What’s that Noise? Invasion of the Hums

Last year, my wife drew my attention to a low rumbling sound. She pointed out that at times, especially at night, you could hear a factory a few blocks from my house. I’d never been cognisant of the noise beforehand, but as soon as she raised my awareness, I immediately knew that it had always been there.

In the coming months, I couldn’t stop hearing it.

It seemed to have a subjective element. I heard it more often during busy times or when stressed. Popping my ears sometimes reduced or removed the sound. It was quite annoying.

What’s worse, it started to follow me. I would hear it in other places, like work. When I heard it on a trip to Canberra, I came to the conclusion that my ears or mind were making up the noise. It was all in my head!

Case closed.

The Global Invasion of the Hum

A couple of weeks ago I was driving and listening to AM radio (I’m such a fogey). My car has a display which shows top news items from the digital radio station that you’re listening to. On that day, the consol displayed a headline which said: “what is that low hum that people around the world are hearing?” (or something like that).

I was so astonished that I pulled over and immediately Googled “global hum”. I wasn’t alone! I read more in the coming days, apparently millions of us hear this hum. And it’s been happening for years.

According to the Guardian, around 4% of the world’s population hears a deep monotonous hum. This mysterious hum has been reported in numerous places in the Western world since at least the 1970’s. Sometimes the mystery has been solved, usually due to some industrial activity.

But mostly, it seems that some individuals, a lucky select few, can hear a hum without discernible origin, whilst their neighbours continue in blissful ignorance of the rumble.

Tinnitus Strikes?

One of the main theories of this phenomenon is that it is a type of tinnitus.

Tinnitus is a disorder which causes a sound to be heard subjectively which is not in the physical environment. About 10-15% of people worldwide have tinnitus but only a fraction of these finds their symptoms to be clinically distressing.

I have worked with many people with tinnitus. Most of these clients have previously worked in noisy environments and they have experienced some hearing loss. However, tinnitus does not occur only with hearing loss and can spontaneously occur.

My experience with tinnitus clients tells me that tinnitus often increases during times of stress, anxiety and anger. For some clients who aren’t good at identifying their emotions, tinnitus can serve as an alarm that they are not feeling emotionally okay.

Tinnitus can involve any sound, but it is most typically associated with a high tone. The global hum community can get quite irritated at the tinnitus theory. It can feel invalidating, like being told “ there, there, it’s all in your mind”.

And maybe they have a point. The world now is much fuller or man-made noises. There have been several cases in which the hum has been tracked to factories. In my own case, I will like industrial noise is at least part of the picture.

My Life as a Hum-Hearer

I no longer find the hum annoying, and I rarely notice it (but it’s been going strong since I started writing this article). I feel calm about the hum, because I have a comfortable theory about the hum. Being a psychologist, I have a psychological theory of it. I was interested to read in my research on the hum that an academic audiologist came to a similar conclusion to me. She said that when we focus intently on a noise:

“The perception of that sound can actually be perceived as being louder. If there is that connection between it sounding amplified, and that emotional connection is a negative connection, where it’s a fearful or worrisome reaction, it tends to create this… negative feedback loop.”

So, I’m happy to think that the hum is the product of a generally noisy environment and my overactive imagination. I’m now using the hum as an early warning signal that I might be getting stressed or worked up.

But to be honest, now that I feel that the hum is my friend, I hardly hear it at all.



Suite C5
102-106 Boyce Rd
Maroubra Junction, NSW 2035

info@hendriks.net.au
(02) 8958 2585

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