Misophonia: When Annoying Noises Send You Into A Rage

Loud chewing by a friend, coworker or that random stranger next to you in line at the post office can drive even the most level-headed person up a wall. But for some people, the noise becomes entirely unbearable, spurring an extreme fight-or-flight response.

The condition is called misophonia -- literally "hatred of sound" -- and occurs when a common noise, whether it's something like a person chewing loudly, water dripping or someone "ahem"-ing, causes you to become anxious or angry, more so than a typical response, TODAY reported. It can also be known as Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome (4S) or hyperacusis.

"Everything I have turns into a boiling pot of rage, and then I have to talk myself down," Adah Siganoff, who suffers from misophonia, told TODAY. Siganoff has to sit in a separate room from her husband during dinner time because the sound of chewing gets to her so much.

Most people develop misophonia in late childhood, around the age of 10, and it can get worse as the person gets older, with more sounds becoming triggers, The New York Times reported. Not much research has been done on the condition, and some doctors still have never heard of it.

People with the disorder are not bothered by the loudness of sound -- rather, the softer, repetitive, common sounds are the ones that drive them up the wall, according to The New York Times.

"What they experience is kind of a Mount St. Helens eruption of emotions and feelings associated with these sounds," Dr. Marsha Johnson, of the Oregon Tinnitus & Hyperacusis Treatment Clinic, told TODAY.

There is no cure for misophonia, and people who have the condition learn to just avoid trigger sounds, Dr. Aage R. Moller, a neuroscientist at the University of Texas at Dallas, told The New York Times. Moller said the root problem likely isn't a hearing disorder, but more an issue of how these people's brains are activated by sound.

To manage, people with the condition can employ coping skills such as wearing ear plugs or playing white noise to drown out the trigger sound, according to Mispohonia UK. Therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy and hypnotherapy, is also an option.

The condition is different from the fear of sound, which is phonophobia, and pain from certain frequency of sounds, which is hyperacusis, CTV News reported. It's also separate from tinnitus, which is ringing in the ears.

There is an online support group for people with misophonia, found here. The condition can often affect relationships.

From SoundSensitive.org:

In romantic relationships, many people with 4S report that it's great in the beginning, then things deteriorate as they start to notice the other person's noises more. The complaints add up, and the other person gets tired of making allowances for the 4S.

Comments

[Patty Fusselman]

11:29 PM on 09/27/2011

Thank you so much for bringing this up. I seriously thought something was wrong with me emotionally because I get so angry when I hear certain noises. I absolutely cannot stand to hear people eat, breathe heavy or listen to my dog lick her paws. Now I know that I'm not alone, there are others with this problem and it's like such a relief to find this out.

[screamingbanshee]

10:16 PM on 09/20/2011

how come *I HAVE* the "disorder" when everyone else doesn't seem to have the most basic of table manners or consideration of others??!? chew with your mouth closed! it's what we do in CIVILIZED society! be aware of the fact that your constant tapping of a pencil on your desk is annoying! there's a reason it's called Chinese Water Torture! why is that too much to ask? don't tell me that **I** need therapy! how 'bout the mouth breathers go back to school and learn some manners!

[rMatey]

10:14 AM on 09/14/2011

People eating like pigs, slurping and chomping with their mouth open. I want to shove a serving spoon in their piehole.

[annpfnp]

03:05 PM on 09/12/2011

There is sound I really hate. It's on the Jerry Springer show. "Jerry Jerry Jerry Jerry Jerry" I really hate it, but can't really say that other repetitive sounds bother me. Only "Jerry Jerry." The suggestion to stay away from the sounds is a good one. Change the channel.

[whodo1952]

09:05 AM on 09/11/2011

There are a number of sounds or noises which seem to incite me to the edge of out of control murder, rap "music" tops this list. Yet on the other end of the spectrum, opera also makes me feel physically ill.

A few years ago there was a study that found that teenagers could perceive a frequency that only they could hear. What information exactly, is transmitted along that frequency?
It does stand to reason if there is one for them, we all may have a frequency we respond to. Why?
Does this, might this, speak to a cogged process? I am still albeit slowly, researching this.

As a child of the 60's music and as a party person, music played a relative role in defining who I am.
A "rocker"! I felt comfortable with rock music and never was awake not having my radio on.

Then rap music invaded the world and I began to clench my teeth and seethe whenever I heard it's horrific, nasty lyrics and the needle backward scratching of it's defiant techniques.

My children love this music and I was soon finding myself compromising my comfortable space for their right to listen to the music of their time.

That was 25 years ago and I was not responsible for anyone's murder but
to this day, it still sets my teeth on edge and I become irritated and angry when I hear it.
And now it has become elevator music in some buildings. Sigh!

[sabelmouse]

07:09 AM on 09/11/2011

does hatred of the sound of the english speaking peoples of the world mispronouncing every other language on the planet count ?
especially when they wantonly change the names of people and places as for instance calling van gogh van go.

[EmilyKWells]

10:21 AM on 09/14/2011

Right, because people whose primary language is not English pronounce every word of every other language on the planet correctly...

[sabelmouse]

11:01 AM on 09/14/2011

it's not the actual mis-pronunciation that upsets me so much as the wanton disregard of other people's language.
as in changing people's names and places rather than even trying to pronounce them properly , as for example van gogh's.
i have lived 5 years in england and 14 in ireland and no matter what i do people will not pronounce my name the way i say it. or my children's. they are not difficult names.
it's a matter of respect or the lack thereof and after all the english speaking peoples of the world are famous for their linguistic short comings and their unwillingness to read books or watch films from other countries.
it fits the profile.

