Line #27 Main/TerribleTicking


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3	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Take care to put your example in its proper place in accordance with Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings!
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7	[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/TheTellTaleHeart https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/web_tell_tale_heart_by_golden_edited_1.jpg]]]]
8	[[caption-width-right:350:It's the beating of that hideous heart!]]
9
10	->''"Will it stop, Doctor? The drumming. Will it stop?"''
11	-->-- '''The Master''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords Last of the Time Lords]]"
12
13	A character goes mad from a sound that only they can hear. Because of this, they may go AxCrazy and try to destroy the source of the sound, or at least what they ''think'' is the source of the sound -- or end up resorting to HeadphonesEqualIsolation, abandoning the world in favor of just getting away from the horrible noise.
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15	Perhaps the {{Trope Maker\|s}} is ''Literature/TheTellTaleHeart'', where the narrator goes mad from the sound of a dead man's heart beating. "Ticking" allows for AlliterativeName. The noise of a clock ticking is a very common motif -- especially if it underlines a theme of time running out. Other popular motifs include a noise like someone (or some''thing'') breathing, very distant music, some extremely annoying sound such as scraping or scratching, or [[BeatStillMyHeart a heartbeat]]. Another possibility is for [[SuperpowerMeltdown new telepaths to go mad from all the voices around them]].
16
17	Compare HellIsThatNoise, BrownNote, an awful sound that anyone can hear, and BloodyHallucinationsOfGuilt, when one's guilty conscience regarding another's death has them hallucinating blood. See also HearingVoices, which is technically a subtrope. Unrelated to WhyAmITicking, which is terrible for [[StuffBlowingUp a different reason]].
18	----
19	!!Examples
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'': Joshua gets the telepath variant when he gets Chrono's horns stuck on his head. He complains about "the noise" and uses his new powers to "stop the time" of the people around him, freezing them in stone.
23	* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Mao was driven mad by the constant thoughts of everyone around him. He wore headphone to block it out. This made him a {{yandere}} for C.C. because she was the only person whose mind he couldn't read.
24	* ''Manga/CromartieHighSchool'' had a chapter of the manga, also adapted into the anime, which completely centered on the ''entire school'' trying to figure out what one song stuck in Hayashida's head was.
25	* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': It's not uncommon for one of the characters to start hearing footsteps, or occasionally a [[HearingVoices voice]] saying "I'm sorry" over and over. This is usually a sign that that said character is about to go off the deep end. Most of the time someone ends up dead. [[spoiler:Much to the unhappiness of the being that was making the footsteps and apologizing.]]
26	* ''Manga/SoulEater'': Stein has something like issue in the anime whilst he's [[spoiler: with Medusa.]]
27	* ''Manga/YuGiOh'': Yami Yugi gives this as a punishment to a karaoke-obsessed bully after he loses a Shadow Game to him, forcing him to hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears like thunder.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Comic Books]]
31	* In a ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' strip paying {{Homage}} to ''The Tell-Tale Heart'', a jealous man who murders and, literally, steals the heart from the lover of a woman whom he adores from afar is driven insane by the sound of his victim's still-beating heart, which he then decides to get rid of by returning the body part to the woman in person (and, consequently, completely freaking her out).
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Fan Works]]
35	* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': Ghidorah's SlowlySlippingIntoEvil in its backstory was caused by Terrible Ticking called "the Old Noise", an aggressive sound which causes the mind to scream attempting to block it out and which, in the original language of [[spoiler:Ghidorah's [[AbusivePrecursors creators]]]] persistently screamed at Ghidorah to "'''Kill Them All'''". [[TwoBeingsOneBody Monster X]] has inherited a mild form of it from Ghidorah, which only stirs up when Monster X is on the brink of insanity or hearing an ORCA signal.
36	* In a ''Series/TheWestWing'' fanfic called "The Joshua Monologues", Josh gets revenge on CJ, Sam, Toby, and President Bartlet after a prank gone bad by getting devices from the CIA which will beep very faintly (so only the prankees will hear them) and putting them in his coworkers' respective offices.
