Misophonia: HATRED of sound 

This enraged response is severe enough to make me daydream about destroying the noise source. I mean smashing it to bits and then some. A ticking clock on a classroom wall could disturb my rational thought to the point that I could not concentrate on the lecture or a test . I had truly thought I would go mad and have to be restrained. So far, I have managed to not be arrested. Had misophonia since childhood and am now 80.

So grateful to hear about this! Dogs barking and door slamming causes rage!

Thank you for normalizing this! Misophonia is absolutely no joke, I live near a busy street and when loud vehicles and especially motorcycles go by I want to yell the most horrible violent things out my window, it makes me want to throw things, punch the wall, etc. It's horrible. Those aren't the only noises either so it really is very frustrating to deal with. I carry Loop earplugs with me everywhere so if I'm having a particularly bad day so I can pop them in and deaden any noise.

If I hear a baby crying it sends me into an internal rage. I can’t tolerate it for long before I have to move away or block my ears. Neighbours making noise, chatting in their gardens or playing music is another one that sends me into a murderous state. I have to wear headphones at home. I recently moved home because of this and bought a detached house in the countryside and it’s so peaceful now.

I feel so validated by this video- especially the end when you discuss how the reaction is a small percentage of what the person is feeling on the inside. I have a very visceral reaction to certain sounds and I hold in so much because I don’t want to seem unreasonable (and it feels unreasonable as you discussed) but it makes me so angry and it almost hurts! Thank you for this video.

I’ve sent a few letters to neighbors who were the cause of my distress at some point. Hammering, idling car, vibrating refrigerator, honking cars, traffic sounds, repeating or chanting words, talking girls during breaks, tapping, slurping, squealing pigs, barking dogs, etc. I thought I was just overacting. This is why I stay up till early mornings just to experience peace. But sleeping in the morning and hearing street sounds kill me every day.

I often think people who enjoy watching and listening to people eating (like ASMR mukbang videos) must be psychopaths.

Thank you! I try to cope with this. If it helps anyone ... I eat when others eat. I also use noise cancelling headphones when it's needed. I thoroughly explained this to my husband and try to remind him of what's bothering me if he forgets (because if your not bothered by it, it's not on your mind). I make game plans to step outside at times or do something else in another room. I also try to stick it out and challenge myself to bear with it at times to try to build a resistance. I pray that a cure is discovered. I'm doing research and will come back to keep updating you all on new discoveries that I find. This condition needs to be taken seriously in the medical community. Anxiety is also something I deal with. So I didn't know I should treat this first. Thanks again for the video! I too feel validated❤!

I feel this a lot and it gets much worse depending on my mental health. The worst offenders are traffic noise, my upstairs neighbor, leaf blowers, high pitched noises or noises behind me. It makes me want to fight the whole world more than I already do. I try to harden up since I cant do much about avoiding it. I wear bass cans all the time bc tinnitus and drowning out city noise. Oddly, sirens are one of the few noises im immune to.

i hate when i hear my neighbours on the other side of the wall when im in the bed (i live in apartment). not only when im trying to sleep, although thats of course extra annoying, but my bed is supposed to be the place where im safe so intrusive sounds there feel almost like an actual assault. ive also noticed this is an age thing for me, i cant remember me being so sensitive about this when i was younger but now im really bothered by noises. i often have fantasies of living somewhere nice and quiet where i only hear the noises of birds and the wind in the trees (although actually bird noises can be really annoying too sometimes haha).

My parents used to send me away from the table because I would put my hands over my ears and freak out every time someone smacked their lips or chewed loudly. I've spent my adult life wearing earbuds with my favorite music blasting loudly, so I could not hear people around me -- like children screaming, people, talking loudly, sneezing or coughing. Someone told me I had misophonia and that downing out life's sounds with music was my self-therapy.

Oh my gosh, you *totally* get it! Thank you so much for making this video! I have autism and CPTSD. I have had misophonia my entire 58 years on this earth. I remember when I was a kid and young adult, all I would get from everyone is, "It's not bothering anyone else. Quit being such a whiner." These days I get comments more along the lines of, "What do you mean, there's a noise? I don't hear anything." My rage has always been directed inward, and I have to use a lot of control to keep from taking my frustration out on myself when I hear one of my trigger noises. Using that much energy on that control takes energy away from doing other things, and I end up exhausted.

Hearing lip smacking, toe tapping, whistling, etc. makes me want to slap people, however, hearing booming bass from car stereos makes me want to kill them. I feel enraged just thinking about them. I was diagnosed with ADHD at 50, and have had a lifelong struggle with depression.

I remember becoming extremely stressed out by certain kinds of music going back to junior high school. Hearing unwanted music and sounds is its own type of pain and distress that I wouldn't wish on anyone, and I have been suffering from it almost my entire life.

