Does anyone else find their syn problematic when driving at night?
I've always hated driving at night, but other than it being more difficult to see what's going on ahead, I didn't really know why. But a couple of days ago, I was sitting in peak hour traffic, and when the car in front of me took their foot of the brake and started to roll forward again, I realised that it was an amazing relief when their brake lights went out - I realised that I had been seeing it, hearing it, and also feeling it like pressure on my eyes (I'm not sure if this is syn - does anyone else feel intense light or anything blocking their vision up close as pressure?)
I'm generally nervous about driving anyway, but at night, it's like a sensory overload. Does anyone else have similar problems with night driving, or any advice? Or is this just the first time I've discovered a negative response?
I don't have any of the syn problems you described, but I do get those long diagonal streaks off of lights when driving at night, which are distracting because there's so many of them, and I've figured out a few ways to cope with them:
- whenever you have to come to a complete stop, leave about a half a car length between you and the car in front of you. (Not any more than that or someone might try to change lanes and jump in front of you, which could create a safety issue if they don't do it safely.) The less right-on-top of the brake lights you are, the less intense they are (at least for me).
- at a full stop (and only at a full stop, for obvious reasons), re-focus your eyes. I find that if I look at the spots on my windshield or the arc-lines left by the wipers, the diagonal lines from outside lights shorten and aren't as annoying. Kind of a respite for my eyes. Maybe that would lessen the pressure feeling of bright red lit up brake lights for you.
- Do you listen to music while you're driving? I find the colors soothing. Doesn't do anything about the diagonal lines but they keep me relaxed and less fixedly aware of the lines, if that makes sense. I feel a little weird suggesting using music because you said that driving at night is already a sensory overload, but maybe music and/or music colors might help drown out the sound of those brake lights...if you don't listen to music already, that is.
I hope that helps...keep us posted! And drive safe!
Thanks for the advice! I will definitely keep in mind the idea about leaving a bigger gap. I've tried refocusing me eyes before, but I'm not sure how useful it's been (there are still so many lights). And I don't generally listen to music while driving, because I'm worried that it'll distract me. Although, you're probably right - it probably would be a relaxing thing.
I remember reading somwhere once about a synesthete who couldn't drive at night because they had colour-pain, and the intensity of the coloured lights in the dark corresponded to similarly intense pain. Was that in an article, or was that someone on the nexus?
I don't recall seeing that on the nexus....my guess is an article, but I could be wrong.
I was thinking about this thread as I was driving today, and I realized that contrast, namely the high contrast between the brake lights and the dark background of night, could have a lot to do with this. Do you think you're getting bad syn responses because the brake lights etc. stick out so much more against the night than the day? Can you tell if the lights themselves really are the stimulus, or if it's more the contrast between the bright red and the dark black?
It's a good point - I don't know if it's the contrast, or the fact that the contrast makes the lights seem so much brighter, or what it is. I think it's also because the glass kind of takes the light up a bit,if you know what I mean - like, the glass itself sort of looks red and it makes seeing past that into the darkness difficult. My guess is a bit of a combination of all of these, though.
Question for anyone - if you have something like a smudge on glasses (if you ever wear glasses), or if you hold something close to one eye so that it's blacking your vision, does that feel like pressure on your eye? I'm trying to work out if this is syn or 'normal'.
I have some trouble driving at night if there are people talking in the car. (My distracts me). So provided I choose the music and no one is fighting, I'm alright.
I tend to avoid it though, just in case I'm suddenly blinded by a loud noise.
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Although, you're probably right - it probably would be a relaxing thing.
distracts me). So provided I choose the music and no one is fighting, I'm alright.
