The literal
definition of the medical term misophonia (or selective sound sensitivity syndrome) is “a hatred of sound,” but a person with it
is sensitive to certain sounds. Any sound can become a problem to a person with
misophonia. People call the collection of sounds that they’re sensitive to
their trigger set.
Exposure to a trigger sound[i]
elicits an immediate negative emotional response from a person with sound
sensitivities. The response can range from moderate discomfort or annoyance to
full-fledged rage and panic.
A person with misophonia can pull back from
family and friends in an attempt to reduce the symptoms that they experience
when triggered. Misophonia can become so disabling that people won't eat out at
restaurants or even with other people at all. People with misophonia are aware
that the sounds that trigger them don’t bother other people. Here are six things to know about misophonia:
1. No one knows why misophonia happens.
2. There are five main categories of
trigger sounds for misophonia: (mouth sounds, breathing noises, vocal noise,
body movements, and miscellaneous irritants).
3. Misophonia starts in early
childhood.
4. Misophonia might happen as a result of
some kind of trauma, stress, or anxiety.
5. Misophonia can be life-altering
6. Treatments are being worked on for
misophonia in the near future (There are two interventions: stress management
therapy and exposure to sounds where a sequence of controlled sounds help
people tolerate the irritant).
“How do you politely say, “The way you’re
chewing makes me want to throw up for the rest of my life?” (Anonymous) [ii]
[i] Here is a long list of trigger sounds
that can irritate the person with misophonia:
Mouth and Eating: “ahhs” after drinking, burping,
chewing, crunching (ice or other hard food), gulping, gum chewing and popping,
kissing sounds, nail biting, silverware scraping teeth or a plate, slurping,
sipping, licking, smacking, spitting, sucking (ice, etc), swallowing, talking
with food in mouth, tooth brushing, flossing, tooth sucking, lip smacking, wet
mouth sounds, grinding teeth, throat clearing and jaw clicking.
Breathing/Nasal: grunting, groaning, screaming, loud or soft breathing, sniffling,
snorting, snoring, sneezing, loud or soft talking, raspy voices, congested breathing,
hiccups, yawning, nose whistling and wheezing. Vocal: humming, muffled talking,
nasally voices, overused words such as um or ah (repeated words), gravelly
voices, bad singing, soft whisper-like voices and whistling.
Environmental: clicking from texting,
keyboard/mouse, TV remote, pen clicking, writing sounds, papers
rustling/ripping, ticking clocks, texting and cell phone ringtone.
Utensils/metals: dishes clattering, fork scraping teeth, silverware hitting
plates or other silverware and rattling change in pockets. Plastic: water
bottle squeezing/crinkling, breaking hard plastic and bouncing balls. Wrappers:
plastic bags crinkling/rustling, plastic bags opening or being rubbed and
crinkling food packages.
Cars: sitting idling for long periods
of time, beep when car is locked, car doors slamming, keys banging against
steering column and turn signal clicking. Heavy equipment: lawnmowers, leaf
blower, air conditioners and chain saws. Impact sounds: other people’s voices
muffled bass music or TV through walls, doors/windows being slammed and
basketball thumps.
Animal noises: dogs barking, bird sounds,
crickets, frogs, dogs or cats licking, drinking, slurping, eating, whining,
dogs scratching themselves and trying to bite their fleas and claws tapping.
Baby: Baby crying, babbling, adults
using baby talk and kids yelling. TV: loud TV or radio.
Body Movement related: Foot
shuffling (dry feet on floor/carpet) or tapping, finger snapping, foot
dragging, heels, flip flops, knuckle/joint cracking, eye blinking, nail biting
and clipping, eating, chewing, fidgeting, hair twirling, movements out of the
corner of eyes, repetitive foot or body movements, jaw chewing/movement
[ii] Sources used:
·
“6 Things to Know about
Misophonia” by Ariel Scotti
·
“The
Symptoms & Triggers of Misophonia” by misophonia.com
My daughter, Allena, and
I both have this. It causes a lot of tension in our family.
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