Traffic noise, overly loud car engines, leaf blowers, dogs barking, any repetitive noise, horrible pop music, sirens. All enrage me and make me wish people into the corn field! I thought it was just my defective personality.

I have been to the point of half-wishing I was deaf, but then I would miss out on things I really want to hear. My biggest triggers are thumping bass, whispering, gum chewing, high-pitched machines and crying babies. I was the eldest of 8 kids, so you can imagine my childhood-- and then I had colicky twins. I love my twins so much and never showed anger, but sometimes we all ended up crying together lol. They both were misophonic as well, even more than me. Oh yeah, TV shows where the microphone catches every bit of spit in the actors' mouths when they speak or kiss is extremely misophonic for me! There are many more lesser triggers, but it all makes it difficult to live and stay sane sometimes.

I love this!! Having a misophonia is literally the most tragic thing in my life Everyday I'm finding new triggers and I'm literally trying my hardest to cut off the thought as soon as possible. But sometimes it just wouldn't work. Most of the time I feel like I'm just being too sensitive since the person who's making the noise probably don't even see it as a big problem. Or even themselves are also suffering. For example:Coughing sound I feel like knowing there is someone who understands this feeling is really helpful. SO THANK U!

I can't abide two (or more) sources of noise. Radio and tv both on at the same time. One dinner out had classical music piped in, jazz in the nearby lounge, and a country music band very nearby. It freaked me out, and made me nauseated. Others didn't seem to even notice that cacophony. Flight, screaming, seemed reasonable to me.

The sound of a dog barking (and I find it is more often than not a little dog rather than a big dog) literally drives me to consider horrible ways to make it stop. I love dogs. I would never hurt one…but it pushes a button in me and I either have to leave or try and block it out (noise cancelling earphones) to avoid murderous thoughts about that dog. I also tried to listen to an audiobook recently and I had to stop because I could hear the speaker’s saliva on every single word. It was too much. I never considered myself as having misophonia, just thought I was really sensitive to noise…most likely related to my ADHD… but maybe it’s misophonia 🤔

I just sent this to some of my kids...I know they didn't really take my reaction to certain noises (like, rattling of a cellophane bag) seriously. Triggers a very physical response..and I feel bad, but I literally can't help it..its like I have to make it stop, no matter what.

Thank you so much for this video, I wish I knew more people with this condition, just having someone fully understand how debilitating it is actually helps a bit

I can't bear it when someone sneezes and then starts sniffing. I feel like offering them a tissue. My Dad used to get enraged if anyone ate an apple near him (he hated the crunching). He had Bipolar disorder btw. Other dislikes of mine which drive me crazy are: people talking loudly near me (eg in a cafe) and crockery being crashed around (in a cafe again!) as they put it away. And another thing! People vigorously blowing their nose near me. Ugh!! Snot! Thank you very much for talking about this.

My husband and I were going through the drive thru a few days ago, he was ordering and omg I couldn't handle the womans voice over the intercom. I put my headphones on at full volume playing white noise and covered my ears. I wanted to scream at her to shut up (I didnt cause, well she was just doing her job) and run out of the truck. Got so hyped up over this I cried on the way home, like wtf is wrong with me? Btw I always have headphones with me, it helps so much.

I don't know if this counts but I hate loud conversations with obnoxious laughter. Sensory overload perhaps. I am truly grateful for headphones and ear plugs.

Upstairs stomping neighbour has literally led me to absolute madness and sometimes i have to take a flask and go out in my car when Im tired.

Thankyu!!!!! I thought I was nuts. I have Bipolar but this makes sense to me. Crunchy chewing UH, yah and for me, I cannot tolerate the TV at all!!! I wear noise cancelling headphones all the time so my family can watch TV. I go ballistic during commercials, try so hard to keep the losing it at a minimum. Tapping, chewing, squeaking in the chair, the cat scratching her ear. Lordy it all makes me go AH QUIET, NOW!!!!! my partner is kind now and got me these headphones. Which I have to wear in public because I can't handle the noise of motors either and sometimes people chattering in the backround.. ugh. I don't go out often, but my partner thought I was being a little bit over the top with my can't handle noise. But be sees it now that noise distresses me so he got the headphones. I sent him Yur video to explain what this is and that it's real and I can't help my reactions much. Thankyu for Yur indepth explaination .

I have CPTSD and experience misophonia and what I have noticed is it is the worst when I am disregulated. Sometimes I get disregulated just from more than one person talking at the same time. Or if multiple sounds are competing for my attention I experience this crazy internal rage. When I was younger I just cried quietly and tried to hide it. As I've gotten older I have gotten better at regulating my nervous system so now when I have a misophonia moment I can usually just leave the room for a bathroom break to get my mojo back.

