Misophonia and the science of horrible sounds

While many of us may find the sounds of chewing or breathing off-putting, for some they’re unbearable - and new research from our Institute of Neuroscience has shown their brains are going into overdrive.

Dr Sukhbinder Kumar from the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University and the Wellcome Centre for NeuroImaging at University College London (UCL) led the research and reports the first evidence of clear differences in the brain activation and connectivity pattern of misophonia sufferers.

[mamahaise]

Shit so that’s what it’s called. I thought I had some weird form of anger issues .

[ashleyjp]

I really hate eating dinner with my family

[budyfixit]

my miso wouldnt be HALF as bad if people would use COMMON MANNERS. This world has lost alot of common decency and chewing with mouth closed/open i contribute to a lack of basic manners/etiquette

[carameldrizzle]

I have severe Misophonia, and every time I hear someone snoring, smacking their lips, chewing in general, tapping their toes, or even talking in a low tone from another room, I want to curl up into a ball and scream for as long as my lungs will let me. My parents think that I'm just being dramatic, when really I've started having suicidal and harmful thoughts towards myself and others for a few years now, and I would seriously LOVE to see my dad suffer with this disease. He cares the least and triggers/makes fun of my Misophonia multiple times EVERY DAY. This is what this disease can do to your mind. I'm only thirteen and I have thoughts of harming myself/others. It will keep on digging its way into my brain until it either drives me mad or until someone finds a cure. Please spread awareness of this disease.

#MisophoniaAwareness

[BloodylocksBathory]

The dude who yanked his headphones off and got up, right there with ya, dude.

[Renard]

The best thing about misophonia is that people always assume you're just being dramatic or mean while you are actually going through what could be considered a form of torture. When i hear people slurp their coffee or chewing with their mouth open it drives me crazy to the point that my head actually hurts.

[poppyequestrian]

I hate every thing like eating loudly snuffling slurping and breathing ext I have to go out the room so I don't hurt anyone

[Koorime]

I damn near have an anxiety/rage attack when I hear loud I either have to put headphones in and blast some music, or get the hell out of the room. I just can't take those sounds.

[robertrowland]

The open-mouthed chewing of food is DISGUSTING!

[astrchld]

ive had misophonia for who knows how long, i just figured out it was a brain disorder. my family always makes fun of me and makes the noises on purpose when its literally painful

[MorrisseysthFriend]

That last guy is definitely me. I had to turn the sound off. It's even worse cause I live in Korea and the louder you chew the better. Koreans literally have ENTIRE YOUTUBE CHANNELS dedicated SOLELY to recording ASMR of themselves eating different things, and they get MILLIONS of views. I see people in the train all the time watching it intently like porn. It's so bizarre and disgusting to me.

[creativityandlove]

I have misophonia . One day I decided to start eating with my dad at the same table...well he killed me with that sound I stood up and threw my food into the garbage and he stares at me like I was crazy

[spork]

a lot of sounds my dad makes (eating/breathing) that he can’t control trigger my misophonia all the time. i sadly can’t stand to be in the same room as him for long.

[Berre]

Misophonia is hell. I used to plug my ears all the time to avoid triggers, which resulted in a severe ear infection and deafness in one ear. Now I am waiting for an operation.

[spiritedrenee]

I had no idea there was a name for this. I wish I could go back to my 11/12 year old self when this first started and tell myself that this IS a real thing and I can't help but feel sensitive to these sounds. For me I hated whispering, smacking lips, light whistling, and breathing. Not heavy loud breathing that might be annoying, but a very certain type of breathing. I get so scared and MUST leave the room before it gets worse. I'm in a panic. Whenever I know it's about to happen when there's no where is the worst feeling!

[soulangel]

Misophonia is often not taken seriously and I do hope it becomes more publicly known so people can understand the crippling effects it can have. My worse ones, are food commercials on the radio when driving. Especially when it starts with sapping or crunching sounds because not only is it a trigger, but it comes out of the blue while going high speed. I've nearly swerved in more than one situation of there. I no longer turn the volume up on the radio ever. Given their impact, I wish these were forbidden from radio commercials.

[InMyBunnySuit]

Not gonna lie here. Chewing from others and even myself makes me so angry. And it’s everyday. Same people, same time, same reaction. I cringe up, try to look away, and not say anything, but it gets to be too much sometimes. Don’t really know where I’m going with this, just please put more money into getting people to not be cows on a pasture while I’m trying to not fail life.

[coralroper]

Can misophonia be triggered by just the *memory* of a sound? Because sometimes I remember certain sounds that annoy me, like certain words, and it makes me want to kill something.

[acanofsoda]

Misophonia sucks. I have had it for four years now. Im only 14

[fatimaalansari]

It’s literally becoming so triggering that it makes me want to rip my ribs off, I even get emotional and frustrated by really simple noises! I can’t eat with my family anymore smh.