37	* In ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', this happens to Celestine whenever she is in proximity to Kyril, due to her high [[VideoGame/BloodBorne Insight]]. The sound that only she can hear is described as a constant, maddening rumble, akin to the sound of thunder and waves crashing against the shore. When Kyril displays TranquilFury in Chapter 12 and 13 of the remastered version, the sound intensifies into a noice heard in the midst of a storm. Though she has not been driven mad by the sound, it does frighten her every time this happens.
38	* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8288823/1/Host This]] ''Anime/YuGiOh'' fanfic involves Ryou Bakura being pulled into a Shadow Game revolving around stopping every clock in the house, leading him to note how similar they sound to bombs.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
42	* ''Film/TheBullOfTheWest'': Whenever Ben Justin is under stress, he hears a rattlesnake rattling inside his head.
43	* ''Film/AChristmasCarolGoesWrong'': Scrooge's opening monologue has him bedeviled by a clock and its chimes, feeling it's always staring at him.
44	* ''Film/TheClimax'': Dr. Hohner is haunted by the singing of Marcellina: the mistress he murdered because he was jealous of her voice which was taking her away from him.
45	* ''Film/{{Gaslight}}'': As an aversion, one character tries to convince another that the light isn't flickering, it's just them going crazy.
46	* ''Film/{{Hook}}'': Despite having killed and stuffed the crocodile Hook is still afraid of the sound of ticking clocks. It's later revealed that he's scared of time ticking away.
47	* ''Film/{{Scanners}}'': Cameron Vale has to tell a telepathy-suppressing drug in order to go out in public or even sleep in his hotel room, because the thoughts of everyone around him are too much to handle, and as explained toward the beginning, the constant telepathy all his life has basically stopped him from developing any sense of self, turning him into a complete dysfunctional wreck. In the backstory of the film's villain, Darryl Revok, we learn that he went mad from it, and there's a taped conversation where he insists that it's not just voices in his head, but entire people, and he drills a hole in his forehead trying to get them out.
48	* ''Film/{{Song of Love}}'': Robert Schumann hears a constant ringing or whistling in his ears, always playing the tone A. He rants about "the A" driving him mad. What he's got is probably tinnitus, which afflicted numerous musicians including Beethoven and which really can make you crazy.
49	* ''Film/TowerOfLondon1962'': Richard is haunted by the mocking laughter of those he murdered in order to gain the throne.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Literature]]
53	* In ''Brain Twister'' (aka ''That Sweet Little Old Lady'') by Creator/RandallGarrett and Laurence M. Janifer, telepaths invariably go mad from the voices. Most of them wind up comatose or raving -- the one notable exception being the little old lady in the title, who would be able to easily pass for sane if she didn't keep confiding in people that she's actually [[NapoleonDelusion Queen Elizabeth I]].
54	* Arthur C. Clarke's ''Literature/ChildhoodsEnd'' has the invading aliens' ambassador explain to the Earth Ambassador the useful application of energy capable of ending nations by comparing the results of the assassination of a hypothetical dictator to simply causing an unceasing, constant ticking noise within his head.
55	* Inverted in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' novel ''[[Recap/NewSeriesAdventuresTheClockwiseMan The Clockwise Man]]'', everyone could hear the ticking ''except'' Repple [[spoiler: because he's the robot making the noise]].
56	* In one of the short stories from ''Literature/EverythingsEventual'', a maître d’hôtel flips out and starts killing people, while shrieking about a barking dog that only he can hear. Or possibly one that had barked at him once years ago. It's a little [[WordSalad word salad-y]].
57	* In ''Literature/{{Insomnia}}'', the main character Ralph can hear a soft ticking in his head which he calls the "deathwatch" when a person is about to die. He first heard it when his wife was dying of brain cancer. Near the end of the novel [[spoiler:Ralph hears the deathwatch again, and knows that this time it's counting down for him.]]
58	* In ''Literature/KnightsOfTheBorrowedDark'', when [[spoiler:Grey is [[BrainwashedAndCrazy ent]][[MadeASlave hral]][[MindRape led]] by the Clockwork Three]], he hears constant ticking inside his head, which mostly just seems to serve as another method of torture. Once [[spoiler:the Three are killed]], all he can do is sob in desperate relief that the ticking is gone.
