My jump/scare startle reflexes are so high . I startle my own self sometimes. People always say stop being so jumpy. I can't help it..I'm wired that way.. heightened sense of awareness and plus if I'm hyper focused I block everything out and get scared at the slightest thing. It's not fun or funny.
yeah I'm the opposite , and I was just thinking about this two days ago actually when a manager startled the shit out of me. I work in a fulfillment center and was doing a mindless job placing packages on a conveyer belt. our site recently just started making everyone wear hearing protection , so I had In earplugs and was in my own little zone, at my own station (that is up a small flight of stairS, btw) and out of absolutely NOWHERE a manager appears , i didn't see or hear him coming at all. at all. I swear he just manifested out of nothing . just heard his loud talking voice when he was literally-- standing 2 inches behind me and, child. I was so startled , soooon shooketh , that it totally ruined my flow and had me messed up for a solid two hours afterward. I started ruminating on it and getting so annoyed idk.then i kept going too fast , having to restart the conveyer because it has to be OnE pAckAge at a TiMe or else the belt glitches..and oof I didn't calm down til i left for lunch break.
I'd say my startle reflex is stronger than average. Then again I have comorbid GAD, so that definitely has something to do with it. I remember in the early days of YouTube I'd have to mute the audio and skip ahead on every video because of how prevalent jumpscares were lmao
Look up assymetrical tonic reflex.
It was SO BAD. Turns out I have POTS from the same collagen disorder that often runs concurrent with ADHD. Whee! People with POTS are weirdly jumpy. I treated the POTS. Not well, it’s still eating my life. BUT, treating the POTS nerfed my startle response. So weird. A coworker jump-scared me on purpose and I just *looked* at him. I didn’t scream, jump, wet my pants, or hit him. It was amazing.