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Misophonia, anyone?

How are your reactions to certain noises? (yay, you can pick any 2 responses!)

  • I pick up the slightest noises

    Votes: 28 71.8%
  • Certain noises make me cry/turn me into a ball of rage/start meltdowns

    Votes: 26 66.7%
  • I don't hear so well

    Votes: 3 7.7%
  • I'm OK with noise/No particular effect

    Votes: 3 7.7%

  • Total voters
    39

Katleya

Sarcasm Lover
V.I.P Member
I came across an article a few days ago about misophonia, which I'll summarize as an intense adverse reaction to certain sounds. The article here talks about people who feel rage (or even cry & get physical reactions) from hearing particular, not especially loud sounds, such as chewing, sniffling, chip bag opening, etc.

I know that for as long as I can remember, paper/aluminum foil crunching has been able to send me into a mix of rage and pain. Same for footsteps and a bunch of other noises.
It turns out, from a hearing assessment that I received recently, that the sensitivity threshold in one of my ears is at about 20Db, and that I deal especially badly with acute sounds, which is problematic because 20 Db isn't technically considered a noisy environment. (Also, fun anecdote, apparently that same ear picks up negative sound levels. Yup, that would be below 0 Db. I didn't even know that was possible, but the graph in the assessment says otherwise)

Article found here: Why the sound of chewing fills some people with rage

Misophonia: When a crunch, chew, or a sniffle triggers hot rage
By JOYCE COHEN
JUNE 17, 2016

It started when he was a boy: Jeffrey Scott Gould found himself tensing inexplicably when a classmate sniffled.

Later, when his cousin wore flip-flops at the pool, he found her footfalls unbearable. As a teenager, he begged his stepmother not to put carrots in the salad; his heart raced when his grandfather chomped.

Gould assumed that his testy reaction to such benign noises was nothing more than a personality quirk. Then a friend saw a news report about a neurological disorder called misophonia and told him: “There’s a name for what you have.”

Gould was reduced to tears. He realized, at last, that he was not weird, not crazy, and not alone. Now, he’s aiming to get the message out to the world with a documentary, “Quiet Please…,” which shows just how excruciating and lonely it can be to live with the condition. The film premieres Saturday in New York City.

Misophonia, sometimes called selective sound sensitivity syndrome or 4S, is a baffling and bizarre disorder. Patients feel an instantaneous, overwhelming, and uncontrollable rage — often accompanied by physiological responses such as sweaty palms or a racing heart — to certain sounds.

These triggers are often chewing and eating sounds, sometimes barely audible. Some people report visual triggers such as fidgeting or foot-bobbing, or even olfactory or tactile triggers.

Like other rare disorders, misophonia came to light with the help of social media, as patients who spent decades in isolation were at last able to find one another online. The largest of several Facebook support groups has more than 10,000 members.

Much about misophonia is still unknown: It’s not even clear just how rare it is. The disorder appears stubbornly resistant to treatment.

When the first articles about misophonia began appearing several years ago, doubters heaped scorn on the very idea of a disorder that makes the sound of chewing unbearable. But for people with the condition, seeing it acknowledged in the mainstream press was a relief.

Last year, Dr. Barron Lerner wrote about his misophonia in the New York Times. He was stunned when his story logged more than 1,100 comments and hundreds of emails. His professional credentials, as an internist and professor at New York University Langone School of Medicine, validated the disorder for many readers.

Lerner says he has a relatively mild case of misophonia, but it still wreaks some havoc in his life. He struggles with discomfort on public transportation “where people don’t blow their nose and are sniffing their mucus back into their nostrils and snorting,” he said.

“I still sometimes carry Kleenex with me when I go on planes, and politely say, ‘Do you mind blowing your nose?’” he said. “That is rarely appreciated.”

He knows others have it far worse. “I wish someone with a severe form of this disease had written this article,” one reader commented. “When someone opens a bag of chips in my office, I want to cry.”

Michael Mannino’s misophonia was so bad, it forced him to move.

His neighborhood in Miami featured so many triggering noises that he’d have to rush to his car “and “bang the seat and the steering wheel” to try to relieve the anguish, he said. “There were times it got so bad I would break down crying.”

Even the sound of his wife brushing her teeth can trigger such a rage in Mannino, a doctoral student in neuroscience, that he feels like driving his fist through the wall, he said. In their new condominium, his bathroom is far away from hers.

When he learned what misophonia was, Mannino said he felt deeply relieved: “I am not a nutcase. There is something legitimately wrong with me.”

But what, exactly?

Science has no answers.

One of the few studies on misophonia, published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in 2013, confirmed a physiological “skin conductance response” — sweaty palms — when people with the disorder were exposed to triggers. Some researchers suggest there is enhanced connectivity between certain regions of the brain in people with misophonia. But no one knows for sure.

