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Northern Mum

Crossfitting, pancreas acting, single mum to three

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living with Ligyrophobia

Imagine a bonfire night without fireworks,

Imagine a christmas without crackers,

Imagine a party without balloons.

You have our world, all owing to the fact that twin girl has Ligyrophobia. She has lived with this condition for as long as we can remember and it haunts the whole family. As november fifth approaches we watch others start preparing to burn a guy alive, twin boy gazes longingly at the fireworks in the shop windows. But he can only look to bring even the idea of a firework into our home sets off twin girls condition dramatically.

And when the crackers hit the shops from about September onwards I have revert to online shopping so twin girl doesn’t even catch a glimpse of those lovely festive toys.

If you haven’t met a child with Ligyrophobia yet you probably don’t understand the devastating impact it has on us the parents. We long to be able to stamp gleefully on a balloon when the urge takes us. We dream of shooting rockets up into the sky and attending firework displays at Legoland. But the impact on twin girl’s Ligyrophobia would ensure we had to deal with a vast amount of tears, huge amounts of feet stamping and quite frankly its just not worth it.

The irony being that twin girls Ligyrophobia seems to come and go. If we turn up at a party and the fool who organised it has decided to put balloons out she seems to be able to cope if sweets are provided. We are off for lunch with Santa next week and she has managed to agree that she can bear the crackers if he brings her new shoes. Firework night is still a no go area but her flexibility in other areas gives us hope we too may one day light a rocket and hear it bang.

There is not a support group for parents with children suffering from Ligyrophobia but if others suffer along with me I am thinking of holding counselling sessions at my house every third tuesday of the month. Please bring cake, and walk quietly.

I am sure you are all aware of this debilitating condition but should you not be;

Ligyrophobia is the irrational fear of loud bangs.

Please have sympathy for us this christmas when you pull your cracker.

Comments

  1. Kylie Hodges (kykaree) says

    December 17, 2010 at 5:24 pm

    How fascinating, and rather frustrating, but I am sure I had this as a child. I am better now that I can rationalise it, but I had a series of traumatic events happen when I was little and sudden fear of loud bangs (in particular anything that sounded like a door) resulted. The very thought of someone stepping on a balloon terrifies me!

    I hope your daughter continues to get desensitised, it must be so annoying for her brother!

    Reply
  2. Mammywoo says

    December 17, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    You cracker me up. (see what I did there?)
    Annyway…

    In all seriousness can you not buy earmuffs for firework displays? Or is that stupidly naive of me? Poor little twin x

    Oh and poor you too x

    Reply
  3. Louise strachan says

    December 17, 2010 at 5:31 pm

    Like the blog – am new to blogging myself – scary cyber world!!

    Reply
  4. Expat Mum says

    December 18, 2010 at 12:27 am

    I must admit, I’d walk a mile to escape a balloon. Even though I know the sound isn’t going to hurt me, the lingering dread of the shock of the loud bang is awful. (I realise how pathetic that sounds as I’m writing this BTW.)

    One of my kids had a huge intolerance of very loud noise and we were constantly removing him from loud movie theatres, taking him home from air shows etc. He’s a bit better now but it limited what we did for a while.

    Reply
  5. Jo says

    December 18, 2010 at 3:41 pm

    Bless your little lady!! I am exactly the same, I hate banging things, didn’t realise there was a name for it! No matter how much I rationalise mentally that the bangs aren’t going to hurt me or be near me, my body reacts and squirms and runs away!! Can’t help myself! I blame my brother who used to chase me with balloons and pins.

    We remove the banging strip of crackers, and I’ve been known to take party poppers to pieces and throw the streamers everywhere. Balloons are banned from my house, much as I know I’m being daft watching my toddler chew one as its deflating physically hurts me. I can only cope with fireworks from my window or at an organised display where I kid myself that the staff can make it all stop if they want to. And most shamefully, when I worked in a pub I used to pay customers to change the gas cannisters for me when I was left in charge….
    Thanks for writing the post, and naming the thing, I feel much better for it! Hope you all have a lovely Christmas!

    Reply
  6. TheMadHouse says

    December 19, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    I have a child that is over sensitive, so do have a little understanding of what you go through. Have you ever sought any help?

    Reply
    • janeblackmore says

      December 19, 2010 at 7:56 pm

      No, I think she may be guilty of over reacting….. X x

      Reply
  7. sufferer says

    July 30, 2013 at 6:17 pm

    this is a very selfish view your taking and I hope you realise that. put yourself in her shoes. oh wait, you clearly are unable to do that and that’s just the problem.

    Reply
    • northernmum says

      July 30, 2013 at 7:56 pm

      Thanks for your comment, sorry it seems to have touched a nerve, the post was written tongue in cheek.

      Reply
  8. A Ellis says

    August 14, 2013 at 2:03 pm

    I have suffered from Ligyropobia all my life. I am 34 yrs of age and have a 13 month old son. I have had to ask each parent if they could not have balloons at parties we attend.. i have to call restaurants to ask them not to have balloons… i have to wear headphones when bonfire night approaches, and if a motorbike suddenly backfires i feel sick and dizzy.. i dont actually know how ive survived this long. I am worried when i have to start looking for work that i am made to be in an environment where balloons may be present…. and the most annoying comment of all when a balloon is in the same room as me… ‘just dont look at it’ …. dont you get it…. i can hold a balloon… i can watch them…. but the sudden bang is the issue…. i hope one day i will get over this phobia but i doubt it.

    Reply
  9. Mary Ansel says

    September 28, 2020 at 4:03 am

    I just found this site, so my comments are certainy delayed! I am 79 years old and have had ligyrophobia as long as I can remember. My mother always said that hearing a shotgun or rifle while out in the country one day, at age 6, sent me crying into our friend’s house. However, she did not recall my having such a response to noise as an infant and toddler. I have to clarify that loud noise alone is not the problem, as I can attend a car race with all the attendant roar. However, if that roar were to be broken up in to sharp segments, I would crumble. All my life I have been reduced to flight from or avoidance of thunder, gunfire, firecrackers, cap guns, balloons bursting, bubble gum snapping, crackling campfires, cars backfiring, paper bags filled with air and then popped. bubble wrap being stomped on. You get the picture1 My life revolves around when there will be a thunderstorm, if a baby shower will feature balloons, if the New Year’s Eve party will involve firecrackers. When I was a teenager, i used to hide my younger brothers’ BB guns from them. I loved to camp in adulthood, but as soon as the crackling campfire started, my ear plugs went in. Chestnuts roastingover the open fire? Forget it! Somewhere in my 30s, a now former husband bought me a Radio Shack FM/AM radio headset. It was a godsend and I haven’t been without one since. I can sleep through storms and not go bananas on the 4th of July, which seems to last for a month these days. If I can’t find a way to avoid the misery of certain sounds, I simply ‘fess up about my problem and excuse myself from whatever is going on. Mostly I just tell people up front at some point, so I’m not blindsided and unprepared. I don’t think I’ve ever trulu ruined an occasion for anyone else. However, when my dad was buried with the offered military ceremony I requested we forego the 12 gun salute. No one cared one way or the other and I don’t my father cared. I endured a lot of ridicule in childhood for being different, I was punished by my parents for ‘acting up’ and I’ve gotten some looks from people who don’t understand. I feel i am more compassionate towards others who are fearful of things and don’t understand why. My attitude now is that of many older people; I just don’t give a damn what anyone thinks anymore. It’s my misery and as long as I’m not making someone else miserable, so be it.

    Reply

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