Are there certain sounds that trigger extreme annoyance and anger in you?
It could be chewing, footsteps, sniffling, throat clearing, keyboard clicking, crinkly food wrappers, smacking lips, the sound of the letter “P”, slurping, or, really, anything.
If this sounds like you, perhaps you have misophonia–a decreased tolerance of sound. (Check out the Misophonia Activation Scale for self-diagnosis.)
Highly sensitive people are more sensitive to the world around them, so it makes sense that misophonia could be a cross-over symptom that some HSPs experience.
“Misophonia is a selective sound sensitivity which means you really, really, really hate certain sounds,” a misophone acquaintance, Vivienne, told me. “Particularly anything to do with the mouth. So, crunchy wasabi peas and loud breathing are some big triggers. Sometimes even the sight of people eating can activate it.”
And the reaction can be severe. She says that some triggers make her feel “trapped, invaded, tight in the chest, really anxious and sometimes really, really angry. Sometimes it’s so bad I have to escape and have a little cry.”
One Reddit user wrote, “I can’t stand gum, chewing, nail biting. It literally makes me want to punch someone, cry, scream, crawl out of my own skin.”
Vivienne says, “Another weird quirk is that often, the people you love the most are the people who trigger you the worst. Some of my worst trigger-ers are my family and my boyfriend, and they’re the ones who do their best to minimize it for me. It can affect relationships negatively.”
Fast-forward to about 2:25 in this video to see the intriguing story of Josh, a 20-something start-up founder who can’t stand to be around his friend and co-founder due to his misophonia. In the video, Josh allows his friend to trigger him, and the results are distressing.
Misophones like Josh often find that they need to structure their lives around the disorder.
Working in a cubicle was difficult for Vivienne due to the aural triggers that inevitably arose. The triggers can distract and anger to the point where focusing on work is impossible. Eventually, she struck out on her own to work for herself; now she can better control her environment.
Read more about why working for yourself might be the best job for HSPs.
How do people deal with misphonia? There is no cure–not really even a treatment. The disorder is not well studied, but awareness is growing. It seems that most misophones aren’t without a good pair of noise-canceling headphones. Getting enough sleep, exercise, meditating, and maintaining a good diet are also essential. Caffeine may exacerbate symptoms, but drinking chamomile tea regularly may help calm you down (as can a glass of wine).
If you think you have misophonia, know that you aren’t alone. I highly recommend checking out the misophonia reddit for support, as well as this excellent book, Understanding and Overcoming Misophonia.
Do you have misophonia? What has been your experience? What has helped? Leave a comment below.
photo credit: BarelyFitz via photopin cc
YES!…I have some degree of this, and only a few sounds trigger it as far as I can tell.
The earliest sound I remember being annoying was dogs and cats licking, however I only begun noticing my irritation towards that noise when I was around, maybe 10-14 years old? The fact itself that I was fuming over the natural noise of an animal (my pets too) cleaning itself, was upsetting and I would feel guilt over how silly it was. They didn’t deliberately make annoying noises.
Like others, I feel guilty that natural, mundayne noises from my loved ones and pets manage to drive me nuts.
Later on in my life I noticed occasional snoring and people cracking their bones was annoying. I noticed the licking noises, snoring and cracking PARTICULARLY got to me when I’m half asleep or waking up. In times when I’m tired, it feels like the sounds I’m hearing are echoing in my mind and I can’t tell if I’m amplifying the effect by imagining more of the sound. I sometimes find releif from sleeping with earplugs or with piles of pillows over my ears…
Sometimes if it’s dark when I hear these sounds, I see flashes of morphing colours in my vision, no particular colour, just corresponding static with the sound. I’ve read before that misphonia is a form of sound-emotion synaesthesia, but I haven’t seen anything mentioning seeing colours with misphonia…
Has anyone else seen these static flashes when hearing these sounds? And has anyone else noticed the intensity of annoyance changes in different mindstates?
Yes!! I just experienced the colors a few minutes before i read your comment..That’s odd..My cat was bathing & i was trying to sleep..drives me crazy!
I have some degree of this, when I hear a certain alarm sound, constellation on Apple products, I just have panic, and horrible fear. Is this what that is?
I have just discoverd this website today and I’m so glad I have – every post seems to be talking to me! I am extremely sensitive to noise and have to sleep with wax earplugs every night.. the sound of people whistling, grates on me so bad I feel so anxious and annoyed – as does people chewing noisily.. particularly my loved ones!