My thing is the breakroom at work. I go out of my way to try to get in and out before certain coworkers get there. None of them have the common courtesy to use earbuds!!! No one wants to hear this one guy talking at the top of his lungs on his phone, the other asshole will come into a perfectly quiet room (we unfortunately have a TV in it) and the SECOND she walks in the TV has to go on at top volume. She never bothers to ask whether anyone else actually WANTS it on. Considering there's like 10 people already in the room and it ISN'T on might clue her in, but... There's a few others that make my muscles tighten up the second I see them. Please, people, earbuds were invented for a reason! The only way I can cope is the minute they walk in the room is to take off and spend the rest of my break in my car, and it pisses me off because why should I have to leave because these people are being noisy and rude??

Snoring when I’m trying to sleep, hacking up and spitting out phlegm, stomping up and down the stairs, smacking lips/chewing with mouth open, blowing the nose and all associated noises with that: flashbacks to living with my chronically ill father. It’s hard when the other person obviously cannot help it, or doesn’t seem to care.

I also think to some degree this is normal. The world has gotten much, much noiser over the last 100 yrs. Our senses are constantly assaulted. Those of us with misophonia are sort of the canary in the coal mine. I think excessive noise probably negatively impacts everyone, they just don't realize it.

Backup beepers. BACKUP BEEPERS! They've multiplied exponentially over just the past few years, it seems, and they are becoming inescapable no matter how far out in the boonies one goes. I just got back from a mental health solo retreat at an AirBnB in the middle of nowhere in northeast Iowa, at the end of a dead-end gravel road, where a long trek through the timber on the property led to a hard-to-find waterfall. I finally found the waterfall, which was an absolutely transcendent experience...for all of about 30 seconds, and then on the other side of the ridge, a backup beeper started blaring. My blessed bit of relief was quickly ruined, no matter how hard I tried to keep my focus on the visual beauty. 😔😭 (Fortunately, the trip overall was successful and healing.) Anyway, that accursed beeping is everywhere I go, and I can even hear it inside my house due to the endless construction and road work in my little town. I love nature and the outdoors, and that has been such good therapy for me, but it's getting to where I don't even want to do anything but stay inside with my white noise machine running pretty much 24/7. Misophonia in general makes my life miserable (snoring, tapping, screaming kids), but the backup beepers are turning it into Hell on earth. I hope and pray I can change something on my end, because the "progress" (?) of the world means more and more and more beeping will be happening in the future. With nowhere for me to run or to hide.

Next to the definition of Misophonia is a picture of me. 57 years of it. I've tried my best to deal with it. Usually leaving or moving away from the sound. My wife knows.

Motorcycles and loud obnoxious cars fill me with an intense and murderous rage. 🫣

Thank you SO much for this video. Anytime someone mentions exposure therapy for this, I feel they don’t understand that someone might die if I’m intentionally exposed to certain sounds 😂 But the fact that you mention how some sounds make you feel and how you’ve been able to overcome it a bit… my mind was open to it. I’ve never felt the need to SO profusely thanked anyone for a video… but I do with this one. Literally cannot thank you enough. ❤❤❤❤❤

Thank you for being there. Someone understands. I have to stay in my room a lot because certain sounds will send me into anxiety if I can't remove myself soon enough. Also, I've noticed that when the sound is gone it still continues to resound in my head. It also takes time to decompress after an incident. I don't expect others to change to keep me comfortable. I own it even though it's not my fault.

I think I’ve gotten a little better since switching up my whole life (including a lot more walking daily), but yeah it sucks that normal everyday noises can send me into an internal fit. At my most mentally ill (in adulthood), a lawnmower in the middle of the afternoon set me off enough to start sobbing angrily. The noise was always bothersome but that was extreme, even for me. I wanted to explode the lawnmower with my mind. It’s really awful to experience. There’s a laundry list of noises I can’t stand, and hearing anything more than thrice will also send me off that cliff. But you can’t reasonably make people stop what they’re doing just for your own sake, so I have to leave a room or create a distraction for myself when such a time arises. Nowadays I see a lot of people wearing headphones and earbuds while walking around the city. I always have my earbuds when leaving the house, too. If I can’t make the noise stop, I can lessen the blow or distract myself without imposing on other people. That’s the best I’ve got for now.

Beeping - especially the microwave and fridge when i know the person is right there in the kitchen and could stop it but leave it going. Beeping photocopier in open plan office. Chewing, gulping and plate scraping. So many things... Thank you for talking on this and for this channel, i feel a little bit less alone.

Actually I saw a parody of what it was like to have Misophonia somewhere on RU-vid. It was hilarious! Obviously put together by someone who definately has the disorder. The woman finally snaps and ends up strangling the person doing the chewing at the table. I can relate.

I was just trying to explain this feeling I get to my daughter last night! Kids playing and screaming outside or my precious grandson at 3 saying Memaw over and over and over again. I watch him everyday and by the end I can’t wait for her to get him out of my house. Love Love that you are doing these videos. Please don’t stop. Thank you

I’m so happy to finally hear someone articulate this!

