Misophonia
01 Apr 2012, 2:16 am
Yep. I have misophonia. Had it for over 40 years. For a long time I thought I was the only person on the planet with this weird spike of rage whenever I heard eating, drinking or slurping sounds, etc.
This topic comes up quite regularly on WP. It seems that a noticeable minority of Aspies have it, as well as many people with ADHD, OCD, other anxiety disorders, and also lots of people who have no other disorders besides misophonia. There is an online group for misophonia which has over two thousand members. There are a few Aspies in it, but not a huge proportion. From time to time, someone there asks whether misophonia is a form of autism, but the vast majority seem to have no other autistic characteristics besides unusual sensory sensitivity.
01 Apr 2012, 2:28 pm
I have hyperacusis. I'm also a musician and it's know to afflict musicians disproportionately too. I have itin spades--in fact it's bothering me right now, and I have earplugs in to help dampen certain frequencies. I've found taking generous doses of flaxseed oil lessens my symptoms, but some days it just worse than others.
Hyperacusis is NOT the same thing as misophonia, and I think some people here are conflating the two. Misophonia to me seems more like a sensory-triggered disorder given that it's specific to certain noises, usually repetitive ones made by other people like chewing, tapping, breathing, sighing, etc., and its symptoms evolve the sufferer's mood and emotional response, while hyperacusis is more of sensory hypersensitivity that causes physical symptoms like pain and fatigue as well as sensory processing symptoms like difficult discerning/filtering sounds and sensory confusion.
My brother who has ADHD has misophonia. He's a real a-hole about it too. I can't take how his mood changes so quickly when he hears certain sounds. I myself get feeling "beaten down" by sounds when my hyperacusis is bad and I just awnt to withdraw, but I don't feel the need to be a jerk to other people like my brother.
02 Apr 2012, 3:00 am
Imagine there is an electrode sticking right into the "rage centre" of your brain, and every time you hear someone eating or drinking or slurping, etc you get a big electric pulse, straight into your rage centre. It is not something you can turn off or control - or get over. Basically, the sounds are excruciating. If you can't take how his mood changes - imagine how he feels when his mood is completely at the mercy of outside stimuli. He cannot do ordinary activities in (emotional, internal) peace and quiet. He is not enjoying these bursts of rage, they are zapping him like a powerful electric shock. I'm not saying he isn't difficult to live with, but misophonia itself is difficult to live with. It restricts so many activities or turns them into tense, defensive occasions.
See this video for more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIhoEtlgiyI
I often end up digging my fingernails into my skin to (try to) distract myself from the rage and distress. Wearing earphones and listening to music has helped me cope with drinkers and chewers on public transport and in elevators. I have my own office at work, and my own study at home, and I spend a lot of time in solitude - partly because, as an Aspie, periods of solitude help me to recover from social interaction, and they keep away the bad trigger sounds and give me a refuge. I have been seeing a psychologist specialising in ASDs for over a year now, to learn to manage my feelings better, especially in relation to misophonia. Reducing stress and learning to relax reduces the rage reaction, and increases the threshold of tolerance.
02 Apr 2012, 4:20 am
Actually I think I have the opposite, if there is an opposite. I absolutely love noises. Often times noises that most people find irritating or disturbing. Besides noises that people make, I don't really care for those noises. I like machine-y noises and stuff... I dunno it's kind of hard to explain. But yeah I like noises.
02 Apr 2012, 5:17 am
I like to make crunchy, snappy, scraping noises like stepping on ice over a puddle. It's a stim that stimulates I guess. But while I don't have misophonia I get the impression it isn't all sounds but particular ones that are so distressful. My son's pediatric neurologist told me he had a patient who was fine except for the sound of a flag flapping in the breeze.
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02 Apr 2012, 11:06 am
This. It is so hard to explain to other people. It is not just "being annoyed" or "disliking". It is more like torture. Seriously.
exactly!! !
02 Apr 2012, 1:29 pm
There are certain noises and sounds that drive me crazy. Sometimes it depends on the timing. For example, I was practicing my organ prelude at church yesterday when a train comes blaring by overly tooting its horn at the nearby crossing when there was no car nearby. That grated on me so bad that I cranked the organ up and began hitting every note I could mash down to drown the train out.
There's a loud popping (mini-cannon) on a legion vehicle used in our area parades. I hate that thing---BOOM!! !! !! ! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! My family and I went to the recent St. Patrick's Day Parade to hear this awesome Scottish bagpipe band. And wouldn't you know, that horrible popping vehicle was right in front of them. I had to keep my ears closed up until it got past---and half the band had gone by too. #%$#! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !
I hate sounds and noises that interfere with an area of my concentration and interests. Eating sounds can do it too. I cannot stand hearing someone slurping soup-----shush!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!
There are certain people's voices that grate me. Oh gee----this is a rant cause there's more things that annoy me in the sound department. But yes, I think I have some of what this thread is talking about.
