As a kid, I lived under the approach to 26 at Essendon - lots of noise back then!
But it never bothered us - when we had visitors they would always ask how we put up with the noise - our answer "What noise?". As Ozgrade said, it became white noise, something in the background we never really noticed.
Same with friends of ours under approach to 16 at YMML - they don't notice the noise (such as it is).
I reckon pppdrive has got it right - complaining makes them feel important, look at the pic of the guy in the other noise thread. That, and obsessiveness - while most people can just ignore it so effectively it goes away, for some it becomes an obsession and it eats away at them. They deal with it by becoming a crusader and writing letters, organising committees, talking to the press, running blogs, etc - suddenly they become in their own minds someone really important.
Dunno what you do - but lots of golf courses around your local airfield is a good start!