This is the second time I’ve read this post. I’d like to share what sounds make me go insane: Lawnmowers! ahhhhh!!!!(especially in the morning!) alarm clocks (I’ve broken quite a few) Motorcycles or loud vehicles, barking dogs, shipping tape, snoring and yawning. I know theres probably more – but these things make me feel like I am losing my mind and I get so angry and frustrated and its painful to have to hear. I’ve been wearing my headphones as much of my day now as needed to try and block these things out. The horrible thing is there seems to be no escaping! It scares me sometime how upset I can get when it doesn’t even seem to phase others. Thanks for letting me vent. lol 🙂
Yes! The sound of leaf blowers, motorcycles, cars, trucks, or any gas/diesel engine accelerating. It’s starts at 6am and goes until midnight in my neighborhood, and completely audible in my crappy apartment. I hate the oil industry for pushing so hard to make the U.S. so dependent on cars. I dream of moving to a country where being loud doesn’t have the ‘cool’ image. Where I can be in my bedroom and not have to double up with earplugs AND earmuffs. Writing this is making me sad.
Hi Nick, I’m so sorry you live in such a noisy place. Today I was walking through a part of town near the airport and the planes are so low and so loud…I was wondering how on earth people can stand that noise. I think incessant noise like you describe would be very distressing. Have you tried a white noise machine–it might help a little bit.
I can’tell stand the sound of anything with an engine, but the sound of someone revving up his motorcycle, ENJOYING that noise himself ,and the masculine , macho way it makes him, fills me with rage. The tension of not knowing when he is going to let go and rip, and the noise goes right up my crotch and I want to kill. I must admit this misogyny whatever it is called, if that’sounds what I have, is due to my mental illness
I’m glad I’m not alone I live in the city apartment with all these windows and all I hear cars and people talking and it’s overwhelming psych it’s over my TV controls my life horrible it makes me like when I lived in a place that was quiet it was never like this ever since I’ve lived here for like 5 times and everything because of this s*** makes me crazy and I live on government assistance and they won’t help me move so I’m trying to move on myself because I can’t deal live in here it’s like hell it’s literally like how people understand because they live in quiet
Am very sorry to hear this, yes, there is a great deal to be said for people who are “sensitive” and may have more highly tuned capabilities which are useful in certain circumstances. Please stay strong and let me know how things are going for you.
I do have this issue and it can be very distressing. It’s been an issue since I can remember. Hearing people chew is the highest on my list of annoyances. They can’t help it, I know that, but it doesn’t stop what starts raging inside me. I also hear noises other people don’t. Not noises that aren’t there, noises that are real and I can walk up to and point at. They always tend to have a high-pitch sound. ANY high pitch sound makes me want to claw my ears off, to be honest. My ex-husband played electric guitar, that didn’t work out well. 🙂
My grandmother was that way and you could hear a pin drop in her house. I also sit in my house with nothing on. I use a fan at night to drown out all the little noises no one else seems to hear.
Since it is not well studied, I can only surmise that it is inherited.
You may be right, because my parents are the same way. I grew up in a quiet house. I still love the quiet, although I enjoy the white noise from a fan at night.
I HATE LOUD BREATHING
Hello fellow misophonia advocate,
My name is Paul N. Dion of http://www.misophonia.com. I am considering adding a “guest blogger” feature to the http://www.misophonia.com website. I’m sending out an invitation to bloggers and to websites dealing with misophonia looking for people interested in participating in such a project.
Submissions can be on any aspect of misophonia; news items, coping strategies, pictures, personal experiences or any other related content is welcome. There is no set length of the material that can be submitted. Links back to your blog/website are encouraged.
If you’d like to submit something please send it to: guestblogger@misophonia.com
Thank you,
~Paul
And I thought I might be the crazy one, glad to see I am not alone. I worked with a lady who cleared her throat every 15-30 seconds. Yes I timed it, because I thought I was going out of my mind (who clears their throat 1-2x per minute?). I thought perhaps it was allergies and in a very kind way offered some allergy relief to my co worker, to which the co worker looked puzzled and confused (she did not have allergies). I did some research and read (and I don’t recall where) that if someone clears their throat often its because they are not confident in their abilities (nervous tick in other words). That could be total BS–but I can tell you the co worker got fired within 1 year for poor job performance. By the way, heavy sighs, lip smacking, and squeaky doors follow in a close 2nd, 3rd and 4th to throat clearing!