So people with the disorder are left to experiment with often contradictory treatments and management strategies: antidepressants, supplements, neurofeedback, avoidance, exposure, earplugs, white noise, soundproofing.

Though some people with misophonia say they learn to cope, many report their triggers multiply over time and their reactions intensify.

That prospect terrifies Kathy Lundy, who lives near Raleigh, N.C. At first she thought it was a phase when her preteen son was bothered by chewing sounds. The internet told her otherwise. “Once we saw the words ‘No cure,’ our entire world changed,” she said. “Nothing I read gives me any hope.”

Filmmaker Gould compares the condition to an autoimmune disease when the body turns on itself. “My heart starts racing and I have a sudden feeling of anger with a side of disgust,” he said. “It’s like an adrenaline burst. It’s a physiological change in my body I cannot control. You never get used to it.”

Gould, who’s from New Jersey, raised almost $34,000 on the crowdfunding site IndieGogo to fund his documentary. Making the film was distressing, in part, because as he traveled the country to interview patients with misophonia, he spent six months listening to people cry. “Sniffling was my first and worst trigger,” he said.

When he got home and reviewed his footage, he edited out hundreds of sniffles.
 
I chose the first two options. I have ridiculously good hearing (not to blow my own trumpet) and this leads to problems with my neighbours. They are the loudest people in the world. I can frequently hear them in their house, and they argue a lot too...usually I can lie in bed and hear them word for word.

When I was in primary school, I had to be taken out of the building by a teaching assistant and walk around the grounds whenever there was a test of the fire alarm. I would scream and cry if I was inside when it was tested. Even now, if I'm in a shop and they say they're going to be testing the fire alarm, I make for the exit ASAP. I hate sirens and fireworks - although I like to look at them - freak me out. Bonfire night is not fun for me :p I also hate thunder and lightening with a passion.

EDIT: I should have added that sniffing and chewing are also issues for me. I always thought the chewing one was just me being weird about people who are loud eaters or that it got to me because I found it impolite, but maybe not.

Good hearing can come in handy for eavesdropping and listening out for a specific car if I'm waiting for a lift though!
 
I wouldn't say that I have misophonia, but I do pick up on the slightest noise (with some caveats).

I notice unusual or unexpected sounds. Normal/expected sounds do not faze me. (My counselor calls that acclimatization.) But unusual sounds always pique my curiosity.

The same is true for unusual sights or smells. I can handle a certain amount of pain (if I understand why it is there), but a smaller pain can worry me (if I don't).

For sounds, I avoid noisy crowds unless I have a compelling reason to be there.
 
1 that shocks me is what i call obnoxious loud burping, its always immature males, i could happily stamp on their childish head .
 
Many noises that others consider quiet cause me stress - like the background hum of computers. How negatively I am impacted depends on the number of computers and what I need to get done, that determines how my mental resources are divided up (dealing with the stress of noise vs. dealing with what I'm supposed to focus on). I often hear things my husband cannot. For me I think the frequency needs to be quite high to just irritate me (not just stress, I mean really make me feel horrid) - so chalk squeaking on the chalk board doesn't bother me at all. But the sound of hands rubbing on carpet, clothing, or cardboard makes me feel like I'm developing a fever and need to leave the room. Last week at church, during the sermon, the woman in front of me spent most of the time rubbing her child's back, over his shirt...over, and over, and over - I felt my temperature rise, my stomach mildly churning, and fought against starting to breathe more heavily - I considered getting up and leaving, but I am so used to forcing myself to sit through these kinds of things, regardless of the effect on me - I may need to start leaving, I'd probably feel better.

Also, quiet background noises like the computers humming, or a fan or other white noise will result in louder tinnitus in my ears and even dampened hearing if it goes on long enough. If I try to listen to podcasts all the time (which I do), it results in the same thing. If I try to use headphones - yikes. No matter how quiet I make it, so quiet I can barely hear, it feels like I'm getting a poking pain inside of my ear. This happens with some other sounds, as well - I noticed it when we were driving and the road was hitting a particular frequency.

The sound of the road when driving also ramps up my tinnitus.

Loud noises can stress me to the point of panic attacks.
 
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Hearing other people chew, and the sound of plastic wrapping or packaging (specially chips and similar) drives me crazy.
I have to put music at every meal so I can't hear other people chewing.
 
I have worked in various warehouses for 45+ years (fork lift mechanic) and there is a noise in all of them that about makes me jump out of my skin. Warehouse workers will drag a stood up pallet to were they want it and then just drop it. The result is a very loud SMACK. Sometimes it is right next to me and it startles me big time. They usually think that it is funny but I do not. It always takes me a few minutes before I can focus on the job again.
 
The same is true for unusual sights or smells.

Smells are a big one for me. My brother in law came over a few nights ago, and I don't know if it was deodorant or aftershave or what but it was really strong and I can still smell it in my living room. It's been annoying me for days, but I'm the only one who's noticed it.

