I am having major earworm attacks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earworm

I have a favorite song... from a recording of a cello (the Piano Guys, O Come Emanuel)

I comes to me at certain times of the day.

So my husband is reading about them, and says, no problem.
Well he doesn't hear what I hear trying to fall asleep each night!

Another link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/s...-earworms.html

What works for me is visual activity. Reading, doing the iPhone, etc. This has become a big problem lately...as I have starting working earnestly on my art again. Seems opening that door to the right brain brings the music?

http://science.howstuffworks.com/lif...k-in-head1.htm

This has only been plaguing me the last 6 months or so. Now it is everyday....

Hi mrsD, I think it's really common. In the TS/OCD community I've heard lots of people talk about this, but I think it's just one of those things that happens to everyone from time to time.

I don't know how to stop it really unless you use distraction which is difficult when trying to fall asleep that's for sure. I get a song stuck in my head from time to time. I remember the first time it happened to me. I was about 14 or 15 and it actually made me feel physically ill because it was such an awful song and it just kept going on and on. I just read a site that said that "It's a small world" is number one of all songs that get stuck in people's heads. lol Doesn't surprise me either. Maybe "O Come Emanuel" is a better song to get stuck. I just hope that my mentioning the other one doesn't make it get stuck in your head now too.

Thanks for the very interesting links!

I was just going to look that song up...and now I won't! LOL

This rather coincides with changing my blood pressure medication from lisinopril to atenolol. The lisinopril passes into the brain thru the BBB, and therefore is also supposed to reduce liklihood of dementia with aging. duh?

Listening to the Piano Guys sort of lulls me ...maybe that is how the earworm is formed....? Like it needs a push, an altered state?

When we go upNorth, it is so quiet up there usually, no TV and only water sounds, birds etc. I eventually hear music sometimes in my head...and that made more sense...sort of a withdrawal from our noisey life?

But this comes on and off during the day, and sometimes at night endlessly. My husband brought the subject up as I was not going to share it ....he is reading blogs where everyone is talking earworms! So maybe they are more common and if so I won't worry, I guess so much.

Thanks Lara. I do have some OCD traits, not majorly but in some areas I am a perfectionist...it was most of my job for over 40 yrs to be accurate and perfect all the time. I sometimes now have dreams that loop....since I am no longer working. Not using the "traits" daily ..maybe they store up and come out this way?

I think you hit the nail on the head (so to speak lol) in your last sentence!

It's not easy, but those "stuck" thoughts or looping thoughts or images that we get can be extremely useful if they're channelled. Sort of making order out of the dis-order.

Heck, where would we be in this world without people who get "stuck" on things.

It's all easier said than done of course.

If only I could be more OCD with domestic things....sigh! LOL
It took me a LONG time to get my studio in order...it had become a "junk" room....but now it is liveable again! It is only a small bedroom with only my things in it, after all.

Earworms are quite common. I have them daily. They get worse when I'm anxious or stressed. The only thing that worked to get me to sleep sometimes was to play white noise or nature sounds when I was getting sleepy. I have never found something that took them away. Good luck, I know how frustrating they can be.

Ok, anybody beside me flashback to that episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery entitled The Caterpillar?

Never heard it called 'earworm' before, but we experience this phenomenon a few times a year. ("You know, I've learned something today..." —Kyle Broflovski). We've always just called it 'getting a song stuck in your head'. (Original, huh? ) I think it's usually when we're tired. Sometimes we get the same song stuck in both our heads at the same time. Great minds think alike, right?

I didn't hunt down any studies, but two of the links seem to contradict. Wiki says, "Women and men experience the phenomenon equally often," while HowStuffWorks says, "...women... are most prone to earworm attacks. ...Kellaris isn't sure why women are more susceptible to earworms".

I can get rid of them just by doing anything interactive or requiring constant concentration. DW just puts in her earbuds and listens to her ipod—especially if (falling) asleep. Both methods are named in the HSW link. What cracked me up is the last method:

6. Picture the earworm as a real creature crawling out of your head, and imagine stomping on it.

...which brings me back to Night Gallery...

Doc

Night Gallery looks interesting however I couldn't watch the video as I'm not in the USA. Is it a little like that old Twilight Zone?

mrsD, reesecups mentioned the white noise and the nature sounds. I have some great CDs that I use for relaxation including flutes and ocean sounds and waterfalls etc.. That may be helpful. If you're extra stressed (body or/and mind) for some reason at the moment perhaps some relaxation exercizes may be helpful as well.

In the summer months I use a fan on low to move air around the room (we don't have a/c.). But now the fan is put away...and maybe I will investigate white noise makers. Perhaps the fan was masking the earworm most of the time. When I am reading in bed I don't hear it either.

I am not having it today, but yesterday was a very active day for this. I am on a new blood pressure pill, and it seems this phenomenon comes when my pill starts to wear off and it is the time for the next one approaching.

Thanks for the comments everyone!

OMG, I have Jim Crocce's, "Operator" going on for 8 months now.

It is making me crazy. Is there a cure? Besides replacing it with another song equally as 'wormy'?

Hugs, Eaine