OMG, this one sounds just like me!! I just stumbled upon this website cause I was looking for a “clearing throat” meme just to post and this site come up! I too now realize what my problem is!! I have a co-worker that is CONSTANTLY clearing her throat, gets up and moves and just sighs away like it takes EVERYTHING out of her to do something! AND her job performance SUCKS….she needs to go but boss man takes FOREVER…. WOW, so glad I’m not the only one out there that has this issue!!!
Hi Jennifer! yes, you’re not the only one! isn’t that a nice feeling :))
Throat clearing makes me cringe to the point of wanting to sob my head off! Smacking, gulping and silverware clanking against bowls bugs too!
Thanks so much for this information. I definitely suffer from this as do most of my large family. I think it stems frim my father. Sniffing, continually scraping plates and bowls, slurping, clicking pens……the list goes on! I get SO frustrated, angry and uptight when I hear these noises…among others!! Would be great to hear about how others cope.
I may have this.. I don’t like when people cough loudly.. near me. And even more I don’t like it when air isn’t the only thing in their cough (when people are sick….) }:( I don’t like lawnmowers, and loud/talkative/rude people in general. This is all I can think of for now. I’m sure there are more!
I’m so glad I’m not alone! I sit and watch television with earplugs because I can’t stand lawnmower or car sounds. I want to punch my coworkers, who I love, when they chew. I sleep with white noise; don’t know what I would do wth out it.
Hi Me! I love this sentence, “I want to punch my coworkers, who I love, when they chew.” Heh heh. You are definitely not alone!! 🙂 🙂
Thank God, I’m not alone!!! For awhile there, I thought I was just going crazy! But, when the lawnmowers and leafblowers start early Sunday morning,…it’s a real annoying and frustrating stituation. It’s just one of the worst ways to wake up to. Not to mention, my front door neighbor loves to just crank up his motorcycle….I guess just to make sure it turns on. Because, he’ll crank it up for about 15min. And then again, in the evening for a 30min run??? Really? Ok, I feel better now. I know, I just need to be grateful for all my blessings, and praying these feelings subside someday for good. Sending positive energy and well and quiet wishes for all. ☺
I’m so glad I came across this site. I also can’t stand loud vehicles, motorcycles, or people that are just loud….for no apparent reason. Anywho, this is a good site to vent and know we’re not alone. Peace….the sound of silence..magical????????
Thank all of you for sharing! I had no idea why I would become so upset over all the lawn mowing in my neighborhood. A bunch of old retired farts with nothing else to do. There is ALWAYS one going near me. My poor wife does not understand my frustration. My coping mech. is that it is usually over in an hour. I retreat into my house and wait it out. Today I learned the word misophonia. So glad to not be alone and feel SO bad for the people who have it much worse than I do. Thanks for letting be speak out.
In my case, I have a few Asperger, Blepharospasm/Meige and ADD symptoms. My trigger noises seem to be percussive- barking dogs, un-mufflered vehicles, car horns, subwoofers… as well as the more traditional Misphonia sounds – some posturing idiot in a meeting coughing or throat-clearing. Leaving work one day, some idiot shouting nearby and an noisy motorcycle starting up within seconds of each other…. I felt a combat response, then drained afterward.
I can’t stand little noises my fan makes. My husband can’t hear it all but its like a intermittent humming! Ugh. I also can’t stand dogs barking it makes me want to break their necks! Chewing with your mouth open, chip bags, clicking , creaking of the dash in my car, I literally have nickles shoved in the crack to stop the creaking. Snoring! Breathing with mouth open!, stomping, the TV on at night, loud music or thumping at night, coughing/clearing throat, whistling, people singing off key, when ppl who start their car and just let it sit and idle , kids laughing/talking/playing, any small noise that a fan or heater makes that is usually not audable to anyone else but drives me crazy my husband don’t understand why I get so irritated over these things and until I found this page I didn’t either. He always just tells me to ignore it or get over it, that I’m choosing to let it bother me….grrr. I am sleeping on the couch right now BC the fan in my room is making a tiny noise and it was making me Sooo upset that I couldn’t make it stop no matter what I did I was about to pick it up and throw it! And mow the airconditioner is making a humming noise too!!!!!! I’m usually a very peaceful person too. I have tried earplugs, ( they hurt my ears after a while) covering my ears with pillows which seems to amplify the sound 😥 help!
