http://www.soundsensitivity.info

Hi Sydney,

Have you checked out the Aussie site http://www.soundsensitivity.info. It's specifically for Misaphonia which you definitely have.
It's very early days, so no real research as yet, but at least we as a group now know thanks to the internet that we are not raving bonkers. This thing exists, perhaps an achievable step forward will be a public awareness to this issue that will at least allow us to tell people to shut up. You have every right to be angry about this...maybe we've all been too nice...maybe we should all shout and stomp. We've gotta find a way of letting everyone else know that their insensitivity is the cause of all this.
Hang in there.
Alan, WA

 

I agree so much with all of you. And the site, as alan suggested does help. I am a member on it, and have learned a few tricks. But guys, i get all of you. I am SO fricking close to making myself go deaf. Heck, i would have a long time ago. The only thing holding me back? school and dance. i dont know why though. I legit wear earplugs throughout school, and cant hear what most teachers are saying anyway. there needs to be a cure, NOW. I cant go on like this. not even close.

 

OMG!

Well, I've literally tonight discovered this condition and I am completely flabbergasted. Chewing, tapping, pen clicking - have always driven me to despair, and I had assumed I was just over sensitive. The sounds grate on me so much that I cannot explain it, I will leave the situation if possible and if not cover my ears, put in headphones. If I can't block out the noise I start to feel physically sick.

Recently I've moved into a flat, and the latest thing is the noises of people living around me. Doors slamming are the worst, followed by tv, music and people talking. It's particularly bad at night. I feel as though everyone around me are purposely trying to annoy me! I've started wearing ear plugs which helps, but how about this : I take them out because I think I might have heard a noise, and need to check! That's just madness.

I've never had any other kind of stress/anxiety issues. I'm a confident person, with many friends and at work I'm the boss. It's incredible the change between my holding a meeting, to being in bed at night a complete nervous wreck.

Anyway... I've really enjoyed reading your stories and sorry for my random vent. It just feels so good to know I'm not alone!

So thank you all x

 

I think I have this. Sometimes, hearing these "small sounds" makes me sooo mad, I cry!

 

My co-worker has a cold and is lip-smacking her cough candy. I want to annihilate her off the planet and torture her. I keep putting my hands around my ears and she's oblivious. I hate people who make sounds like that. They should be wiped off the planet. I can't take this anymore. I really wish I was deaf.

 

I'm really glad I found a thread on this, because I have this problem, too. I basically can't go outside anywhere because of it.

 

Hey Guys

I have pretty severe Misophonia. It started when I was 11 or 12 and my dad eating a bowl of cereal every morning, chomping it (in my mind obviously) all the way through. It progressively got worse and all the typical triggers bother me

-Gum chewing
-almost any food eating
-noises from neighbors, dogs etc
-coughing/throat clearing

I'm not ready to say it's ruined my life but has been a major detriment. I'm on the precipice of rage and violence under the worst circumstances and once threw a lighter across the room at my best friend and almost blinded him.

Talking about it with others almost makes it worse bc when they start to chew "softer" it compounds the problem even more, oh man. I've read through this thread (I learned about Misophonia about a year ago) and I'm not sure I have much more I can add....

 

Hi everyone,

It's an amazing relief to find people who are suffering with similar symptoms! It's really nice that we have someone to relate, especially when we don't feel we're getting support from friends and family.

I've struggled with symptoms since around the age of 11. It started with eating sounds, but as I've got older the number of sounds I can't tolerate has increased, and it applies to more people and even movements.

The idea of it getting even worse is horrible, especially when it affects your ability to concentrate at school/work, and causes you to avoid socialising.

I wanted to share with you all an idea. I'm not sure it's been posted here yet, and I apologise if it has. I recently have recognised symptoms in myself of ADHD/ADD, which I have missed for years! In primary school I always had problems with inattentiveness and now I'm reaching the end of my studies I'm starting to recognise setbacks as caused by similar symptoms. ADHD/ADD sufferers as you expect suffer with hypersensitivities and consequently, I think misophonia and ADHD/ADD could potentially be linked. I've had a search online and a few other people on different forums have also made this link. Some have even stated that their medication for ADHD/ADD has made significant improvements on their misophonia symptoms.