One of mine is the crinkling noise that cellophane and chip bags make. It used to doubly irritate me to no end when people started deciding it was appropriate (?) to bring snacks to the library (!!!) and eat them while sitting in the computer commons or the study desks. People breathing very loudly is another, especially through their mouths. Maybe they can't help it, but I sometimes have wished they would stifle the rest of the way. I'm occasionally overly sensitive to noise in general and I know it, but don't know specifically in my case what causes it since it's not all the time, though when it happens, it's maddening.

I also hate going to movies and people opening candy and eating popcorn, ugh!

It’s not much, but seriously can’t thank you enough for this video ❤ I’ve only recently told a few friends about my experience with misophonia, which seems wild now since it’s such a huge part of my life but it’s also shameful on some level. Anywho… thank you 🙏

Thank you. I thought it was just me being neurotic. I can’t listen to someone eat a banana. I had to leave my job because the person opposite used to eat everything loudly with her mouth open. It went; sandwiches, crisps, banana, then chewing gum. I used to have to go and sit in the toilets and have someone text me when she’d finished. I left my job before I killled her. She accused me of bullying…. It was an impossible situation. I have millions of examples. I see to think I was a psychopath!

Thank you! This is the best - and most honest - explanation I have heard!

Worked In ICU 22 YRS.. I thought it was just like sensory overload with the ringing and the noises and the beeping and the call lights and the IVs and the ventilators and the.... drove me nuts

Somewhere in the last ten years I've come to hate all music. I have a new two year old car. I've yet to turn on the radio. 😮

Wow, that's crazy, I've been diagnosed with severe misophonia years ago when I was really young This really impacted my life in a lot of negative ways, from a lot of pain to a lot of mental health issues It's surreal that the same channel(yours) that is really helping me out a lot with s.i and a lot of other stuff I even changed my desktop to "Stack small Victories, Celebrate all victories" Thank you so, so much God bless you and your Family

I just wanted to say thank you so much for your help! You put the impact, of this condition into perfect perspective. I could never have described the feelings,or the way you covered every relevant aspect of it's territory ,in our lives! I also have an older son who is dealing with this. So just you know,you are helping with speaking out on all the information involved. This is the MOST INFORMATIVE video on Mesothelioma. Love you

I am overjoyed to have come across this video! Thank you so much! I have been experiencing this to a greatly heightened degree, after having a huge, spinal surgery, (an 8 level fusion), almost two years ago. The neurosurgeon had never had a patient who experienced this before post surgery. He explained that he had encountered many patients who had heightened sensory stimuli, such as a prickling or buzzing sensation in arms or legs, for example. Ohhhhhh, I cannot tell you how grateful I am to find someone...anyone, express exactly how this awful thing feels! At least I'm not alone. I have also had greatly increased anxiety since the surgery, as well! Thank you for providing an explaination that I can understand, and thank you so much for giving me some HOPE to improve this problem. HOPE is everything!!! Your practical ideas have allowed me to have a glimmer of hope!❤

Loud music, usually in restaurants and cafe, I have to eat outside the restaurant, even if I ask for it to be turned down, then it's up again, silence is golden.

Chewing and crunching of food, crinkling of plastic bags, loud breathing and snoring, screaming babies and other peoples music literally enrages me and causes significant distress.

I have just found you today. I've listened to about 4 of your videos and will listen to the rest. I'm relieved to know, my 'sickness' is NOT 'made up'. ThANK you forever more!

Wow, i didn’t know this was a real thing … other my thoughts of killing the person in the next cubicle at the office, when she slowly ate something from the vending machine. Not only the eating noises, but more so the constant crinkling of the wrapper. Lol

I really appreciate you going so deeply into this. I have several triggers for this, and for years, i thought i was just weird or there was something wrong with me. I never told anyone I was going through this either, so I have long held in the irrational rage 😂Chewing doesn't bother me, but jaw clicking really does. In fact, my triggers are most all mouth made sounds. ASMR made by mouth noises, tongue clicking, close ear whispering, anything that causes that ASMR tingle feeling that people seem to adore. I H A T E it. It makes me feel so enraged and really uncomfortable. I've told some people who ive talked about misophonia with that if i ever look like I'm trying to stuff my shoulder into my ear in a twitchy sort of way, thats me trying to get rid of that tingly feeling and ground the rage. The way people make overly sharp "s" sounds is another one. A note about me personally would be that I've been diagnosed with PTSD (C-PTSD) and GAD with OCD features along with other mental health stuff, but my misophonia has been with me for as long as I can remember. I can't place an age where it started. Perhaps I was born with it? In more recent years, this has been exacerbated by my PTSD and overstimulation issues. I have wondered about ADHD but I've never been taken seriously when I've brought it up to my doctor. 😒 But I'm curious, do you remember an age where it seemed to start for you?

