Do you scream?

[Beachtastic]

I don't mean when... you know... 😳
...and this is not a Sistine Chapel thread. Or at least, I don't think it is!

I was cleaning my teeth last night when DH walked into the bathroom. I'd thought he was asleep, and because of the noise of the electric toothbrush didn't hear his footsteps approaching.

Well, I let out such a shriek that we were both deafened 😬 ... of course laughed about it immediately, but anyone walking past the house might easily have felt they should raise the alarm!

This morning I remembered that when staying at a hotel recently, at breakfast I screamed when the waitress suddenly appeared at the table to take my order. Luckily there weren't many other guests around, but it was hard to reassure her she'd done nothing wrong.

DH has reminded me that when he first came to stay (years ago), I screamed when he appeared in the garden on the first morning. (I'd lived alone for some time...)

I don't consider myself a particularly nervous person and am curious to know if this happens to you too?

I am so easily startled which means I jump and scream that my husband announces when he’s about to enter the room I’m in. It sounds so silly but in the moment I am genuinely terrified. I was walking out of a toilet in work yesterday and someone was on the other side of the door and I screamed and jumped at the same time and I think I terrified him. Had to apologise profusely but with a side warning it will definitely happen again. I jump/scream all the time if people happen upon me. It’s a bloody pain in the arse to be honest.

It's not hard to understand instinctive behaviour.

Screaming, crying, laughing etc.

Same, I startle fairly easily but don't scream.

No, never

Oh no I scream. It’s short but it’s a definite scream. Freaks my dh out every time.

I do startle, but only when relaxed. So outside the home I haven't done it, but when relaxed in my house I can get startled when something cuts through.

Perhaps those who claim to never get startled are repressed and uptight less often in a genuinely relaxed state so always poised and alert.

People who say they never do it are a bit like people who say they never cry - weirdly proud of not showing feelings!

No, my sounds vary from sharp intake of breath (the waitress example) to squeal (dropped something on my foot). I don't think I've ever actually screamed in my life.

I do wonder if some people's scream is what I'd call a squeal though, a scream is properly, ear-splittingly loud, like you hear on theme park rides etc, I've never really heard anyone do it in the situations the OP describes.

I have an involuntary 'whoops!' that I just can't stop myself doing - often when I see someone fall over like a little kid, when I watch my kids doing sports and someone falls or has another
mishap I just can't stop myself. I think it's just ingrained from mothering small kids, I wish I could stop it because sometimes people see it as a judgement but it really isnt, I just can't inhibit it - it pops out before I've realised. .

You sound like a Catherine Tate character. 😁
I screamed last week when I fell off a ladder, but even then only because I wasn’t expecting it. Not that you ever expect to fall off a ladder but it just sort of collapsed beneath me rather than me climbing up/down, so came as something of a surprise.

Haha. I’m the same!! I am in my head a lot of the time so I think that’s a big part of it. I’m suddenly shocked into the here and now

This made me think of the Catherine Tate sketch where the highly strung woman screams when the toast pops up

OMG I just looked it up. That's definitely me! 🤡

It's annoying because I hate drama and yet here I am acting like a loon.

I think that's me too. Maybe I spent too many years living alone, miles from anywhere, without so much as a cat to remind me that there are other living creatures in this world!

I have strong startle reflex and easily jump and scream. I’ve always been like this as far as I remember. DD jumps very easily as well.
I’d love to not to but it’s an instinct rather then conscious decision. I can’t say that I have very strong and stable nervous system so might be it’s this.
I’m sure other people have their weaknesses as well.

I startle easily and get a rush of adrenaline, but I tend to make low argh sounds if I make a noise outloud. That said, I have night terrors due to being attacked when I was younger, and I wake myself up screaming then. It’s very odd as in real life I would rather cut my own leg off then call attention to myself by making a noise like that.

I remember doing training on 'Managing difficult, dangerous, and disturbing behaviour' when I worked in a high-risk environment, and the trainer said the best thing you can do in a situation where you're under surprise attack is to scream, shout, or something else where it's a essentially a big exhale.

It helps bypass the fight / flight / freeze response by activating the parasympathetic nervous system and makes you more able to act rationally.

So while it's definitely not socially ideal in situations where a waitress comes to your table(!), it does mean that if it's your automatic reaction, you're probably safer in situations that actually are dangerous.

He encouraged those of us who automatically seized up and went silent to practice making some kind of noise when surprised, so we were better prepared – there was a lot of jumping out at one another from behind corners and 2-seconds-too-late yelling around the office that week 😂

Ah that's reassuring! Maybe I am not being a histrionic lunatic but actually preparing sensibly for real-life threats. A sort of shrieking ninja-in-training!

My heart sank when you first mentioned the course on "Managing difficult, dangerous, and disturbing behaviour" as I thought that was going to be referring to me! 🤡

No. I don’t startle easily either.

I scream if I get a fright, for example when someone walks into a room unexpectedly and I’m really focused on a task. I refuse to feel ashamed of this involuntary response and don’t really like the sneery tone of several posters here. Screaming when startled is not some sort of choice to be dramatic, I would assume it is an instinctive, primitive response from times when humans, particularly women, may have been threatened by predators.

Not so much a scream, more a squeak or yelp, but yes, I'm like this too. I startle so easily. I'm just away in my own thoughts a lot and not really aware of where other people are in the house, so one of them suddenly appearing often startles me. They think it's funny, and I can laugh at myself too, so it's no big deal.

I don't think I've eve screamed out loud in my whole life. In my dreams I'm sometimes in a frightening situation and I open my mouth but no sound comes out.

What's the Sistine Chapel thing about?

I recently binged all of SATC and something that stood out is how much screaming there is, mostly but not exclusively by Carrie. Sometimes she’s startled, sometimes she’s laughing, I think it’s an effort to add a dab of manic pixie dream girl to the character.
I don’t scream but I startle easily. We stayed at my mum’s and the way the bedroom is set up I kept being startled by DH emerging from the closet when I thought I was alone in an empty room. I asked if he could announce himself if he’s in there which he did, bless him, but it did make me laugh every time I heard him yell ‘I’m in here!’
I’m intrigued by the exhale suggestion. I’m such an inhaler when startled, idk if I could change it.

I startle very easily if someone comes into my room at work and I don't hear them, sort of a little a gasp, jump and my hand jumps to my chest.

Was once startled by dh knocking on the kitchen window. It was dark outside, he came home round the back gate to bring the bins in, and I was pottering about the kitchen with the lights so couldn't see outside. I said "oh my gd" loudly quite a bit and it took a good hour for my pulse and body to recover.

But screaming? Never.

Actually I find it a bit disappointing that I don't have such a noticeable response - it's probably a good safety mechanism, if complete overkill in a restaurant.

Aged 11 a friend's dad who I didn't recognise a huge amount drove past me walking along the pavement. He stopped the car, got out, and started running towards me. I found myself completely frozen to the spot, couldn't move, couldn't speak. The rest of the family then followed laughing. I didn't find it funny, and was surprised to realise how useless I'd be in a real situation like that...

I was wondering about this recently, as it’s not something that’s natural to me at all. I sometimes let out a slightly strangled yelp, but haven’t ever screamed on rollercoasters, or in genuinely frightening situations, and I’m not sure I even have it in me. I realised I’d been thinking of it as a choice, rather than an automatic reaction!
(Probably a good thing I don’t scream though; I startle ridiculously easily and jump out of my skin if someone calmly walks into a room when I already know they’re in the house)

I’m easily startled do yes I’m a screamer