What to do when you hate sounds (misophonia treatment)

How to cope with sounds that make you anxious, angry, or disgusted.

Topics Discussed:
- Misophonia (hated of sounds)
- Exposure therapy
- Counter conditioning
- Distress tolerance (distract with accepts)
- cognitive therapy / acceptance

Learn more:

Research:
- A brief course of cognitive behavioural therapy for the

THE PSYCH SHOW! Weekly adventures in psychology, the brain, and behavioral sciences with Dr. Ali Mattu!

[Naderade]

Does anyone else want to destroy anything in front of you when a sound irritates you?

[jacobharding]

“Get over it” “just ignore it” “oh shut up” that’s all what I hear when I try to explain it to people. They don’t know what it’s like. Those triggers ruin my life

[deabaramidze]

I can't deal with it, sometimes I even cry because of the sound

[nacify]

Anyone else want to scream or lash out at the person making trigger sounds, or just generally rage and smash stuff?
I want to, but I don’t, I just bottle it up and go to my room where it’s quiet and just beat up my bed.

[eelwahd]

The person who makes the noise is someone i love its torture to be around them to the point i cry

[Lobo]

Anger is an understatement. It’s full on rage. What’s crazy is as soon as the threat is eliminated I’m perfectly fine. Just feel exhausted.

[TheMissymommy]

I can't even deal with the thought of exposure therapy.

[sheepinatree]

The best thing I learned is I need to have headphones or earphones with me 100% of the time.

[Julchen]

It‘s good to see that I‘m not alone with this. Can we all make a country with quiet people please? :D

[vladusa]

Anyone else get misophonia just as bad when they see someone make the sound, but they can’t hear it?

[reinhart.sieger]

"Avoid triggering sounds" .. how clever -.- Too bad I dont have my own mansion in the middle of nowhere.

[taraunit]

I’ve never felt so understood 😥 ...This is my first time hearing a professional talk about it and it’s so validating.

[Sootielove]

"If everyone heard sounds as intensely as you did, they would also get upset." This is honestly the hardest thing to internalise about misophonia. It's so hard to accept not everyone hears things the same way as you or that it's not your problem for being so sensitive.

[haleybarfield]

I usually get very upset and depressed and I feel like I can’t breathe sometimes. It gets to the point where I can’t be around anyone.

[madisoncallahan]

This disorder is ruining my life... I write this now wiping tears from my eyes because I am so tired of living my life in pain and sadness and anxiousness. My family thinks I am crazy, I have to pretend I am somebody I am not in public so I can try and seem normal. I wear ear plugs 80% of the day. I'm always in my When I come out of my room and I hear my dogs drinking water out of their water bowl it ticks off my misophonia so much I have to plug my ears with my fingers and my sister or mom asks me what I am doing and I lie and say my ears itch and I go back to my room and cry. I sleep a lot with ear plugs in to forget my pain. Sounds of dogs barking, people chewing, breathing, talking through walls, snoring, whistling, laughing, humming, clicking all seem to make me crazy. I don't want to live like this anymore. I want a cure for this. Life doesn't seem worth living.... I hate this. Please send hope. God bless everyone who deals with this disorder I love you and I know what you go through.

[annihilationgaming]

Ban chewing gum and anyone that slurps coffee gets shot on site lol

[laurenhonestlyvibesyears]

When I tell my friends chew I tell them to chew with their mouths closed. Then they chew loudly on purpose, but it’s not the same as natural chewing. When I here trigger noises I feel angry and I want to cry. I want to punch whoever is making the noise. It’s nice to look in the comments and see people I can relate to. People with misophonia are strong 💪

[hurricanetortilla]

I love everyone in this comment section, I’m so glad someone finally understands my pain. I’m so used to mockery or lectures and they don’t realise how much these little noises affect my life.

[sneakysimian]

Does anyone else get the trigger by seeing stuff? I get it when my friends tap their legs.

[Yourhighnessnona]

When my father laughs in a particular way, or coughs, sneezes or yawns, it's very, very loud and it goes through my entire body and I literally want to smack him every time he does that. Or I just want to break anything that's in front of me! I'm the least violent person I know and I love my father so much! I hate this. He also does this thing since he has a new front tooth where he rubs his tongue over it very quickly so his jaw moves all the time, making him look crazy, and it makes me want to punch him too. I'm desperate. I just keep it to myself, or I just walk away. I want it to stop because he does nothing wrong! He's the sweetest person and just me wanting to literally attack him isn't healthy.