onlinecounsellingcollege:

Misophonia is literally the hatred of sound. Usually the sufferer is hypersensitive to the kinds of background sounds or visual stimuli that are other people can easily block out. However, in the case of the person with misophonia, they act as triggers for intense emotional reactions (such as feelings of panic or a torrent of rage).

To hang on to their sanity the sufferer withdraws and isolates themselves from activities and people. It can lead to the break up of relationships and destroy opportunities for having a career. Saying that, not all people have as serious reactions, and some are only bothered by a few stimuli.

Key trigger stimuli that cause a reaction are listed in categories below.

1. Mouth and Eating: Chewing, crunching, sucking, gulping, slurping, swallowing, burping, the sound of cutlery against teeth, others talking with food in their mouth, spitting, nail biting and kissing.

2. Breathing and nasal: Loud or soft breathing, yawning, wheezing, snoring, nose whistling, sniffing, clearing your throat, coughing and hiccups.

3. Vocal: Singing, humming, whistling, gravelly or nasally voices, soft voices, the overuse of certain words, muffled talking and laughter.

4. Body movements: The shuffling of feet on floor, the sound of flip flops, heavy footsteps, hand and foot rubbing,  cracking your knuckles or joints, finger tapping and scratching sounds.

5. Visual stimuli: Repetitive foot or body movements, playing with your hair, fidgeting, jerks and tics, blinking eyes, blinking lights, web animations, any movement you observe out of the corner of your eyes.

6. Environment: The list here could be almost endless, and includes - texting, the sound of a keyboard/mouse, clicking pens, the sound of pen on paper, paper rustling or being ripped, ticking clocks, clattering dishes, the sound of cutlery on crockery, crinkling food packages or wrappers, the noise of traffic, construction, lawnmowers, balls bouncing, cars, car doors slamming, back-up beepers, other people’s music, muffled bass music or TV through walls, electronic humming, dogs barking, bird song, crickets, frogs, dogs or cat licking, dripping water, creaking floors and so on.

Currently, there is no known cure for Misophonia – although CBT can help some individuals.

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