I think it's certainly worth a look. Until a few months ago, I had a completely different understanding of what ADD/ADHD was and just associated it with children with bad/disruptive behaviour, which is certainly not the case. (Please forgive my ignorance before!)


I really hope that this at least helps some of you out!

I can't wait for the day it becomes better understood. We're all doing really well to cope with this, thinking about it.. we're probably some of the most tolerant people in the world!

 

I'm 39 and misophonia is ruining my life since 12 ! Family, children, work, etc... just drain all my energy out of me.
I'have the feeling I can only breath and relax when i'm alone... It's terrible.
I had to break up with my girlfriend recently because of that, and my bad temper. She could not take it anymore.

SO, I have recently started psychoterapy, which does not help for that really. And I also talked to my doctor about this. He never heard of anything like that ! He prescribed me with ZOLOFT. I giving it a try right now, but I does not seems to help at all...

I want to try ADHD/ADD medication after. I really want to know more about this. And hypnosis also...
It is impossible for me to find specialist in the aera where i live.

 

I'm pretty sure I have misophonia, does anyone know any specialists able to diagnose and deal with this issue in South Australia?

 

I have this as well, though it sounds like I have it a lot easier because I don’t have an awful home environment for it like Zadra; though when I was younger, my brother would often make noises to irritate me and my parents would just tell me to ignore it, encouraging him to make more noises.

One thing that I’ve found particularly difficult is college dorms, since people so often blast their music. Luckily there’s a quiet hall in one of the dorms at Oberlin (though it’s not as quiet as it should be). Unlike Zadra, I’ve found my white noise machine to be really helpful, especially in my dorm, at least when a sound isn’t so loud that the noise machine doesn’t cover it up.

I’m also really irritated by some visual stimuli like people moving their leg back and forth or the smilies on the side of the reply box (which is why I always type up my posts on a word document and copy/paste). I’ve read that this is also related to misophonia.

 

I have also become increasingly noise sensitive after many months of stress and worry with university and other concerns. I have been reading that magnesium deficiencies can cause sensitivity and have now started supplementing a couple days ago. It does help alleviate some of the anxiety associated with it but does not help the sensitivity yet. I am considering having lens neurofeedback. It is a non invasive procedure that helps to reprogram the brain from frozen areas of thinking and behaving that keep a person stuck. It is a new therapy and is being used for anxiety, OCD, PTSD, ADD. Maybe it would help? Try googling it.

 

I can't stand when someone is crinkling up paper bags.
When a dog barks loudly.
When people talk loudly.
Sometimes I can't stand loud music.

 

Have you tried those big noise reducers? They look like headphones and go around your ears. They are mainly used by people who work in industrial settings. You can get them with or without music. Another thing is noise-canceling headphones, which create white noise in your ears and block out sound. Also, try going to a holistic doctor for tests and supplements.

 

misphonia

Hi to all.

I have only just heard of this Misphonia and man do I have it bad. It was almost exhilarating to hear that others suffer from it too. Zadra. everything you describe is identical to my problems. Although my husband is sooooo unbelievably understanding of my issues it must drive him nuts at times...

Noting the posts from all of you were some time agoa, have any of you find a way to help. I would be so interested in chatting about this. My 14 yr old daughter also has misphonia.

Pleeeeease if anyone has any helpful ideas I would love to hear them...

 

I think I have misophonia, although not all sounds bother me. What does bother me is the sound of people (myself included) speaking. My trigger sound is the sound of the letter P in spoken words. I hate it because it sounds "wet" to me. It's the wet sound of P that drives me to wild, suicidal rages. It makes me want to hurt the person. The little bit of spit that comes out of someone's mouth when they say P words. Examples are: Pine, Pie, Alpine, Pile, Pipe, Pioneer, Part, Party, Pain, Pay, Paint, Apartment, Paper, Champagne, Apart, Park, Paralysis, Popular, Pop, Pert, People, and so many others. Anything that has an audible P in it. I also cannot stand the sound of the hard C, K or G letters, although they're not as annoying as P. Sounds like: Car, Cat, Con, Carpenter, Kick, Walk, etc. Some people who have Misophonia say that chewing sounds bother them. They do bother me, but to a lesser extent. I get annoyed by them, but nowhere near as bad as by people speaking. I can't be around people. I can't go to college, hold down a job, nothing. I stay home most of the time. I avoid family and friends sometimes. I communicate through Facebook or email or message forums. I do not talk on the phone or listen to the radio or tv. None of that.