I agree — I have to buy new fans all the time. Just last night I spent a lot of time trying to position the fan just right because it was slightly resonating the wood of the dresser underneath.You’re not weird. You’re just an HSP. Make your husband listen to this blog or read books. Get him to understand it’s not a choice that you let this bother you. Take control over your environment. Get that AC fixed or buy a new one. Same for whatever else you can change — it’s okay to get your needs met, even if others think your needs are not legit.
That said, you can learn techniques to help you not be so bothered — most schools of meditation help with this. Learn to meditate with a group (not on your own). And maybe consider an HSP therapist.
Noise-cancelling headphones were bad for my Misophonia. They stripped out the white/pink/brown noise that actually masks my triggers. Misophonics need more white/pink/brown noise, not less. Earplugs are counter productive as well, as they increase sensitivity — this I learned from Dr. Marsha Johnson, one of the Misophonia pioneers.
I just discovered this podcast. Love it! Thank you!!
I once slept on a balcony of a hotel room because I couldn’t stand the sound of my mom and sister breathing and occasionally lightly snoring. I loathe snoring. But even as a child, when we went to Grandma’s house, I couldn’t sleep due to the sound of my sister’s (perfectly normal) breathing next to me. Poor thing got awakened all night long as I hoped prodding her into a different position would help.
I also startle very, very easily. It’s embarrassing at work. I sleep with a fan to block out noise. Bless my sweet husband who has worked hard to learn how not to wake me at night if he gets up.
I hate the sound of people snorting their post-nasal drip. I’ve gotten up to complain to theater management that a movie is too loud many times. I always bring earplugs to concerts (why are the so loud?????). I play Pandora in my office and constantly fuss with the volume and the thumbs up/thumbs down. I regularly cover my ears on the walk to work in a busy city — how do people let those ambulances go by without covering their ears?
And I once broke with a boyfriend after we had a huge fight about how he was clapping too loud at a baseball game! (It hurt my ears! And it was the last straw –there were of course other things wrong with the relationship, but still — it seems pretty funny now that I better understand and accept myself as an HSP. He thought it was not at all funny and that I was loony and a jerk for being controlling.)
OMG thank YOU! I have experienced this my entire life…I don’t feel so alone anymore.
Wow..thanks for posting!
I know this probably doesn’t really fit in with lots of the sounds that drive people insane (I hate gum chewers, people who make a noise when eating, my husband scraping the spoon on a bowl etc etc etc) but what really does drive me crazy, and would land me in court and jail for murder if I owned a gun, id loud, thumping bass music. the vibrations hit me in the chest and I get so stressed and worked up that I would really commit murder if I had the means available.
I hear you, Louise. It’s a good thing (for me) that I don’t own a gun. Weed wackers, lawnmowers, pen clickers, sirens, disgusting people chewing with their mouths open, loud music with those blasted sub-woofers, people talking at the same time/over each other, high-powered sales voices on TV commercials – I’ve nearly broken by neck running to get the remote and get at the mute button. Background music on TV shows drives me mad. I either watch some shows on mute or won’t watch them at all. Construction/renovation noise in my apt. building has had me a fit of raging tears – drills and hammers waking me up in the morning. Screeching infants – ugh. Very, very sensitive to irritating noises. I NEVER play music or the radio in my apt. or car – NOT EVER. A cat or dog licking itself. I feel like I’m being assaulted with noise and it can fill me with a murderous rage (figuratively speaking, of course!)
I feel I am worse than you, incredible rage, just got new neighbours next to our semi detached house after the old ones went into a nursing home… he was a diy enthusiast loved his hammer grrrrrrr, now the new ones are taking tiles off the bathroom that old neighbours replaced 2 years ago… I can hear the slightest cough so turned my TVs up full blast, my husband took me out before I lost it completely … I feel insane ….!
My Goodness! Did I pen all of the above? I swear these all have my picture beside them.
The gum smacking, bowl scraping, and how about popcorn eaters, the lot.
The neighborhood noises. It’s been 5 hours now since the leaf blowing started and I’m ready to kill all round me! Joe Blow has the same amount of property as mine and less trees and he has two, yes two, people in there leaf blowing! Lawn mowers, blowers and it’s not even freaking April yet. Take me out and shoot me!