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19 Jul 2013, 4:15 pm
I do not have misophonia and I am in no way suggesting that it is not real or that those who do have it do not suffer.
But....
How do you react to the sound of your own chewing? Does it bother you less and if so why do you think that is?
I wonder if it has to do with the phenomenon that causes one to not recognize their own voice on a recording.
That is a very good and interesting question. For me it depends on my energy levels and on the sound. Sometimes my own heartbeat is difficult to bear. Sometimes if I make a sound that I cannot tolerate other people to make like popping bubble wrap or clicking a pen I can tolerate it if I make it. I think it has to do with the fact that your brain anticipates the sound and considers it "safe" because it knows that it is coming from you. But if it comes from someone else the brain perceives it as an attack and it makes your body respond as if it were being attacked. When someone else makes the sound it makes me feel like my entire body is being invaded and attacked and I respond with anger or hatred or even overwhelming panic at times. Sometimes the response is so severe that I have wanted to kill myself or the person making the sound. Sometimes my whole body will shake and tremble and I get a little disoriented. I have even blacked out once while at a traffic light when I reacted to someone's loud sub woofers. That is one of my main triggers along with eating sounds and gum snapping and pen clicking and bubble wrap popping. The list is a bit longer but those are really big ones for me.
19 Jul 2013, 4:23 pm
Agree, I think they put a name on something that is actually quite common and normal. Everyone I know has misophonia.
No, this is not normal at all. Misophonic reactions are very severe to the point of causing suicidal and homicidal thoughts as a reaction to everyday sounds that everyone makes. The reactions are so bad that you literally cannot function at times. If you don't get away from the sound you really feel like you want to die, literally. There is nothing normal about it. If everyone had it we would have a much smaller population. Everyday sounds are absolutely unbearable for a misophonic. The closest example I you might probably relate to is like if you hate that nails on the chalkboard sound, I am cringing just writing those words down, but imagine that magnified 100 times louder and aimed directly at you and having to endure that for an hour. The rage and reaction you might have is close to what a misophonic feels when you cough or snap your gum.
19 Jul 2013, 4:31 pm
I suffer with Misophonia. I was SO stupidly afraid of the bell at school. I used to arrive to lessons late because of needing to avoid the bell. When I was in science the room had a bell in and I used to sit there with my elbows on the table and my fingers in my ears (but trying to not make it look obvious). It really spoilt my school life, though. And nobody understood my big massive fear of the bell. It's because I feared jumping out of my skin, and being phobic about it actually makes you jump worse.
Also I can't stand people yawning loudly (especially men). The tone of it really shatters me. My brother does it all the time, which is why I can't be in the same room as him now. He knows this annoys me and so he does it even more, whether I react or not. It's not like he has to do it loudly - it is possible to yawn quietly. His excuse is always, ''well we don't like your moaning!'' Ohhhh, why do some NTs make it so frustrating???! !!
I've even almost been sick before from loud sudden noises. Once I saw an ambulance coming towards me with it's lights flashing, and I know full well that flashing lights mean the siren will turn on any minute, and it's bloody loud! And I then started panicking. I didn't want to put my fingers in my ears because I felt silly doing it in the middle of the street, and so my heart started thumping, I had hot sweats, and the siren did actually switch on near me and I bent over and was almost sick from the shock of it - even though I was kind of expecting it.
I hear you friend! I get nauseous from some of the noises as well. And I hate it when people are not understanding. Funny, I understand that they don't understand but once you explain to them I wish they could be more sensitive, especially family members. I used to get in trouble for my misophonic reactions to some of the noises my family members made especially coughing, throat clearing and eating. But no one has ever been punished for being insensitive to my issue. Go figure!
19 Jul 2013, 4:37 pm
Steve
Sometimes sounds can cause me physical pain as well even if they are not particularly loud. I did not know other people felt that. And sometimes I hear sounds others around me don't hear as well. Ironically sometimes I don't hear things others hear. It is strange. My senses are super sensitive but I know what you mean. I am glad you know what I mean too.
19 Jul 2013, 4:40 pm
Hyperacusis is NOT the same thing as misophonia, and I think some people here are conflating the two. Misophonia to me seems more like a sensory-triggered disorder given that it's specific to certain noises, usually repetitive ones made by other people like chewing, tapping, breathing, sighing, etc., and its symptoms evolve the sufferer's mood and emotional response, while hyperacusis is more of sensory hypersensitivity that causes physical symptoms like pain and fatigue as well as sensory processing symptoms like difficult discerning/filtering sounds and sensory confusion.
My brother who has ADHD has misophonia. He's a real a-hole about it too. I can't take how his mood changes so quickly when he hears certain sounds. I myself get feeling "beaten down" by sounds when my hyperacusis is bad and I just awnt to withdraw, but I don't feel the need to be a jerk to other people like my brother.
I am glad to read your post. I am also a musician and I definitely have Misophonia but the way that you describe hyperacusis I wonder if I have that a touch of that as well since I also have had times when I respond as you described it.