Thank you for covering this!

Sounds are driving me nuts right now and as a side note I am autistic as well. Anyway…dogs barking, the stupid whistling type noise out of the factory across the street, cars, gravel crunching, people talking, lawnmowers, construction, the refrigerator running, the mini split running….basically everything. It is so so bad and so is my anxiety, depression, and stress. I feel so trapped and want to run away to get away from it all. I get annoyed but not wanting to fight.

I dont think this is technically misophonia but I'm a nurse and frequently at the end of a shift I'm done. Listening to IV pumps beeping, monitors beeping, bed alarms going off, you get the idea. The noise is very cumulative in its effect. Friends will invite me over and I just cant go cause I cant tolerate listening to anymore talking. Podcasts? Generally not a fan.

I have had misophonia for almost 50 years. I am also Autistic. The way you are describing it is actually understating it! 😂 I am q mental serial killer because of my misophonia and sensory processing disorder. I am not even joking. I'm just glad we can't get arrested for mentally killing people. I al triggered by breathing. It's horrifying. I don't think it's anxiety driven for me. In fact, I am sure it's not. Exposure therapy doesn't work for me either. I think my misophonia is actually neurological, not psychological. I am also an athlete but it has no effect on my misophonia. I definitely relate to sensory assault. My childhood was a torturous nightmare with my family because no one had ever heard of it back then. You said it right when you said we downplay our reaction. We are the most self controlled people on the planet

Very well explained. Thank you.

I cannot tolerate people saying LIKE all the time, voice fry, and volume pitch going up at the end of sentences.

Yes. When people eat with utensils hitting the plate. I don’t know why, but just the sound, can make me want to rip my ears off, like eating cereal out of a bowl.

Now this was verry interesting, I am so glad to know what that is, thank you!

Best run through of Misophonia on the internet IMO. There have been several times in my life where Misophonia has fully taken my life down several pegs. It's bonkers how fully encompassing it is. Track pants and tent material swishing -- that will take me into a whole other alternate universe of rage and disgust to the point where I've vomited -- literally can make me see red and white. Ugh. I've had breathing misophonia too, and was just hell to try and rationalize it in my mind before I knew what it was. That was rough. It has eased with age for me, but it's still there -- it doesn't seem to coincide with my anxiety -- but as you mentioned it probably falls under Autism Spectrum Disorder... and I do other sensory issues. I wonder about the crossover of ASMR and Misophonia, because I experience both deeply. Something that is really odd for me is that so much ASMR for me personally is that it has to be incidental and not intentional. Pre-internet I would see out things that would trigger it -- one of the earliest videos of 'ASMR' on the internet I found many years ago was someone simply raking a small wooden spoon through some seeds, and my brain melted, and I found out that other people feel this. BUT, as time went on, and the videos and stuff online became more 'intentional' to trigger it, and more overt they are with -- it actually crosses over into Misophonia, and gives me all of the feelings of that. It's so bizare. But there are a few old school ASMR sounds and vids on the net that I listen to sometimes when Misophonia is getting to me. Thanks for this vid though, this advice is soooo solid -- and I absolutely agree with my anecdotal experience -- that this advice is stuff that helps!

I have this! 🤣 Can't stand footsteps, whistling, throat clearing, coughing, sniffing. Even visual stuff like somebody waving their foot. It makes me switch seats on the bus. I genuinely want to thump the poor soul who's just innocently doing a normal thing.I suffer with anxiety.

I’m new to this - the name of the condition that is, not new to the ‘feeling’. You do a good job of explaining it - ‘auditory assault’ is exactly how it feels. I work in an office and the keyboard sounds cause me to be in stress (feel under attack) a lot of the day - it’s exhausting.

It wasn’t until around 5 years ago that I realised I have a mild/moderate case of this. For most my life I never understood how - as a mostly patient and tolerant person - the sound of chewing, drinking and all sounds mostly made while eating and drinking - would make me so enraged I would have to leave places and people to escape the noise. My mum and sister also have very milder symptoms and all relate to mouth/eating sounds also. I did some research and found that there is an association of strong connection with the people who you are more intolerant of with this. For example, I have worked in healthcare most of my career and can work/live/tolerate all these sounds from patients - in fact I would go as far to say they don’t bother me, however if my partner chews to quickly, I consider breaking up with him. Insane! 😊

Anyone else afraid to read all the comments about what sounds people hate for fear that you might start noticing those and develop a hate for additional sounds? 😂 The beginning of the video made me nervous… thankfully he didn’t describe too many of them!

Hey Doc, I've found your stuff helpful. That it's your proffesion and personal experience lends huge credibility. How about some success stories you've experienced with clients? Thank you

Man I never knew I had this. People at my home have loud ringtones and my ringbell at home is too noisy. I hate it when it rings.