I looked at the Misophonia scale it appears I’m a level 9 to possibly a 10 at times. When I hear alarm bells at work I cringe, clamp my teeth tight and if the alarms don’t stop I’m cussing and fussing in anger/rage just to stop the noise. I genearly stay so pissed at work due to alarm noises. I’m ok as long as things are quite.
I feel like I finally found my people. Thank you all for sharing your stories. Every sound I’ve read on here I have issues with myself. To add to, and I’ll preface by saying I love music, but if I can’t hear the full body of some music, and only the bass or a high pitch are pronounced, say at my neighbors house. That is absolutely agonizing for me. Literally makes me feel nauseous after a couple of hours of what sounds and feels like throbbing in my brain.
Also when my partner eats anything with a spoon because he slams and scrapes the spoon too strongly and obsessively (trying to get every little bit of residue). So painful.
Plus we have two small children who make so much noise I feel like I’m losing my mind some days. Particularly if they are screaming, even for play. I often wonder how anyone survives parenthood…
Wow, like so many others who have commented on here, I thought I was alone in getting annoyed with sounds! Today I looked it up because of a jerk on the forklift at work keeps blowing the friggin horn every two seconds! Not sure why it infuriates me but it does! I understand safety but this is ridiculous. Then I started thinking more about it, how certain sounds make me feel angry. That’s when I looked it up and it really is a thing. I’m glad I’m not alone. Oh yeah, the chewing sounds do make me crazy!!
Wow, i just found this blog and discovered that there is a name for the exaggerated response i have to hearing my dog licking herself! Sometimes it wakes me up at night, and i am not a light sleeper. And as one poster stated, it is worse when i’m tired (just going to bed, or right before getting up). The other thing that almost sends me into full blown panic mode if it’s not resolved right away is the vibration/wind pounding noise when only one window is down in a vehicle and the air flow is uneven. Does this bother anyone else on here?
I cannot bare the sounds of car locking or any alarms or phone noises. I get very agitated and enraged to the point where my blood boils. I am definitely hyper sensitive in every degree. My hearing, smell, intuition, and sensitivity to emotion is too exhausting.Is extreme sensitivity not a curse?
also, can’t stand when someone stirs ice over and over again or dings their silverware on the side of the cup or bowl
OMG where do I begin with my laundry list of irritating sounds. This all started at some point in my childhood with my siblings at mealtimes and it has grown progressively worse with age. They would bang their spoons on their teeth as they ate cereal and God forbid if I mentioned it they would then do it on purpose just to piss me off. Also swallowing drinks and food loudly as if there’s an obstruction preventing them from swallowing quietly. Currently I find that my co-workers seriously annoy the hell out of me…it’s a plethora of noises that I cannot escape no matter what I do. It could be the incessant talking, whether it’s someone talking low in the distance that I can’t hear what they’re saying but it’s the low monotone of their voice that drives me bat shit bananas. Typing on a keyboard is enough to send me reeling, also people who when they speak, pronounce their P’s so wet-sounding and so friggin P like, slurping, snoring, constant throat clearing, sneezing loudly, lip smacking, people who constantly say OK OK OK as your talking to them or they make the uh huh sound over and over…I sound like I need some kind of therapy. How I wish there was some kind of relief. I am only allowed to use 1 earbud at work so I plug up my other ear with a wax earplug and I run a fan or heater to add some kind of ‘white noise’ in the background to block it out but it’s not 100%.
The main annoyance for me is low bass sounds. The music doesn’t even have to be loud, but that thumping bass goes through walls & closed windows & gets into my bones & I feel it in my chest. It even makes me anxious & angry. Such a violation when it comes from someone’s car or home stereo. But I’m also irritated when artificial bass & a beat are playing in the background, when listening to the news, weather or traffic reports on the radio. Why the hell do they have to add that artificial bass? It bothers me so much, I have to change the station, and then I miss out on hearing the traffic report that I wanted to hear.
Planes. Not loud planes or helicopters, but the ones that are low frequency that other people don’t even notice – droning on like a piece of furniture being dragged. It’s ruining my life. And I haven’t met anyone else who has the same reaction to planes. Strangely, I like the sound of neighbours mowing because it masks the plane noise. Also tv through a wall when you can’t hear it properly. Machine hum like an air con unit. And every single noise that comes from people’s mouths – chewing, slurping, swallowing, licking lips, gum chewing etc. It has deeply affected relationships. I’ve had loads of counselling and the advice has been to face it and not try and mask it with noise-cancelling headphones the way I do. I haven’t managed to conquer it.
