Poojitha
What is Misophonia?
Have you felt irritated, angry, annoyed, discomfort etc. by a sound? Did a sound ever drive you crazy? You must have felt these emotions I’ve just stated but did you know some people have extreme emotional and physical reaction to some sound.
Misophonia is a rare disorder in which certain sounds such as dripping water, chewing, snapping gum or repetitive noises, such as pencil tapping etc. trigger people. It is sometimes called selective sound sensitive syndrome. The meaning of Misophonia is hatred of sound.
It was first proposed in the year 2000 and has not been classified as a psychiatric condition hence it is different from phonophobia (fear of sound). You see, the difference is between hate and fear. Typically the first-time occurrence is from the age 9-13 but can occur at any time.
There are two stages of reactions mild (anxiety, discomfort) and extreme (rage, anger, panic, fear, emotional distress). This disorder interferes with a person’s day-to-day activities, which lead to the growth of other psychological disorders.
There are fewer than 1 million cases per year in India. A study suggests that the sounds are generally: eating sounds – 81 percent, loud breathing or nose sounds – 64.3 percent, finger or hand sounds – 59.5 percent. It is more common in women than in men.
The symptoms are the uncontrollable reactions one shows when triggered. People suffering from this disorder don’t understand their response towards the sounds. They feel like doing anything possible to stop the person from doing that particular sound. Isn’t very unusual for a person to beat another person down just because of a sound and of course that is in extreme conditions.
Since it was recently recognized as a disorder there are no medicines or proper treatment options. Some of the basic treatment options are to avoid the sound by using headphones or earphones or any other possible way, self-care practice (trying to control to emotion with proper practice of meditation, relaxation techniques etc.) or other therapies such as TRT, CBT, and ACT.
Misophonia is a rare but existing disorder. It is a torture to many people around us and many suffer silently. These patients are very easily told off as grumpy, easily irritable etc. or even knowing or unknowing bullied by repeating those sounds. So the next time we make a sound which irritates others. I hope we’ll think about it twice.