59	* In Creator/HPLovecraft's ''Literature/TheRatsInTheWalls'', the hero starts going crazy because he keeps hearing rats within the walls. Of course that's just the beginning, and it gets a lot weirder from there.
60	* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'':
61	** [[CatsHateWater Aquaphobic]] villainess Queen Tsarmina is driven to insanity by the sound of dripping water, which her minions [[ItsProbablyNothing assume are the normal noises from the underground lake]]. [[spoiler:Subverted in that it's not her imagination; the good guys have dammed the river and are causing said lake to overflow and slowly flood the castle.]] Then the noise goes away, and Tsarmina is at peace; except the reason it's gone away is that [[spoiler:now it's not just dripping, there's too much water for that]].
62	** Gabool the Wild is kept awake by the sound of a stolen church-bell in his hall ringing on its own, though on one occasion it's not his imagination; his drunken followers throw apples at the bell while he's out of the room.
63	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': In the ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'', Luke seeks out a Force-Sensitive hermit, Streen, to recruit for his academy. Streen agrees to leave only if Luke teaches him to block out the thoughts and feelings of other people, which had overwhelmed him into hermitude.
64	* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheTellTaleHeart'' has its UnreliableNarrator being driven mad by the beating of the heart of the old man they murdered, which they believe everyone else can also hear.
65	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': In the first ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel something like this occurs, with some twists. The noise is the beating of drums, and everyone can hear them. The drums in question are set up by Chaos cultists and number in the hundreds. Prolonged exposure to them cause the Ghosts that are nearby to lash out violently, and one of them is corrupted by Chaos as a result.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
69	* The song "All Along the Watchtower" does this to four [[spoiler:Cylons]] at the end of ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'''s third season.
70	%%* Season 3 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had the telepath variant.
71	* The sitcom ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' did a homage/parody of "The Telltale Heart" in one episode; Diane is trying to guilt Carla into a confession, and after outlining Poe's story, keeps making "heart beat" noises. After several rounds of this, Carla hears the noise, finally snaps and yells at Diane to quit it, only to learn that Diane is way off in the other room...
72	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia Series]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums 3]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords finale]], the Master claims to have been hearing the sound of drums in his head all his life from when he was 8. Duh-duh-duh-DUM. Duh-duh-duh-DUM. It's interesting to note that he seems to like it, the way you can like something you've had all your life. He doesn't know what he'd be without that sound. When he's revived during "The End of Time", he says he's missed the drums.
73	** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], it's revealed that [[spoiler:he wasn't just insane, the Time Lords ''put'' the drumming in his head as part of a plan to try and save themselves from death in the Time War.]] It's noted that the rhythm of four drumbeats is the same rhythm as the double-beat of a Time Lord's two hearts. Interestingly, it's also the same underlying beat found in the famous ThemeSong, so one wonders if that was intentional...
74	* Mr. Heckles on ''Series/{{Friends}}''. It must be noted that the level of noise isn't in in his head, it's more of a case of MalevolentArchitecture creating absolutely teethgrinding acoustics.
75	** In "The One Where They're Up All Night", Phoebe is kept up by her fire alarm beeping. She smashes it and it still beeps. She puts on earmuffs and a hat to drown out the noise and also tries throwing it out.
76	* In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', the ticking clock sound effect that plays whenever Sylar's up to his old tricks evokes this trope. Even though it's not literally a ticking he can hear, it symbolizes that he can see how everything works in a way no one else can, which drives him batty.
77	* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'': "Heartbeat" (a homage to ''Literature/TheTellTaleHeart'' and the works of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe in general) had a drug dealer who was haunted by the sound of his victim's heartbeat. He eventually cracks due to his guilt and [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide.]]
78	* ''Series/ICarly'': The beeping that Freddy hears in the back of his head in "iGo to Japan". He doesn't know it, but the beeping is the tracking device in action that Mrs. Benson had implanted in his head when he was a baby.
79	* In the televised miniseries ''Series/IClaudius'', Caligula goes mad, partly due to the sounds of running horses which only he can hear. (The series implies he was nuts from the beginning, and only got worse after he suffered an illness.) Caligula himself claims that, [[AGodAmI as a god]], he hears many things that keep him from sleeping, and that's one reason he acts so strangely.