I have had this issue as long as I can remember. As has my sister. The sound of dogs licking/lapping water makes me feel like I’m going to cry because I’m so furious. Also the sound of scraping nails on cardboard or when you open the flaps to a cardboard box and they scratch each other it makes my heart pound.
Sounds around eating have ruined many of my intimate relationships. I feel like I can hear the food moving between their back teeth. Esp with soft foods like bananas.
Going to University was EXTREMELY difficult because class size was so big and I couldn’t even hear the professor over the sounds of typing and pen clicking. It makes me feel enraged and personally offended like they are doing it on purpose.
UGHHH it’s so frustrating!!
The worst noise of all is sniffing. Many others are very stressful but sniffing is just unbearable.
The noises I find irritating are over-exaggerated yawns…the kind where the person produces that loud “Ohhh” followed by a loud, huge sigh with each exhale. It’s very loud and extremely intrusive; and the person I know who does it always yawns over and over and over numerous times before he finally goes to bed! But then he turns on the TV while in bed and then continues to yawn for the next hour or so, until I feel like I should clobber him and knock him out cold. He also sneezes in that very same manner, AAAAAAAAAAA-CHOOOOOOOOOOOO, while slobbering out spit, snot and loud sounds, watering your face, head or whatever is nearby! And he never – absolutely never covers his sneeze! I think he’s a pig naturally, because I never say anything about it to him and he continues to do this without even an inkling of how gross and disgusting he is! And he does this in front of others, too. People think he’s disgusting. He is.
43 London Guy – I’ve had this for years now, I have to tell my 6yr old daughter to stop making funny noises with her mouth 🙁 The worst is the sound of our cat licking this literally makes me want punch it a million times although I would never harm any living thing and I love him but I just can’t deal with it – I have to run the other way but I’m always on edge as where he is and whether he’s going to start doing it
Yes!! This is absolutely me. I live in an extremely loud, overcrowded,overdeveloped city, and you cannot hear yourself think anywhere. All day every day I am subjected to leafblowers, cars thumping bass, idiots with loud pipes, more leafblowers, those Hogs you can hear coming a mile away and set off car alarms (why the hell are those **** things legal?!) And my current living situation prevents me from doing anything right away, so it’s just a constant, never-ending stream of noise that I have no recluse from. I feel that my own thoughts are not mine anymore. As a result I am constantly stressed out, and aggressive and irritable in my daily interactions. It shouldn’t have to be this way. For now my only consolation is planning my escape.
Did I forget the sound of trucks backing up?? Like nails on a blackboard to a misophone….
The sound of people clapping such as at a cricket match and the sound of horses hooves clopping …… I go insane.
Hi, I very recently read about hsp and the more I read the more I became convinced I am a hsp. And as I start listening to your podcasts (I’m at episode 8), I am more than ever convinced I am. I had clues in the past years, like a girlfriend who complained I was too sensitive. I really thought I was wrong, something was wrong with my way of living, being. I felt very bad about this, I even went to a psychiatrist. About this sound thing, I completely lost hearing from my right ear about 8 years ago due to some virus, and now I realize that I’m so much more aware about some sounds, some frequencies. There are a lot of sounds that make me so mad, sounds that people do not even hear or realize until I tell them. People’s voices, people chewing, people texting on their damn phone, etc. Anyway…I feel so good knowing I’m not alone, knowing that there is a name to what I feel, what I am. In each episode, I will get a big smile and recognize myself in what you are describing. Your podcast has been a very liberating experience and discovery.
My boyfriend & I argue over my reaction to commercials on tv. When a commercial comes on i have to mute the tv. I feel like I’m going to explode!He doesn’t understand why but it goes through me like a knife through butter!
Im a 15-yr-old female, and I’m a level 7 or 8. The sounds that trigger me are chewing, gulping, flip flops scraping on the ground, lawnmowers, animals cleaning themselves, and sudden loud noises. Most of these noises are triggered by my father. I get so angry that I yell at the trigger person to stop and have to run to my room. Once I start to calm down, I ask him to stop again. But he never does, so everyday is like a constant battle sounds and yelling and crying. Right now it’s 4:30AM, I woke up because my brain recognized the flip flops and I woke up angry without even cognitively realizing it. A few minutes after I woke up, I literally thought of snatching the shoes off his feet and throwing them across the street. When someone chews I literally want to strangle them(not actually going to do it). My friends at school know that I hate the sounds so they don’t do them. My neighbor and father chew so obnoxiously loud that I just want to run to the next room and cry. Even at restaurants I start to talk louder when telling them to stop. I get anxious and panicky. The relationship with my father is probably never going to be normal again because of this. It’s absolutely awful.