Thank youuuuuuu

The annoying door slammers moved in next to me (3 floors house), I talked to the husband nicely about his son 3rd floor, where I’m mostly at, thought it was done, but 1 week later I heard his whinny wife complained about me not tolerating her son but they tolerate my loud autistic sister who lives 2nd floor. I hate their noises ever since then, I don’t make noises and slam doors, they’re the ones that moved in, yet I’m expected to treat her adult son just like my loud autistic sister, she and her daughter slam doors too even after a year so I guarantee they’ll still slam doors even if my sister never exists, she and her daughter throws stuff multiple times during shower over 70db and during 4am. Once I kicked the wall multiple times and she dared to yell back and slam door (there’s another neighbor next to them) God I really hate them

loud music at night and people talking at night rages me!!

Until I saw this video (by accident), I thought I had severe CPSD - and that's fallen miles short of describing WHY I behave the way I do for over 50 years. I hesitate in even (thinking of the Dali Lama) killing mosquitoes - and for 10 miserable years I've wanted to go upstairs and schmear that creeps' DNA floor to ceiling in a thin coat. I'm the nicest person I've ever known - and turn demonic while defending my personal safety in my apartment. Thank you for naming my condition - like fibromyalgia, it's a relief knowing I'm not drooling mad...that there';s a name for it.

Is this why I always associate loud noises with anger? Even though some people are just naturally loud...

Thank you for this. I found what you said, and people's comments, really helpful. Do you happen to know what percentage of sufferers are musicians?

I don't feel so alone after watching your video, thank you so much!!!! I am a highly sensitive person and I do feel the sensitivity is a big factor as well along with pstd. My main sounds are people who leave their dogs out that bark incessantly and loud mufflers/motorcycles which literally rattle my bones. Moving out of the city I feel is the best treatment for my misophonia....natural surroundings with more nature than people is my next step.

People eating, snoring, loud breathing and the sound of peoples heels clicking on linoleum. I get infuriated, disgusted.. it’s terrible.

Y’know what sound I hate? The second hand on an analog clock. You never know if it ticks or it sweeps till after you buy it. It’s like they’re fucking with you at this point. Just keep on buying clocks, maybe you’ll get lucky and find one that doesn’t sound like death eventually. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

The beeping sound of the old microwave at my parents house gives me a feeling of almost physical pain and rage, as well as my dad’s chronic cough due to long-term acid reflux makes me want to yell and hurt him, which is awful. As soon as he starts, I find myself scrambling to stuff my fingers in my ears to muffle the sound so I don’t feel the intense anger, cause it’s not his fault 😔 people who have really loud sneezes that come out of the blue with no warning also make me feel absolutely murderous. I deal with some generalized anxiety, chronic depression, and ADHD.

In 2012 I did the “ 23 and Me “ genetic and ancestry test and interestingly, misophonia was a random thing that popped up in my results. It indicated that based on my genes I had “a higher than likely chance of experiencing misophonia”. In my case, this is accurate, although I don’t feel enraged by certain sounds. I would describe it as agitated by certain sounds. My noise cancelling AirPods are very helpful at times.

This is a really great explanation of what misophonia is. I have this too but my "trigger" noises are not the usual ones. Drizzle on a microphone held by a Weather Channel dude standing in the rain can make me want to strangle someone. It's such a subtle little sound but I have to mute the TV. And you mentioned animal noises and reminded me of what was probably my first bout with misophonia but didn't realize it back then. I used to be a vet tech and the only animal noise that drove me nuts was doberman pinschers closing their mouths...lol. Most dogs don't make any sound when they lick their lips but ALL dobies do this thing where they loudly chomp down on their molars after they lick their lips. Only dobies....crazy, eh? But you can munch on chips all night long and I'm ok. What the sounds feel like is a personal threat. Perfect description.

Chronic depression/ cptsd /stress will lead to mental exhaustion and will heighten your body sensitivity which can result in things like chronic pain or a constant itching rash or what I have is a general body sensitivity like feeling a grain of sand in my shoe and always hurting my fingertips on hard objects like when opening packaged food. When a human has a pain reaction from the sound of people eating but not when a beloved pet eats or drinks, I can't help but wonder whether it is a verrrry hard suppressed anger/conflict with some key person in their life and a general issue with boundaries, enmeshment, entanglement, and all that toxic stuff which is enough to drive anyone crazy but when brought up in it it is like the frog in the pan with cold water on a low fire, it does not sense the danger of the water slowly coming to a fatal boil. Thank goodness for active noise cancelling technology, I bet I would have developed a serious xanax habit by now if it wasn't for the peace and quiet that technology offers me, and I'm lucky to be in the position to afford it.

