Are we becoming increasingly intolerant, or is it the case that up to 20 per cent of us fall into the category of Highly Sensitive People, who are overwhelmed by the hurly-burly of modern life?
A few days ago, I was sitting at my desk at home. It was a boiling hot day, so I opened the window. In the next garden, some children were lightly splashing in the paddling pool. Somewhere over the road, a hedge trimmer whined and the scent of meat drifted from a distant barbecue.
To most people, it was a lovely summer day, full of happy sounds and smells. To me, it was a nightmare - my heart was pounding with tension, I felt sick from the smell of sausages and I was seconds away from screaming: 'Shut up! How can I think when you're all making such a racket?'
Hyper-sensitive: One in five people get stressed out by the sights, sounds and smells of modern life
Friends and family have long accused me of intolerance. If my environment isn't calm, silent and smelling right, I find relaxation impossible, because there's always a distant noise, or a strange scent, or a bright light in my peripheral vision.
The sound of a TV booming in the living room is unbearable, whereas no one else seems remotely aware of it. I hate the car radio jabbering away. I find it impossible to think with music playing. And when the people next door are cooking their blameless dinner, of chicken or baked potatoes, I have to fling open the windows, even in winter, to disperse the smell.
The other day, my son left in a hurry and applied deodorant in the bathroom with the door open. I had to work downstairs all day because the lingering hint of Right Guard was making me feel violently sick.
Until recently, I assumed I was simply the world's biggest fusspot - a nightmare to live with, completely overwrought, and inexplicable to anyone except the handful of fellow over-reacters I've met in my life. (My grandma was one, one of my best friends is another.)
But realising the desire to hurl abuse at my neighbourhood simply for going about its business wasn't normal - and nor is my terror of pine-scented body-spray, or hatred of noise over three decibels - I decided to seek advice. And it turns out I'm not an intolerant freak after all.
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