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 have a friend like this,.my dogs hate her lol

I do if I get startled but never intentionally, and only if I’m really scared. I can’t make myself scream though.

I get very immersed in my work and have been known to to shriek if someone pads silently over and taps my shoulder. It’s entirely involuntary and I jump a foot too. I can’t control it. It’s not intentional or particularly pleasant to be startled like that.

I also recall an incident when younger in a theme park ‘haunted house’. An actor dressed as a mummy jumped out at me and I belted him with my arm automatically. 😬

No, never felt the need and I have been in some pretty alarming situations at times. You can register shock, surprise etc without blood curdling screams.

I do wish people would stop their children screaming too. No need but it's considered normal now judging by how common it is.

Save it for when it really matters and you need help.

Though reading some of these responses I'm wondering if the interpretations of screaming are actually the same.

If I am startled and jump I would just say a bit louder than normal jesus fucking christ or similar. Never scream.

Oddly enough when I have been really frightened/in danger, it's a different noise altogether - either silence, or (as PPs mention) a sort of "urghhh."

The dramatic shriek seems to come out of me unbidden when part of my brain must be aware I'm actually not facing a life-or-death situation but have been startled out of my whatever-it-is.

It's not at all deliberate or I would definitely stop doing it - that breakfast in the hotel was mortifying, I don't think I've ever eaten so fast just to get out of there ASAP!

With you on the rollercoasters, always high pitched and completely involuntarily. Seems to just be a natural reaction for me.

Otherwise no, I will let out an "argh" when something startles me, not always, think it depends how much it scared me. Other times it could be more like a sharp intake of breath.

No, I'm an old lady (nearly 70) and I know, and have known, lots of old ladies. I've never met one that literally screamed when being asked for their breakfast order.

Oh dear 🤦🏻‍♀️😳

No I don't scream, because I'm not a toddler.

I have this & unfortunately scream at the same time. Wish I could stop it but it’s not deliberate. Often if I’m very scared / surprised by whatever has caused the reaction, I’ll also burst into tears! It’s not something I choose!

I just asked Copilot about it 🤔

As we age, a few things shift that might make this kind of startle response more noticeable:
🧠 Neurological Sensitivity

• Lowered sensory filtering: The brain's ability to quickly categorize stimuli as “harmless” can slow down slightly, so unexpected sounds or movements feel more jarring.
• Heightened startle reflex: The brainstem controls this reflex, and some studies suggest the threshold for triggering it can drop with age.

💪 Muscle and Vocal Response

• Vocalization as a defense mechanism: Screaming or shouting can be a primal response—part of the fight-or-flight system—to alert others or scare off danger. For some, it's become more verbal with age due to changes in muscular control or even social conditioning.

😌 Emotional Factors

• Stress and life experience: If you're going through stressful or emotionally taxing times (like caregiving, for example), your nervous system might be more primed to react quickly.
• Shift in inhibition: With age, some social filters relax, so vocal reactions that might’ve been held in before just come right out!

🧬 Hormonal and Sleep Changes

• Sleep disruption, menopause, and other hormonal shifts can subtly affect your mood and responsiveness—even your startled reactions.

Not sure what's going on with me but possibly am less inhibited as I get older ("when I am old, I shall wear purple" etc)... just wish I could switch this one off!

Its true and its a cheap supplement to see if it helps at all, worth a shot?

I get that you don't do this, I don't either but people can have neurological differences or certain nutritional deficiencies that can mean its totally involuntary and it doesn't mean they are childish or drama queens.

I scream sometimes! I really don’t mean to, it just happens! It can be quite embarrassing, especially at work.

I can’t scream, I try but nothing happens.

Because of this, I often have dreams where I need to scream to alert somebody and I try and nothing comes out. I wake in such a state!

At spiders I do. There was a massive fucker on my towel not long ago as I wrapped it around me, so the spider was then on me. I screamed like a fecking banshee. But it’s not a common occurrence.

Like a couple of pp I literally can’t scream - my voice won’t do it. I sing soprano high notes though (I have a terrible singing voice but it’s easier than singing low notes).
What’s weird is how much this thread is making me giggle just imagining people screaming at a waitress arriving or some other normal thing happening and I wonder if our responses are derived from “trauma” (using that loosely) type situations because I always laugh at my own expense (literally) when things go wrong or freeze completely in dangerous situations involving just me (completely different if say my DC is there). I’d like to be able to scream.
Responses (automatic) are weird things.

The screaming ag a waitress thing really made me laugh. I can imagine somebody gasping if they got a surprise but actually screaming?

I knowwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😫

We were both so apologetic with each other, it was excruciating 😂

I'm afraid it was a proper scream on all three occasions described in my first post 😫

which is weird, because at school (a billion years ago) I auditioned for a part in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. We had to let out a blood-curdling scream with "It's on the beam! It's on the rafter!"

I didn't get the part because I couldn't scream (or act, actually, looking back on it).

made up for it since 😳

I also recall an incident when younger in a theme park ‘haunted house’. An actor dressed as a mummy jumped out at me and I belted him with my arm automatically.
thats ^ what I would do easily (and done in the past) if it’s something unexpected my fighting instincts would kick in straight away.
However I wouldn’t scream on a rollercoaster (nothing unexpected about it) or when I see a spider, or a wasp, or even a swarm of wasps.

Not scream as such, but I can occasionally let out a bit of a short shriek. This morning I was lying in bed and saw something out of the corner of my eye - it was one of those big skinny legged spiders walking along on the duvet, and I shrieked then. I’m not even scared of spiders (picked it up in a glass and put it out) but it just gave me a fright!

If startled, I'm more likely to jump and swear at whatever scared me than scream at it. Even in frustration, I'll do a mid pitch growl like "arghhhh" but not shriek.