80	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E3TheSurvivors The Survivors]]", an alien (disguised as a human) plants the sound of a music box in Counsellor Troi's head so she won't be able to detect him with her empathic abilities. The sound drives her to madness, so he removes it once his identity is revealed.
81	* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'': "[[Recap/TalesFromTheCryptS2E8ForCryinOutLoud For Cryin' Out Loud]]" has a corrupt nightclub owner (played by Creator/LeeArenberg) kill a woman, then imagine his [[GoodAngelBadAngel Shoulder Angel]] [[spoiler:(voiced by Sam Kinison!)]] admonishing him for it. In an attempt to shut it up, he jams tissue and Q-tips in his ear. Later, he stumbles into the club and sees everyone staring at him; assuming that they can see his guilt, he screams a confession to all of them... only to realize that they were actually staring at the wad of cleaning items sticking out of his ear. The story has similarities with ''The Telltale Heart''.
82	* ''Series/YoungSheldon'': In "A High-Pitched Buzz and Training Wheels", Sheldon is tormented by a buzzing noise coming from the refrigerator that the others can barely hear. It gets so bad he takes the fridge apart to fix it.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Music]]
86	* Music/{{Anthrax}}: "(Time!) Got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head / (Time!) Got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head [[Music/JoeJackson / (Time!) Got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head / Tickin' in my head / Tickin' in my head / Tickin' in my head"]]
87	* Music/FlorenceAndTheMachine
88	** There's a drumming noise inside my head / And it starts when you're around / I swear that you could hear it, it makes such an almighty sound
89	** As I move my feet towards your body / I can hear this beat / It fills my head / And it gets louder and louder
90	* On Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'', "Speak to Me" and "Time" briefly have the sound of a clock ticking.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Other Sites]]
94	* ''Website/SCPFoundation''
95	** Hearing this is a symptom of being infected with [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-217 SCP-217 ("The Clockwork Virus")]].
96	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-472 SCP-472 ("The Bloodstone")]]. Anyone within 18 meters of SCP-472 will hear the distant beating of their own heart. Listening to the heartbeat causes negative psychological symptoms. The longer the subject listens to the heartbeat the worse the symptoms become, starting with unease, anxiety and guilt and eventually leading to paranoia, hallucinations and catatonia (with a 76% chance of death).
97	** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-4975 SCP-4975 ("Time's Up")]] is [[TheCrocIsTicking a predator]] that makes a rhythmic ''click-clack'' by rotating its neck vertebrae, which only those it has chosen to hunt can hear. As it [[SuperPersistentPredator hunts them persistently for months on end]], [[HiddenHarasser this usually results in them being at their wit's end]] by the time the creature ceases with the ticking... which, unfortunately, always means it's about to kill them.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
101	* When the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]] of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' descend on a world, they cast a "shadow in the [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Warp]]" before them strong enough to incapacitate or [[YourHeadASplode kill]] any nearby psykers: "They are coming! I feel them scratching inside my mind, scratching, screaming, roaring, so many, so, so many voices. They're coming for us flesh and blood, body and soul!" Since psykers are the key to interstellar travel and communication, a planet under Tyranid attack is effectively isolated and thoroughly boned.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Theatre]]
105	* Several stage adaptations of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' play up the ticking clock aspect to show Scrooge is getting on in his years and the limited amount of time he has to change.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Video Games]]
109	* In ''VideoGame/DeadRising2'', the protagonist's encounter with the mad postalworker Carl Schliff is punctured by his tense theme music, which is permeated by a ticking sound which gets more prominent the more Carl flies off the handle- more to the fact that Carl has actually turned into a ''MadBomber'' during the ''ZombieApocalypse'' and tries to pass off one of his bombs to the player, who realizes in time that the package is ticking, before disposing it, which then drives Carl to try to murder the player in more conventional weapons.
110	* During the "Overlord" DLC for ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', a giant polygonal head keeps popping up on computer screens and making this awful [[HellIsThatNoise noise]]. It sounds like gibberish at first, but grows clearer with each repetition, until you realize [[spoiler:it's the lead scientist's autistic brother begging for someone to help him. The constant [[SensoryOverload sensory input]] from the rig he's hooked up to has really done a number on him.]]
