Misophonia (also known as Selective Sound Sensitivity) is a disorder in which those affected experience significant, negative emotional reaction to specific sounds that are generally ignored by others. The most common types of reactions are anger, digust, agitation, or anxiety. A list of typically these sounds that produce these reactions include when other people are:
- Clipping their nails
- Brushing teeth
- Eating/drinking
- Slurping
- Breathing
- Sniffing
- Chewing gum
- Laughing
- Snoring
- Typing on a keyboard
- Whistling
- Coughing
- Saying certain consonants or repetitive sounds
Though misophonia is not a recognized at this point in time as official diagnosis by the medical or psychological community, thousands of people from around the world have come together around their shared experience to provide each other support, to attempt to find effective treatment & to legitimize the diagnosis.
One of the best options available to sufferers of misophonia is psychotherapy to help cope with these significant and often misunderstood symptoms. While the medical and psychological communities work toward an official diagnosis and effective treatments, you don’t have to wait years for the research to catch up. There are already many years of research supporting specific evidenced-based treatments for similar diagnoses.
We don’t currently have a misophonia therapist at Portland Psychotherapy but we may be able to provide you with a referral resource.
Here are some resources & webpages relating to misophonia in case you’d like to learn more about this condition:
New York Times article – When a Chomp or a Slurp Is a Trigger for Outrage
Psychology Today article – Misophonia: Enraged by Everyday Sounds
New Republic article – The Chewing Sound and the Fury