Misophonia: Why Do Some Sounds Drive People Crazy?

" For me the sound of my family chewing their dinner becomes unbearable. My heart starts to pound and thus I either start to cry or just get really intensely angry. Sometimes it becomes intense to a level which can make you feel that you’re going to die.” 

Rishika, A Delhi student

When we hear about the word disorder we think of depression, social anxiety and other such disorders. But there are endless other mental diseases that are not talked about often and people are unaware of their existence. One of such rare and less known disorder is Misophonia.

It is a disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable in a given circumstance. In such a situation, people tend to possess abnormally strong and negative reactions to the ordinary sounds, for instance, eating, chewing, gulping, yawning, nails on a chalkboard or even breathing. It is a lifelong disorder and medication cannot really treat it. Sufferers often feel embarrassed and don’t mention it to healthcare providers. Nonetheless, it is a real disorder that grimly compromises functioning, socializing, and ultimately mental health. Misophonia usually appears around age 12, and likely affects more people than we realize.

Imagine trying to get on with a hard task and having someone getting in your face and poking over and over non- stop? The feeling during a misophonia trigger is that intense and overwhelming. What they experience is panic which increases stress levels, the heart races and the body is ready for danger. During the episodes of this disorder, the sufferers might visualize causing violence to the person making the sound. For example, their brain plays scenarios where they are slapping the food out of their hand, putting them in a headlock, or even punching them in the face. These people are aware that the problem lies with the disorder hence they don’t actually want to harm anyone outside their brain. But at the same time, most of the people with this problem don’t even know that such a problem exists and thus they think that the problem lies within them. 

What causes Misophonia?

New research has started to identify causes for misophonia. A British-based research team studied 20 adults having this disorder, and 22 without it. They all rated the unpleasantness of different sounds, including common trigger sounds (eating and breathing), universally disturbing sounds (of babies crying and people screaming), and neutral sounds (such as rain). As expected, people having misophonia expressed that the trigger sounds of eating and breathing tend to be highly disturbing while those without it did not. This confirmed that the misophonic persons were far more affected by specific trigger sounds, but don’t differ much from others regarding other types of sounds.

The researchers also noted that the sufferers showed much greater physiological signs of stress, such as increased sweat and heart rate, to the trigger sounds of eating and breathing than those without it. 

Misophonia vs Hyperacusis:

Although both of them involve a decreased acceptance of sounds, Misophonia is distinct from Hyperacusis. Where misophonia involves a negative reaction to particular sounds, hyperacusis involves a negative reaction to sound due to particular characteristics such as loud noises of fireworks, sounds of telephones, etc. Someone who tends to have hyperacusis may be sensitive to sounds of a certain volume, type, or intensity. The major difference between the two is the way people react to noise. With misophonia, noise triggers rage. With hyperacusis, however, noise leads to pain and it usually starts because of overexposure to noise. Being around a loud noise also can cause this. Something like a single loud gunshot can trigger the condition. But it also can come from being near loud noises over a long period.

Treatment for Misophonia:

A known cure for misophonia does not currently exist, but several treatments for it have proven effective in lessening the condition’s severity to improve the person’s quality of life. These therapies include the following:

• Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT): TRT provides assistance to the misophonic people about how to improve their ability to tolerate trigger sounds. It combines sound therapy with counselling, positive sound protocols, noise generators, and much more. Pleasant sounds are introduced into the ear canal, and the patient is taught to create positive associations with trigger sounds through practice and intentional rethinking. Although primarily used to treat people with tinnitus and hyperacusis, TRT has also proven successful in treating people with misophonia.

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: This therapy is commonly used in conjunction with TRT and attempts to alter the negative thoughts of the misophonic person to decrease the person’s suffering. The healthcare provider works to pair triggering sounds with positive experiences.

• Lifestyle Changes: The Misophonia association, a non -profit organization which aims to assist those who suffer from this condition, as well as their families, lists some lifestyle changes that may help reduce the effects of misophonia. Some of which are vigorous exercise, a healthy diet, a regular sleep schedule, sound protection (when needed), misophonia support groups, and family counselling.

People suffering from this disorder fight an internal battle every single day so if you are a sufferer, don’t worry, you are not crazy! And if you are a friend or a family member of someone suffering, realize that misophonia is "real" and it can affect people very deeply. So the next time someone tells you repeatedly to stop making triggering sounds, try to understand the situation from their point of view.

Priyanjali Handa

BW Reporters Priyanjali Handa, is a junior journalist working with BW Wellbeingworld and has a keen interest in exploring new ideas, territories, capturing moments and writing about them.