July 21, 2026 at 6:15 pm

Tenant Struggles With Neighbor’s Constant Gaming Rage but Wants to Avoid a Bigger Conflict

by Benjamin Cottrell

teenage girl wearing orange headphones

Pexels/Reddit

Living below someone with a serious temper problem is exhausting even when the noise technically happens at a “reasonable” hour.

One resident has been spending her days listening to her upstairs neighbor scream at video games, complete with shouted obscenities, table banging, and objects being thrown around.

Since it all happens during the day, she doesn’t feel like she has grounds to formally complain, and since it’s isolated to the room directly above hers, the rest of her family doesn’t even realize how bad it’s gotten.

Not wanting to create conflict, and knowing she’s heading off to college soon anyway, she wonders about the best path forward.

Keep reading for the full story.

Loud upstairs neighbour

I’m genuinely going insane because one member of the family who lives directly above my room spends the entire day raging at whatever game he’s playing.

This includes screaming (like, YELLING so loud that my phone’s recording app can pick it up clearly), shouting obscenities, banging on the table, and throwing things around.

The resident starts to feel like there’s no way to put a stop to the excessive noise.

But the catch is that he does it all during the day, so I don’t think I can actually complain about it.

It’s horrible because it’s only the guy who lives directly above me, so the rest of my family is not affected by it.

It’s either the father or the son of the family who lives there, since it’s obviously a male voice, but I don’t know what to do.

She contemplates different ways to approach the issue, but clearly doesn’t feel good about any of them.

I’m not a confrontational person at all, and I don’t want to create problems.

I was thinking of leaving a note on their door, but I’m moving away for college soon, and I’d only be home every other weekend, so it’s not that big of a deal, I guess.

I think I’ll resort to wearing headphones the entire day.

Being forced to listen to this day in and day out must be completely miserable.

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What did Reddit make of all this?

This user shares their theory about the cause of the noise.

Screenshot 2026 07 14 at 4.28.55 PM Tenant Struggles With Neighbor’s Constant Gaming Rage but Wants to Avoid a Bigger Conflict

Even if it’s during the day, it’s still a problem.

Screenshot 2026 07 14 at 4.29.07 PM Tenant Struggles With Neighbor’s Constant Gaming Rage but Wants to Avoid a Bigger Conflict

This racket obviously exceeds the threshold of reasonable everyday noise.

Screenshot 2026 07 14 at 4.30.09 PM Tenant Struggles With Neighbor’s Constant Gaming Rage but Wants to Avoid a Bigger Conflict

The non-emergency police number could be a good place to report the noise.

Screenshot 2026 07 14 at 4.30.46 PM Tenant Struggles With Neighbor’s Constant Gaming Rage but Wants to Avoid a Bigger Conflict

There’s a difference between noise you can tune out and noise that actively disrupts your day, and screaming plus furniture-throwing definitely crosses that line.

Luckily for this teen, she’s already headed off to college, so there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

But next time she comes across an issue like this, there’s no harm in a well-placed polite note or a call to the landlord.

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Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.