Startle Response

I get this for some sounds even if they are not loud and even if I know to expect them when my hyperacusis is bad. For example, someone opening a canned drink while sitting at the same table as I am. I will see them lifting the tab and the sound won't be very loud but I flinch. Is this common?

I have been pointed to the DSM for this reaction. Because the sound isn't loud, it is likely it is the processing of the sound where the fault is.

 

I have the exaggerated startle reflex too and it is often small sounds that trigger it. It seems like a PTSD thing to me.

 

I have read PTSD can be a cause. I have type II bipolar disorder, which is also listed as a possible cause. I hate the startle response because it is a tell outing me as being "on the spectrum". People notice and it isn't as easily explained away as an auditory problem like sensitivity to louder noises is. Lots of people have it for chalkboard and squeaky shoe noises but that is more frequency related.

 

Even if I turn my volume down on my TV or a song, there are certain frequency that triggers me flinch; and when the sound is too full, even it's not loud at all and hardly hearable, it will give me a flinch.