 

I also have OCD, which doesn't help matters any. I obsess so much over the weirdest things. When I tell people what I obsess over, they say, "That bothers you?" They can't believe it. But it's true.

 

That sounds excruciating. Unfortunately, I don't think I can give you any well informed advice because I don't have any way of relating to it.

Excuse my ignorance on the subject in this suggestion, but have you ever tried embracing the noises? Pretty much anything that causes me upset or discomfort (pain, cold, heat, unpleasant emotion etc.) I find is only displeasing when I am resisting the feeling. If I can find it within myself to embrace it instead the experience is no longer unpleasant, many times it is instead wonderfully intense. It takes effort to hold onto but it helps when I can.

Like I said before, obviously my experiences are a different thing from your situation. I do not know anything about Misophonia or what it is like to have it, I'm just offering the only words of advice I have, hoping that maybe the principle of my suggestion will apply. If you haven't tried it already you might as well.

I really hope things get better for you, you sound like you are in a lot of pain.

 

I don't know if it is a related issue, but I get into a murderous rage (on the inside) when I hear my dad chew...but that's mainly because it is sustaining his life. We don't get along haha.

 

Lol that made me laugh. It doesn't bother me as much anymore but my dads chewing is really loud and would really get on my nerves. Even worse are his sneezing fits, his sneezes are as loud as yells. Every time he starts sneezing I know its going to be drawn out into at least 8, sometimes as many as 15. I had to try hard to hold back my anger in anticipation of the noise. It wouldn't be fair for me to get after him for sneezing.

 

I'm actually finding it hard to listen to everyone rant on about what noises annoy them. I really want some productive convo as i feel like everyone stating their annoyance will only open me up to those triggers too. So from what I have gathered most people seem to develope mesophobia from 10-12. So this disease has been hard wired into our brain. I think it's going to take some serious cognitive therapy to work this one out. I think the reason why people can stand their own noises more than others is because they can tell when the noise is coming. So I've been thinking maybe it is OCD, anxiety stirred problem. The unpredictability of this sound we've made to be our worst enemy is probably what's setting us nuts. Fear of the unknown and not being able to control something. I highly recommend even if people don't have an anxiety problem to do some research n have an understanding on how the mind works. The flight or fight mechanism is something we need to think about also. The flight option is an instant reliever but I worry what it's doing in the long run. Were all taught that avoiding something makes things worse, the stress n anxiety of the sound will build up. It's excruitating to handle so I wonder what techniques there are out there that can reprogram our mind into not being so ticked off by our triggers. Yes I found out that also knowing there's a name for what I have puts the stamp on the envelope n made me more aware of my condition. Just like if u ask someone to stop chewing loudly ur mind automatically goes into hypersensitivity mode n listens out for the sound. Why do we obsess over it. Let the sound drill in our head imagine it over n over. Maybe like wen someone has a panic attack all u can think of is am I dying this feels horrible n will it stop, it's not until u distract ur mind out of it's spiraling focus on the negative and start thinking about other things does the panic attack go away. So despite how angry we feel if theirs tricks like there are with panic attacks to come out of our mini tantrum that would b amazing. Without having to take the avoid mode. This mesophonia has destroyed my relationship with my mum n I wen I was a teen in particular, the only relief I get from finding out about this disease is now hopefully my mum will have some understanding on why I was the way I was n that I never hated her. This causes me alot of pain. N the only other good thing there is about finding out about it is hopefully there will b more research n then a cure or path to recovery. Just like people never believed in depression.

