Misophonia: Enraged by the Sound Other People Make

Most of us find hearing other people chomping and slurping rude and annoying, but to some, the sound of other people eating, coughing or even breathing can be enraging.

Here's the strange case of misophonia (lit. "hatred of sound"):

For people with a condition that some scientists call misophonia, mealtime can be torture. The sounds of other people eating — chewing, chomping, slurping, gurgling — can send them into an instantaneous, blood-boiling rage.

Or as Adah Siganoff put it, “rage, panic, fear, terror and anger, all mixed together.”

“The reaction is irrational,” said Ms. Siganoff, 52, of Alpine, Calif. “It is typical fight or flight” — so pronounced that she no longer eats with her husband.

Many people can be driven to distraction by certain small sounds that do not seem to bother others — gum chewing, footsteps, humming. But sufferers of misophonia, a newly recognized condition that remains little studied and poorly understood, take the problem to a higher level.

Joyce Cohen wrote this interesting article on The New York Times (just don't read it aloud, mmkay?): Link


I suffer from this intermittently. Some days I'm fine other days any sound somebody else makes can drive me crazy and even when I know I'm being irrational it doesn't help.

There's no pattern to it either, some people try to say that it only happens when you're tired or concentrating, or that it follows some other trigger but it doesn't.

It's only recently that I discovered it's not so uncommon.
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I definitely have this. This doesn't happen with all sounds though, right? Because some sounds are okay, like relaxing music and leaves ruffling. But yes, squeaky shoes, chewing, crunching, or anything loud and I get that reaction! I can't help it, I have to leave the room before I go insane!
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I used to have this real bad. I only got over it during college when I had to live in a small room with another person.

But it still comes back to me from time to time. Just today the sound of one of my current room mates making dinner almost made me put my fist through the wall.

I am glad I have a name for it now, though.
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People make the most annoying noises on public transit, from chewing gum to tapping their feet to playing their music too loud with or without headphones. It annoys me so much that I now wear earplugs.
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Finally the thing that has physically hurt me for as long as I can remember has a name and, my God, I'm not insane!! 47 years of utterly insanity inducing sounds. I'm not the insane person I was told I was. Now I can learn about the disorder and maybe, just maybe, do something about it.

Alex, you have no idea how grateful I am for your having posted this here. I believed there was something wrong with me. I've felt so out of control and often, not able to do the things everybody else does because I knew I would encounter those pain-inducing sounds.

Thank you thank you thank you!
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The only time it bothers me is when my dad eats his breakfast. He always has 2 eggs lightly fried so the yolk and half the egg whites are just pure liquid and he eats it with a spoon, slurping the mess up while half of it runs off his spoon and back onto the plate prolonging the torture. gah!
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I always thought I was overly sensitive to these sounds. I find myself glaring at people and then realize I am the only one bothered by it. Understanding it as a condition can/will help me cope better with it.

Thanks Alex for posting this story.
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People affected by this phobia couldn't live in Gran Canaria... loudest people in the world. :( Otherwise they are nice, and the weather is great, but sometimes you wish to be deaf...
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I have this, i hate it. At work i sit in a cubicle surrounded by other cubicles. As soon as i hear a chip bag opening or the first bite of an apple (or celery, or carrot) I run. The noises make me absolutely insane - i'm clenching my fists, plugging my ears and almost to the point of crying. This is ruining me, when my daughter is eating i stare at her before i leave the room and she just yells at me that its normal (for her to make noises while eating), normal for her not so much for me. Nice to find these threads to know i'm not alone and crazy.
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