My biggest problem is when i hear loud banging and stomping noises on the wall or through upstairs neighbors it gets me scared, agitated, angry.
My sister always became outraged at certain noises. Spoons scraping teeth while someone is eating and tongue noises always got her the most. I remember her forcing me to eat outside once when we were young. I was standing on the side walk in front of our house eating my soup and she sticks her head out of the door, “I can still hear you!!!” She yelled. I also remember she hated the sound of my leather jacket crinkling.
Meanwhile, I’m ultra sensitive to smells. It can be very unpleasant. Many years later, my sister was diagnosed with MS. Along with the fatigue, weakness and other symptoms, her sensitivity was finally understood.
Hi, there are a lot of sounds that bother me, but the worst is the spoken letter P. I hate hearing words like Pine, Pie, Pile, Alpine, Parlor, Party, etc. The worst thing is they sound wet to me when they come out of the person’s mouth. It has been bothering me since I was about 8 years old and I am 46 now. I can’t go to college because I will hear the teacher lecture. I stay in my house like a recluse. I hate going out in public where people might be. I can’t have a relationship or anything. I cannot even stand to be around my family. It has made my life a living hell. I watch TV with Closed Captioning on and the sound on mute. Trying to live a normal life is impossible.
For me it is nail biting/picking, snoring, cats/dogs cleaning themselves, gum, eating, crunching, pens, and constant tapping. It has effected my life severely, I don’t even want to be around my family or friends anymore. No one understands what I’m going through and when i try to explain it they think im over exaggerating. Whenever I’m triggered, I want to scream and I get angry, and my anxiety comes up, and I cry and it sucks, because there is nothing I can do to help it. It’s just who I am now and it has affected me so much that I hate myself now. I wish there was something to fix it, and hopefully there will be soon.
I didn’t say misogyny. My email filled it in when I could remember the first half of the name miso_____. Misogyny is a really funny word to put in there.
I literally CANNOT stand when someone says “SHHHH” really loud & aggressively. It immediately puts me into a highly irritated state & fills me with RAGE! I actually got into a huge fight with my S.O. earlier today because he thought he was being funny by making this sound as loud as he possibly could as close as possible to my ear. I’m so IRRITATED writting this & thinking about it. I actually want to break his jaw. Even after i had asked several times in an extremely serious tone for him to quit – he continued. So hilarious.
It stems from my childhood, my mother would ALWAYS say it in an aggressively loud way to me and my brothers if we were just talking amongst ourselves or if she had answered the phone – even if we weren’t speaking. As I do today, I would immediately get aggravated and extremely angry due to the way she delivered this sound.
Also, chewing drives me crazy. I cannot stand the sound of other people eating.. Nails on a chalkboard & sounds associated with it. The consistent sound of someone reaching in & out of a chip bag over and over and over again.
I am a HUGE misophone and everyone around me in my life its fully aware. So much so that they think it’s funny to trigger me. Literally takes me hours to get over that “SHHH” sound & to stop hearing it in my ear/head. It literally hurts my ear drums to hear it in an aggressively loud form.
I have decided from this moment forward the next person to do it to me, is getting slapped in their crotch as hard I possibly can so that they can feel my pain just as badly and just as long as it takes me to rid that horribly excruciating sound from my ears & head.
Well my comment took me like 10 minutes to type. And was not published. Smh.
That is because all comments must be approved. Websites get thousands of spam comments daily, so to make sure comments are from real people, site admins often review them all before publishing.
