A long while back I was hanging out with one of my sisters and she said that she hears thunder in her head when she gets startled.
Me: “Scuse me. What?”
Her: “You know. That thunder you hear when someone startles you.”
Me: “Again. What?”
Her: “You don’t hear thunder when someone startles you?”
Me: “Uh, no.”
Her: “Oh. I thought that happened to everybody.”
Is this a thing? Does this happen to anybody else out there? She did struggle with depression for much of her life. Could that have had something to do with it?
Oh, wow, I never knew that was a known thing. I’ve been able to do that my whole life, but never talked about it and never really knew how to describe it even if I wanted to. It’s never happened to me involuntarily, though, and it doesn’t seem to kick in for loud noises. How interesting
I had a similar experience until I stumbled upon the subreddit some time ago. Discovering it was a strange mix of liberation and validation. I finally understood that this concept I’d been attempting to articulate to friends and family, only to be met with questioning looks as if they were asking, “Are you okay?”, was indeed a genuine thing.