 

Just wanted to say to everyone don't get discouraged when all the texts on mesophonia say there is no known cure yet. This doesn't mean we have no hope. The disease is still young and by raising awareness on this disease we can encourage more research and study for it therefore ultimately leading to more knowledge on how to manage and treat the disease rather then just telling us what it is. I bet there are so many people out there that feel helpless. The same amount of anger I have when I hear a bad trigger is how bad I want this disease more researched. Now that is validated to appear in social media us people want to see some actaul help services. Ones that know what their talking about and are purely there to understand help not b judged but guided to fix our mental health problem. It's exactly like being hurt, we have a disease, it's hurting us and I'm sure were all over it. As we all know most of us have had it now for many years. let's all really try beat this thing. Does anyone have any knowledge of marketing advertising spreading the word, I imagine public awareness on this mental health disease is fairly low.

 

I hate it. My mom said "Get over it! You're just a freak and a brat!" when I tried to explain it to her. I was calm, but I nearly started crying. Then again, she called me a liar when I came out about being molested, so maybe she's just a $h*tty person.

 

Don't know if you still read these replies, but anyway this is what I do. I imitate the sounds. So the only way I could deal with your situation, other than going for a walk, would be to take up playing the guitar myself and play in your own room at the same time, and trying to drown out his sound. Instead of ear plugs I would use ears muffs. Maybe you could get headphones that cover your ears so the sound you make comes out there. But you sound like you are in a tough situation as it also sounds like you may have phonophobia on top of the misophonia which would really suck.

 

Some help

My son who is 14 has been dealing with misophonia since he was 10. Over the years we have tries different things to help.

Here is what we have found that gave him at least a little relief.

We found that the GNC Energy and Metabolism vitamins help also OOlong Tea seems to have a wonderful affect.

We bought some oolong tea because we wanted to try it. We had no idea that it would help a little with his misophonia. He was drinking it for a few days and he realized that he was listening to the movie Social Network. One of his main triggers is typing.

Maybe this will help you a little bit.

Also I have been doing research on the supplement Valerian. This seems like it may have some benefits.

 

I know this thread is old, but I wanted to show my support for everyone here with Misophonia. I am a 30 year old mother of 2 and I have had Misophonia since I was 12. I didn't realize it was a "real" problem until I was 24. So I spent my entire childhood and early adulthood thinking I was crazy and mean. I didn't know what was wrong with me and the guilt I felt for being mean to my younger sister (who often received the brunt of my wrath) was often overwhelming. I had a really rough time at school, as I would have to wear earplugs just to stay in some classrooms.

I just wanted to offer a bit of hope. Your life CAN be mostly normal. No, there is no fixing our problem. Yes, it's completely unfair that we have this, and I still struggle from time to time, but it's a lot easier to handle if you are able to transform your life into one where ou are not faced with trigger noises constantly. Life will seem sweet again. Here is what I did to make life better:

1. Where you live - Environment is everything. The OP mentioned he has to live with someone who plays bass all the time. My dad did that too, and it almost killed me. I had to leave the house when he did it, or sit with him during his band sessions. Living and working in an environment where you are consistently faced with trigger noises is poisonous to you. You need to find a way out, and for your well being, it should take priority above everything else.

For my example, I live in a very quiet street in a woodsy part of Portland, Maine, and it is perfect. No barking dogs, no basketball players, no immediate neighbors, it is wonderful. It took time for me to find this place. In my younger days I lived in a couple duplexes (in which the neighbors TV's were right by the walls....ugh) and found I could only live a happy (more) normal life if I was able to live somewhere quiet. No more apartments, duplexes, or busy streets. My advice to you is, even if you have to completely move to a different town, find somewhere to live ASAP that is quiet. I know this isn't feasible for everyone, but after my own experiences, it completely changed my life to be somewhere truly quiet.

2. Work - For my work, I am a stay at home comic book artist (and mom of course!) I am able to work from my safe haven, my house. I love it. Not only is drawing my passion, but I vastly prefer working on my own remotely anyway. Being able to work where I am not faced with misophonia has helped my career and happiness levels vastly. My advice is to work very hard to find a career in which you can work in a place that is suitable to you.