Wow, so good to read all of this! I can def relate to this! I moved cities a year and half ago to get away from noisy neighbours who filled my life with misery with their constant loud parties and drug fuelled yelling at each other. I have just moved into a beautiful apartment and been filled with dread over the last week as I discovered major construction is about to begin and as metal grinding sounds nearby make me feel like vomiting, I honestly don’t don’t know how I’m going to cope! I can mostly keep my misophonia under control, I choose properties to rent that are QUIET first and foremost, I wear earplugs at night to sleep and avoid loud noises. Traffic noises generally don’t bother me, but I have now developed a hate of motorbikes and cars with super loud engines. Many times a day I blame them for global warming in my head as they roar past and wish for a day when cars are all electric. 🙂 strangely enough there are some sounds that I actually love; music (that I can control), the sound of freight trains fills me with wonder and also trucks carrying produce. I used to be able to hear them at night and I don’t know why, they don’t annoy me but seem mysterious and adventurous to me. I also love the sound of light planes flying on the weekends, again they seem to signal a exciting adventure, but not the sound of jet planes. I love the sound of my dog deep breathing and sighing as he sleeps, love the sound of his paws padding on the ground as he walks around, but hate the sound of his licking. I think the worst are loud sounds forced upon me without my consent, particularly in my home environment. To me, it feels like being assaulted. I also have synaesthesia, so wonder if my misophonia is intensified by this as I can feel sound as a texture and see it as a visual?
Oh my gosh!! I had no idea this a real disorder, particularly one that I could have! I absolutely become enraged when someone is eating really loudly, or when a dog licks it’s paw. Oh my gosh, just thinking about is making me so mad. I used to have a dog when I was about 10 or 11 and (I feel so horrible about this now, being older) she used to lick her paw for an hour solid, and I would just stew in my rage until I couldn’t take it any more and I would smack her on the nose and tell her “No!” sternly. The worst for me is when my mother eats, she eats and breathes heavily at the same time and I try so hard to be polite about it but I have to physically leave the room or else I feel like I might explode. Man, this was VERY insightful! Thank youuuuu
Hey I’m sure this is what I have it’s horrible my friends dog licking his paws slurping his water also another friend keeps making a slapping noise with her mouth it makes me so angry I snap it’s embarrassing but I really can’t help how I feel there are a lot of other noises too I’ve started having seizures in November and since then it’s got worse I hate how it makes me feel
I am not sure if I categorize my issue as Misophonia but I hate two things: Dog barks and chicken crows, especially the former. I used to be chill with dog barks until my very irresponsible neighbor started owning a dog. This dog won’t stop barking and at first I’m just a little irritated but when it started to rouse me from sleep and I can’t get back, that’s where my anxiety intensified. The incessant barking won’t stop too and I’m averaging only 4 hours per sleep. I got my window replaced but after installing it, nothing improved so I sold my house and rented an apartment while looking for a new house. However, the apartment’s neighborhood is even worse. I am at this point of rage where I want to kill both the dogs and their owners. Of course I will never do it. I can’t even do it in the first place but that’s the degree of rage I’m feeling towards them. I also got depressed because I blame it on my previous neighbors who were such a prime example of not owning a pet if you can’t be a good one. It seemed I’ve gotten PTSD because of that and It’s been going on for a year now and my anxiety amplifies because of the uncertainty of the next place – if it would still be as horrific as the other places I’ve been to. It’s just utterly frustrating.
I have empathised with a lot of these comments! I’ve also laughed out loud and felt so much better about myself. Thank you. I definitely suffer with misophonia and it’s a relief to know I am not alone. I have worried that my angry and distressed reaction to animal licking sounds was because something dreadful happened to me as a child. It reminds me of a sexual noise and makes me feel deeply revolted. When my cats lick themselves I have to immediately tell them to stop and put them in another room. It makes me feel ashamed. I know that no amount of therapy would help. It’s just the way I am. I also hate when people incessantly sniff. For goodness sake fetch a tissue and blow your nose! And, I also had a colleague who kept clearing her throat every 30 secs which drove me potty!! Nobody else noticed. In the same office they would have the same radio station on every day which played the same songs again and again on a loop. Again, nobody was bothered and kept singing along. I on the other hand leapt up one day, launched at the radio, swore at it and aggressively turned it off. Repetitive sounds and wet sounds are the worst for me. Yappy dogs. Ugh! Sort your dog out! Please make it stop!
I have been suffering from this condition for over 30 years. I can’t take the sound of snoring heavy breathing chewing gum or any food crinkly bags the sound of p and b slurping chewing on straws repeated tapping of fingers clicking noises and more! It drives me insane so I usually just leave the room. I use noise makers and fans to block out sounds when I sleep. I wish there were more studies so a cure could be found. It affects my social life and well being!!