Thanks for the video. I kept wondering what was wrong with me. I find it so hard to concentrate at work because people in the office make noises that are so irritating! I really struggle and end up taking work home to do so I don't fall behind. Yet I have no problem concentrating at home and can work or study all day. So my concentration isnt the problem, its noises!

As a misophonia sufferer I would love an additional but condensed video. It would be helpful to share w/ my spouse.

2 big triggers for me are coughing and the "ahem" sound people make to get rid of mucous/phlegm in their throat. Unfortunately, there is no way to distinguish from mild to strong, so i know in my case, exposure therapy will not and cannot work. There is too much variation which determines whether it affects me more or less. The point you made that most resonated with me is when you said that the reaction people see in us that is considered over-exaggerated is actually downplayed heavily. the anger i feel is overwhelming and unbearable. the other day at work, my boss was constantly coughing (he is a smoker and we work in a dusty environment where he doesn't wear a mask. so you can probably see how that goes). unfortnately, this is not something he could stop doing. my reaction to it is also unfortunately something i cannot stop. it got to a point i was so overwhelmed that i said i was going to the bathroom just to get away and calm myself down for about 10 minutes. conveniently, someone else in the building who works in another section decided to golly in the bathroom sink (australian slang for snorting/hoiking up mucous/phlegm) and spitting it into the sink, which not only annoys most people, but also triggers my misophonia. since i couldn't find many logical excuses to leave the lab, i was suffering in silence all day. no amount of venting or explaining will make someone without misophonia understand the pain you go through with this condition. when i got off public transport at the end of the day and was heading home, i felt a calmness to it. i knew that i wasn't going to be exposed (as much) to these sounds that was bombarding me every couple of minutes (and more frequently in some bursts) for the 10+ hours i was out of the home. edit: noise cancelling headphones don't help. I've had one pair previously that didn't help, i have one now that is also a good pair, that also doesn't help. I've worn plugs with my headphones on top, and raised the volume to a "comfortable" level (my phone was saying otherwise, but i had plugs in so the sound was much quieter) and despite that, my brain still hyperfixates on that sound, brings it to the front of my mind and i can't escape it. this also included listening to metal music, which is known for being quite loud and for being noisy. website say "set up noise free environments" which, lets be real, is impossible in practical every day life. One final point "know and avoid triggers" annoys me so much, too. It's basically the equivalent of saying to someone "there's a step there" after they've already tripped on it. at that point, you're just pointing out the obvious

You are completely right. I especially appreciate the part where you say that other people are only seeing 5-10% of our actual internal reaction. For me it's the sounds slurping squishy squashy sloppy eating. People eating or chewing gum with their mouths wide open. Some people even make these sounds chewing with their mouths closed. At times it is extremely infuriating to me. This has bothered me I think pretty much my whole life, I don't recall it ever not bothering me but maybe when I was very young. There are times when I can tolerate it, times when I point it out to people and ask them to stop and other times I snap a bit. Even when I snap, it's only a small fraction of how I am actually feeling. I understand that it's a problem with me.... but at the same time, damn, they are so disgusting & rude! That's how it feels. I kind of doubt it's caused by anxiety, but I do think that anxiety/stress can amplify it because there are times if I'm a bit stressed where the sounds really bother me even more. But other times I tolerate them. I've thought about giving myself some sort of exposure therapy watching some of the people who eat on youtube... some are terribly disgusting in how they sound, but if I could get used to that it would probably help me. I just know I would hate it. A week ago I sat down to watch a 3 hour movie with someone... they grabbed a handful of hard candies and began slurping on a candy in their mouth over and over quite loudly. No way in hell I was going to sit through 3 hours of that sound torture and I know it was also going to interfere in me being to follow a lot of the dialog of the movie. I snapped a bit, told them no way I could sit here for 3 hours listening to them slurping on candy, so they needed to finish that candy and stop slurping after that. That was around 4 minutes into the movie and ended up not watching any more of the movie together, I watched it alone a few days later.

So true. I have this. It is a rage response and fight or flight

I cannot stand smacking when people eat. It drives me insane. At times I will get on my own nerves

I have misophonia when it comes to people having the sound on their phone for notifications etc, the reason I get so angry is because of the sheer DISRESPECT that they think it's acceptable to disturb other people with their obnoxious sound pollution, it's completely rude and inconsiderate. I also had it when my neighbour thought it was cool to have a wind chime in their garden, I did not agree to be subjected to that, thank you very much!

I feel the absolute worst about my misophonia when my dog is panting and I get SO angry at him against my will. He's my sweet lil critter, but in some moments I feel like a monster for the things I think about him, and I have to leave the room until he stops panting. 😢

I've had ASMR videos where people are quietly talking make me fly into a rage that genuinely scared me. I wanted to reach through my screen and start choking the person talking. I got so scared of that reaction that I avoid anything even close to it.

This is so validating, the way i have dealt with the sound of eating is if I am eating at the same time i can often stop thinking about the noise. I have had problems with listening to breathing at times, it happened with romantic partners who were unhealthy for me.