111	-->[[AC:QUIET PLEASE! MAKE IT STOP!]]
112	* In the backstory of ''VideoGame/NieR'', hearing bells ringing in your ear is a sign that the White Chlorination Syndrome is driving you mad, and you'll soon turn into Legion.
113	* Sigma from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' has a piano melody that plays in his head after his FreakLabAccident, with it and his "imprisonment" slowly wearing away his sanity. It's greatly implied by his rambling descriptions that it's some kind of proverbial code for the fabric of reality, in turn influencing [[GravityMaster his gravity powers]].
114	-->'''Sigma''': The universe is ''singing to me!''
115	* A more literal and meta example in ''VideoGame/{{Darktide}}'' has an enemy known as a poxburster that creates a low, rhythmic ticking when it spawns. As it gets closer, its ticking increases in speed until it explodes, and if you're caught in its blast radius, expect to recieve alot of damage and be thrown far from the group, possibly even off the map. What makes it worse though is not only are poxbursters on their own very difficult to pick out from a horde of infested, only distinguishable at all from [[YouAreAlreadyDead danger close ranges]] is a small red light on their front that can be easily obscured by hordes and the environment, but at least in earlier versions of the game, there was a glitch where the ticking wouldnt stop for several seconds after the burster was killed, making many players paranoid there was a second poxburster in the area they hadnt spotted.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Webcomics]]
119	%%* ''Webcomic/SomethingHappens'' ran [[http://www.somethinghappens.net/d/20070222.html this]] guest strip by D.C. Simpson.
120	* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}''
121	** In [[http://xkcd.com/740/ this strip]] the protagonist keeps hearing "unn-tss" sounds since he murdered Daft Punk.
122	** Subverted in [[https://xkcd.com/1590/ Source]]. The protagonist is searching for the source of the strange buzz he keeps hearing in an empty room, and finally finds that it is caused by a machine in the basement.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Web Original]]
126	* The [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/166521 Bananaphone Flash video]]. In it, a man gets [[EarWorm driven insane by "Bananaphone" by Raffi playing in his head,]] and it does all sorts of crazy things like suddenly raising in volume. The two friends staying with him don't believe him when he tells them about the song. 10 hours later, he's [[spoiler:in a comatose state as he's listening to the song, then drops unconscious when it ends. When the friend in the suit goes to examine the body, the song starts playing in his head as he accuses the bald friend for causing blunt force trauma to the man with a remote, before starting to go mad himself. When the bald friend punches the friend in the suit for the accusation, HE gets the song in his head, and starts beating his remaining friend to a bloody pulp.]]
127	* In ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'', Bulma attempts to reprogram Android 16 while repairing some damage he sustained. While tinkering in his mind, she discovers a program that's apparently been running the entire time 16 has been active, [[spoiler:flashing, violent images and '''''KILL SON GOKU''''', repeated constantly in his father's voice.]] Bulma determines this to be a load-bearing program and leaves it in place.
128	* WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows compares the beat of {{Music/LMFAO}}'s "Sexy And I Know It" to this trope, specifically the Creator/EdgarAllanPoe usage.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Western Animation]]
132	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAlvinShow'' episode "Squares," Mrs. Frumpington (a society matron trying to put the kibosh on anything hip) mistakes the stoccato dripping of a leaky faucet as the beat of the contemporary hip music she detests. Dave sets her straight on it.
133	* A water faucet drives WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck crazy in the short ''Drip Dippy Donald'', and an alarm clock in the ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseWorks''-era short ''Hickory Dickory Mickey''.
134	* In an episode of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan'', Tarzan's animal friends go crazy, complete with the MadnessMantra "Stop the ringing!" Turns out the local trading post had installed a long-range radio tower, and something in the equipment was generating an ultrasonic noise that was doing this to Tantor, Terk, and the rest. The humans couldn't hear it, but it was driving the animals nuts for miles.
135	* WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}} did this in the short "Me Musical Nephews", destroying a radio before discovering that his nephews weren't really asleep.
136	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Lisa's Rival", Lisa steals and hides Allison's diorama for a school presentation (on Poe's ''The Tell-Tale Heart'', appropriately enough), but her guilty conscience causes her to hear an actual heart-beat until she caves in and returns the stolen diorama.