[beyondliberal]

03:02 PM on 09/10/2011

I have felt like a freak for years because I can't tolerate most music, especially anything with a beat or that's random. Dance music tolerance? Not! Jazz? Not! I like most baroque music, but anything with a drum drives me nuts.
My friends try to be understanding when I explain that I have a visceral reaction to most music, and it actually makes me feel like vomiting. I have one friend who's a professional musician and it breaks my heart I can't enjoy her efforts. Interestingly, she's been very understanding about my problem.
As much as I'd love to go to Burning Man with all my pals, I can't because I understand there's a deep drum beat 100% of the time. I'd last, max, 10 minutes.
I put off getting a dog for years because I dreaded the inevitable panting. Once I started taking an antipsychotic medication, I was better able to tune out the noise and have 3 dogs now, but I still can't stand anything that shakes my gut.

[sabelmouse]

07:13 AM on 09/11/2011

dance music makes me want to kill. i love a good Rhythm but that beat drives me nuts. put me in a looked room with that for an hour and i'd do anything.

[Gavlar]

12:25 PM on 09/10/2011

I realize now why I was so strict about table manners - it was the noise - "Don't chew with your mouth open, you could breath in and choke". My poor kids.

[Gavlar]

12:20 PM on 09/10/2011

I would literally want to murder my ex husband watching him slurping on a popsicle or scraping a carton or yoghurt out with his finger and sucking on it, then licking the carton out with his tongue. I could just about hold out with out screaming because I knew it was finite - but finger drumming or any repetitive noise is that may possibly never stop is unbearable, however quiet. It isn't fair on those around most of the time I leave the room - sometimes that is not possible - I wasn't aware this condition had a name but I knew I suffered from it - with some kinds of music I will find myself suddenly demanding "turn it off turn it off".
My father suffered from this. My sister and I do and two of my children.

[EJD1208]

11:15 AM on 09/10/2011

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. I know I have this disorder... and I know it affects my marriage. My poor husband tries to chew so quietly but I can hear it from another room. It's ridiculous, and I know its ridiculous, but the stress level it causes in me would almost be laughable if it wasn't so consistent and intense.

[ebw78756]

10:52 PM on 09/09/2011

I saw the segment about misophonia on the Today Show 9/8/11. Until then I had no idea that other people suffer from the horrors of sounds as I do. I have registered with the forum at http://www.soundsensitivity.info/Forum/ and have to say, as happy as I am to find I am not alone, I'm equally sad to find there are so many others who suffer from this condition. It is truely horrible.

[adah 123]

05:12 PM on 09/09/2011

You might also want to take a look at http://www.soundsensitivity.info if you prefer an indexed digest forum for information and sharing

[adah 123]

05:07 PM on 09/09/2011

Great to see this on Huffington! I have had this secret for 45 years and only sought treatment for it in my 30's when I got clean and sober and was diagnosed with PTSD. Never did I think it could be physiological or genetic. We all believed it was learned behavior. I have had 20+ years of many psychotherapies: EFT, TFT, EEG neurofeedback, LENS neurofeedback, plain ol' talk therapy, breath work, anger work, etc etc.

I even underwent intensive hypnotherapy. I figured it would be better to cluck like a chicken when I get triggered than to feel what I feel. The therapies DID work to reduce my hypervigilance, to work thru childhood issues and become a stronger and more balanced Misophonic.
I am now urging all of us to pursue an allopathic medical model for treatment: the 8th cranial nerve goes to the pons - it's not a straight shot into any processing lobe. The pons is a bunch of spongy connective fiber and neurotransmitters can get all mixed up due to GABA or calciums or any other nuanced imbalance in a "normal" person . . .
My professionally amateur opinion is that we need to track the nerve impulses to see where/why/how they getting sidetracked and what is being set off. Why can we not habituate to small sounds like everyone else?

[jb578261]

11:08 PM on 11/02/2011

What was the cost of the hypnotherapy, and exactly how effective was it? Did it increase your tolerance to these sounds at all??? I tried tinnitus retaining therapy about a year ago. I spent $2,500 over the course of two months with absolutely no results. I don't have that kind of money so I had to stop.

[adah 123]

02:11 PM on 11/07/2011

Hypnotherapy was approx $125 per session 15+ years ago. It was useless. The biggest problem is that clinicians don't "get it". They don't understand that it's a reflex, not a real emotion. No one has the kind of money we've spent . . .

[euonymous]

04:42 PM on 09/09/2011

That was interesting and completely new to me. I have noticed that a noise, like a particular person coughing, for example, can drive an individual nuts while a different person coughing will not bother that individual at all. I've encountered that situation a couple times over the years and chalked it up to the relationship between the two people, but maybe not. People are such fascinating critters!

[Chad Wheeler]

04:44 PM on 09/09/2011

I think you are on to something. I have a mildly passive-aggressive relationship with my mother and the sound of her coughing actually makes me angry. I have to sit and silently remind myself of all the things I love about her when it happens to avoid snapping at her.

[euonymous]

05:19 PM on 09/09/2011

Thank you for posting this. When you notice, or think you notice, something about behavior, it isn't always easy to find confirmation. I've thought that bit was true for many years, but have never seen any studies or confirmation that it wasn't coincidence or my imagination. ;-)

[sabelmouse]

07:15 AM on 09/11/2011

i have that with my next door neighbours.
after 8 years of hell, partying and fighting all night it only takes one door slam or shout for me to want to get a cricket bat and bash their noggins.

[bbenton]

04:37 PM on 09/09/2011

There is a survey on misophonia and sound sensitivities that is collecting anonymous data to help find treatments or a cure. If you are a sufferer, fill it out at: http://www.rosekivi.com/survey.html