Our little family is one that is like a living bombshell. My husband has misophonia, I have hyperosmia, that’s where all smells and tastes are like 10 or a 100 times worse than it is for other people. I can smell a fire from 3 km away with the windows closed. It’s horrible. And on top of that we have an 8yo son who has ADHD. He CONSTANTLY makes noises. Imo he doesn’t do it on purpose, they are coping mechanisms, but they are triggers for my husband. When it was just the 2 of us, everything was fine, I learned to eat silently and not to eat certain foods around him, while he did the same for me, he loves spicy food, spicy food stinks, or it does to me. So he either eats under the hood in the kitchen or he leaves the room, or I do. He accepted that he couldn’t have parfum anymore nor certain deo’s and soap. Even cleaning products need to be as scent free as possible. Can’t handle most flowers or plants with smells, so we adjusted to each other. And then my son was born, everything was fine in the beginning. Until he turned 3 and the first signs of ADHD showed up. The thing is though I’m pretty certain he has misophonia as well, he triggers on loud noise and can’t handle it when someone yells, he literally starts to shake. While my hyperosmia isn’t a problem to deal with for him, the misophonia is making it that he and his father are having a horrible relationship. They resent each other, they fight all the time. In the last 3 weeks 2 doctors complained to me that my blood pressure is high, one said eat less salt, I don’t add salt to anything because my tastebuds don’t like it. I’m certain my sudden high blood pressure is because of them fighting all the damn time. And the only thing they fight about is noise. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried to step in, mitigate, but there is only so much I can do. They don’t seem to understand from each other that one makes the sounds not on purpose, but as a coping mechanism and the other doesn’t seem to understand how those sounds drive them crazy. It just makes me want to get up and leave sometimes. I often go hide in my bedroom because I simply can’t handle the pressure anymore. When my son is at school there is rest, in the weekend things blow up also in the evenings. Sometimes I go to the bedroom, take the switch with me and my son joins me, then there is rest, 1 min my husband comes in a min later boom fighting again. They can’t be in the same room. I’m tired. I really am. I could use some advice. I have talked about this with my son’s psychologist but I get the feeling she doesn’t take it seriously.

Im so glad I found this video! I know I had MISOPHONIA since I was around 6. I had to share a room for few years with my snoring older brother. It was hell for me, I would get so enraged I would throw slippers at him in the middle of the night because I coudnt listen to snoring anymore. Since I grew up it was traffic noise since I lived on busy street and neigbours squeeking floors above me, It was also hell to the point I would text angry messages to my neighbour to try them to stop and cry at night out of desperation to not being able to ignore the noises. Since then I found a very good silicone ear plug brand and they have been my life changers for bed time. At day time if I hear some triggers I have to get earphones and just listen to my favourite music to not feel enraged. Like I saw someone say in comments, I do also think im getting worse with age. Im also on path to be diagnosed with ADHD and or Autism. Also little note: to contrary to all this I enjoy listening to ASMR noises like someone going trough newspaper or old book pages, someone cleaning up or hoovering floors in the distance, packing gift sounds, plastic bag rustling. it can be so random and it gives me nice shivers down my back! I dont know if anyone else enjoy those with misophonia, let me know as I feel like it could be connected somehow...

Its very hard living with this disorder... i hate chewing sounds and lip smacking when eating... slurping 😢

Mine is so bad at this point that I don’t want to be in public

For me it’s whistling/humming, wearing shoes in the house, and being able to hear a television from the other room.

Whispering. Other things, too, of course. Also, sometimes i have to create a vision shield with my hand so that i can't SEE the thing making the sound! When i do that, i can press my thumb on my ear to block sound.

Hi, misophonia patient here. I am triggered by dog barking and some types of kids screaming, which drives me mad for last 6 years since I moved to a village, which is full of dogs, of course. On top of it my neighbourhood is not only full of barking dogs, but also full of small kids. Wearing earplugs and/or ANC headphones since then almost permanently (I am working from home). Looking forward for moving away, which can't be done for a few more years. I can relate that it goes in hand with something we may call anxiety. Would say that the trigger sound (which I often can't escape) triggers the "anxiety" response in me and I often want to cry because there is nowhere to hide from it. Of course the rage response is there too, you can't focus on anything, the only thing you hear is the barking. But I don't have any other anxiety physical symptoms, just sadness and urge to cry if hearing that sound, or huge irritability. I also agree that excercising can help, but only for a limited time. Let's say you take a bike ride for 1 hour, you return full of endorphines (or what is it), your miso-shield is charged. But it only lasts for two or three hours, so ... What I fear the most now is, that if we move to another place, I am not sure if it will help much. Some sounds are everywhere. At least there will not be so much dogs and my kids will be older, which would help a bit. But what if not :\