137	* Mr. Krabs in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Squeaky Boots". He unloads a pair of old boots on [=SpongeBob=] and [[MisophoniaGag is driven crazy by their constant squeaking]]. He steals them one night and [[LooseFloorboardHidingSpot hides them under the Krusty Krab's floorboards]], but after seeing how torn up [=SpongeBob=] is about "losing" the boots, Krabs starts to hear squeaking everywhere until he is {{driven to madness}}, a WholePlotReference to ''Tell-Tale Heart''.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Real Life]]
141	* Tinnitus. And yes, that's the "EEEEE" sound in your ears all the time. Not a mental disorder, but a physical one, usually as a result of damage to the ear(s), though there can be other causes (the best being earwax impaction, as it is 100 percent curable). [[https://www.hearnet.com/ Rock musicians are especially susceptible to this]]. If you're lucky, the ring/buzz/hum/echo in your ears won't be ''that'' bad and it won't be omnipresent - making it annoying but nothing worse. If you have moderate to severe tinnitus though, the ring/buzz/hum/echo is ''constant'' for all of your waking hours and/or is so loud that it interferes with your ability to converse, to hear anything other than it, and even to function. Severe tinnitus is quite capable of [[DrivenToSuicide driving people to suicide]], and worse is when someone doesn't recognize it as a physical disorder and assumes it is the onset of hallucinations, resulting in bad treatment that ''doesn't work'' to help the tinnitus.
142	* Hearing clattering, ticking, low-rumble near-inaudible whispers or grumbles, animal noises of animals that cannot possibly be around, sirens/horns, and beeps is also a very common symptom of tinnitus and other ear disorders. It can also be caused by temporal lobe epilepsy or certain medications such as Sertraline. It's also common for schizophrenics, similar to HearingVoices, but don't assume you (or whoever is experiencing it) are becoming schizophrenic if you have this.
143	* Perfect pitch or a sensitive ear for music can be this, with the omnipresence of music in most places and that perfect pitch or a sensitive ear for mistakes can make anything from phone hold music to bad karaoke singers to that popular EDM song playing everywhere composed by someone most definitely lacking perfect pitch grating and annoying.
144	* Some people have such sensitive hearing that they can hear their own heartbeats or blood rushing in their heads or that everyday noises are painful. It's called hyperacuity and can be caused by tinnitus or other hearing damage (Music/NeilYoung has described having this after damaging his hearing in the 1980s), but when an autistic person has it, it's termed "sensory integration disorder".
145	* A bug stuck in the ear can do this. Buzzing and moving about makes noise, until the bug dies (and often blocks the ear canal leading to temporary deafness until removed) or is removed.
146	* Feedback in headphones that are shorting out/have the cord or jack exposed to extraneous electromagnetic fields can do this - technically other people can hear it, and it ends when you take off the headphones, but if they are your only set of headphones or you have to work with the feedback going it can be ''very much'' like this, often making your work (especially if it involves hearing anything but the feedback) difficult to impossible.
147	* Metronomes, though they can (if your headphones are off anyway) be heard by others. There is a ''reason'' producers, programmers, and even drummers tend to turn them off, because they are so distracting they can make it impossible for you to keep your own rhythm while trying to stick to the metronome's, especially if you are working in UncommonTime and can't set the metronome properly to your time signature, and that constant tick is very tiring to hear.
148	* Dripping taps or repetitive banging noises such as from "air hammer" in pipes or a roof shingle that constantly flaps can be this, until they are repaired.
149	* The deathwatch beetle got its name - and their disturbing reputation as an [[PortentOfDoom omen]] - this way. The beetles are woodboring and lay their eggs on wood so their larvae have something to eat. This often results in them living in the rafters of old houses. To attract a suitor they tap or tick against the wood, which is usually ignored day to day as it's fairly soft. However, on silent nights, such as when a family waits for someone to die, the noise is not drowned out. Hearing a ticking noise while you wait for death is [[NightmareFuel not pleasant]].
150	** It has, in fact, been suggested that this trope was originally inspired by the eerily heartbeat-like 'knocking' of the deathwatch.
151	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TerribleTicking