3. Family - I am incredibly lucky to be married to a man that understands and empathizes with my problem. This is not to say that sometimes he doesn't get overwhelmed sometimes, but 98% we live happy, normal lives. We are both careful to avoid trigger sounds, and I try very hard to be respectful when they happen accidentally (it's a lot easier to do when it rarely happens).

Even if you have Misophonia you CAN have a normal family life. There is someone out there for you that will help you through this. Do not lose hope! Also, when not confronted with contant triggers, I am able to have a more normal social life. I am able to go out to eat with friends more and handle longer periods of trigger sounds.

Finally, as something positive and hopeful, I've found that sounds from my children (when they are babies/toddlers/very young children) that would usually trigger me DO NOT BOTHER ME! I do not understand it, but my toddler could crunch and breathe loud right in my ear all day long and it doesn't bother me. In fact, I cherish those sounds. Apparently, I am not the only one who this has happened to. My oldest is now 10, and the normal trigger sounds he makes are now bothering me, but I had a very sweet 5 or so years when they didn't. I cherish those times, because I get a glimpse on how it feels to be completely normal. It's also nice to feel that, even though Misophonia had caused me innumerable difficulties, it didn't rob me of those special years with my children.

I hope that helps you in some small way!

Hugs to you all!

 

Re: Hey there!

I know this thread is old.......2. Work - For my work, I am a stay at home comic book artist... I am able to work from my safe haven, my house.

Renae, good morning! I have to say I'm still in a state of pleasant surprise to find another visual artist amongst the ranks of our multifaceted troubles. I've been dealing with misophonia over the last dozen-and-a-half years of my life (I'm 35 now); I have like many people here built up a regimen (if you will) of coping strategies, some as simple as musical suffusion (twenty or thirty minutes of Depeche Mode, Rammstein, Marilyn Manson and Chicane with the bass up, even if it's just my headphones), forced refocussing away from the trigger and its resulting 'echo' (I tend to retain a sonic or visual 'xerox' of the trigger noise or sight if it's one of my really bad ones, sometimes as far as its repeating itself in my mind's eye/ear) or just heading up to my room (I'm on the third floor of the house I share with my Mom; my bedroom and the 'frontroom', and it's pretty much my main personal space) to divest myself from the stimulus of the moment. I rarely eat with my mother (usually in my room) or during family gatherings, but I'm getting a lot better at 'aiming' my reaction process, and it's easier to handle now than it used to be. I think my main saviour of the moment is my current pair of headphones; they have exceptionally minimal 'leak' even with the volume and bass cranked up, and they are extremely effective at external noise isolation (overear cups; they reduce the amount of outside ambient noise getting to my ear proper by 40-50%). I rarely go out without them if I'm going to be walking in public or taking the subway, bus or streetcar here. The really crap thing about it is that my mother seems to be the biggest trigger focus for me; of course, sharing space and living in the same home makes this awkward sometimes. I will say that I've gradually gotten much better at looking at the psychological architecture of my responses and reactions over the last 6 or 7 years or so; and I can often quite lucidly explain my own reactions. It's helped with my diagnosed mental illness as well (I was dual-diagnosed with acute schizophrenia and bipolar/manic depression when I was 17) in both rationalizing and through that, being able to coherently discuss my reactives, symptomatics and general mood with both my longtime psychiatrist and my family and friends. Heh. I don't even feel put-off when people find out I have two severe mental illnesses and they say to me, 'You don't seem like you're schizophrenic at all'. I take it as a compliment, mainly because although I'm nowhere near able to constantly function 'like everybody else', I've made a lot of progress thanks to regular medical treatment and monitoring, pharmaceutical and therapeutic treatment, a family who never stopped caring about me and my own stubborn desire to improve. ^_^ Anyway, I went on a bit there. What sort of comic artwork do you do in general, Renae? I'm a science-fiction and role-playing game artist in general, along with some sci-fi subspecialties. Hope this message finds one and all of who read it healthy and happy! -Worker.