Many noises that others consider quiet cause me stress - like the background hum of computers.

I hate things like electronic humming or the noise of the TV signal. I have been told many times that you can't hear electricity and things like signals to the TV, but I beg to differ. (I sound crazy, I know)
 
Smells are a big one for me. My brother in law came over a few nights ago, and I don't know if it was deodorant or aftershave or what but it was really strong and I can still smell it in my living room. It's been annoying me for days, but I'm the only one who's noticed it.



I hate things like electronic humming or the noise of the TV signal. I have been told many times that you can't hear electricity and things like signals to the TV, but I beg to differ. (I sound crazy, I know)
the worst one is lightbulbs think its like tinnitus
 
I hate things like electronic humming or the noise of the TV signal. I have been told many times that you can't hear electricity and things like signals to the TV, but I beg to differ. (I sound crazy, I know)
The new HD TVs/monitors aren't made the same way, but the old [CRT] TVs/monitors had power supplies that younger people could hear before presbycusis would set in. It is about the same frequency as the mosquito tone.
 
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I went for a hearing test (pre Aspie/autie consideration)
In my mind, I was struggling to clearly hear many things and was worried

I walked into the test room, sat down and explained to the man why I was there.
I don't remember a hearing test ever taking quite so long or being tested on so many different sounds.

And the end of the test he said -jokingly -
"Well you must have had super-hearing because your test shows you're at the higher end of a normal range"

Funny how that happens isn't it?
My "normal" wasn't normal to begin with.
Ending up at the higher end of a normal range actually meant my individual hearing had gotten worse.
 
I went for a hearing test (pre Aspie/autie consideration)
In my mind, I was struggling to clearly hear many things and was worried

I walked into the test room, sat down and explained to the man why I was there.
I don't remember a hearing test ever taking quite so long or being tested on so many different sounds.

And the end of the test he said -jokingly -
"Well you must have had super-hearing because your test shows you're at the higher end of a normal range"

Funny how that happens isn't it?
My "normal" wasn't normal to begin with.
Ending up at the higher end of a normal range actually meant my individual hearing had gotten worse.
the nas dont seem to include adults with the highly innacurate label A.S or l.f.a.or h.f.a as needing support so we are still inferred in reguard to our self diagnosis as not accurate or the demi god figure a diagnostician
as usual therapists an audiologist in this case

have no controls
 
the nas dont seem to include adults with the highly innacurate label A.S or l.f.a.or h.f.a as needing support so we are still inferred in reguard to our self diagnosis as not accurate or the demi god figure a diagnostician
as usual therapists an audiologist in this case

have no controls

If I'd have suspected Asperger's back then I would have mentioned it. I have to wonder if it would have changed his conclusion?
On mentioning these results to a psychologist she suggested Hyper- vigilance as a possible cause.
Being in and out of the state of Hyper-vigilance.
 
I went for a hearing test (pre Aspie/autie consideration)
In my mind, I was struggling to clearly hear many things and was worried

I walked into the test room, sat down and explained to the man why I was there.
I don't remember a hearing test ever taking quite so long or being tested on so many different sounds.

And the end of the test he said -jokingly -
"Well you must have had super-hearing because your test shows you're at the higher end of a normal range"

Funny how that happens isn't it?
My "normal" wasn't normal to begin with.
Ending up at the higher end of a normal range actually meant my individual hearing had gotten worse.
I get that problem when I try to carry out complex situations that I rarely Encounter and the physical effect is a panic attack for some reason it blocks my eyesight and hearing
it will probably take decades for audiologists and therapists change base levels that is what is normal for anyone with sensitive hearing
:-[
 
A little off topic but the same was true for my blood pressure. When younger, lower than what's considered normal.
During pregnancy midwives would tell me I had lovely, normal blood pressure results.

They weren't aware my base line was much lower so "normal" was in fact elevated in my situation.
 
The sound of the road when driving also ramps up my tinnitus.

Loud noises can stress me to the point of panic attacks.
Also being in a group where a lot of people are talking, laughing, kids crying. Like a restaurant!
I've always noticed after being out to dinner, a mall, or after driving, when I get home my ears are ringing so loudly I can actually feel it.
I have tinnitus anyway, but, these sounds make it worse.

I was really panicky about loud noises growing up. Fireworks, road equipment, lightening, and guns forget it.
My Dad always wanted me to go to target ranges or skeet shoots. I did once and just sat with my fingers in my ears, hunkered down in the car seat.
I hate loud thunder cracks. Lightening still can make me shriek.

I've always had super hearing and there is a totally different feel at night when there are less sounds, even small sounds, compared to after sunrise. I've carefully observed this and believe a lot of it is electricity and sounds that most people probably can't hear that adds to the usual daytime sounds.

Thankfully I have become less sensitive as I've grown older. I can tolerate more now.
 

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