“For years I have gone through this feeling of anger and irritability of certain sounds. My Father passed it to me and I now have passed on to one of my daughters. I wish that I could turn it off especially in the class room settings, but for now, ear phones and self-calming talks will have to suffice. I have decided to research this subject and I actually found a name for it! For anyone else suffering from this. I hope this helps.” ~ Gina

 

Chewing gum, swallowing food, and breathing are every day normal sounds for most, but for some, it can trigger incredible rage and immediate disgust. Misophonia, “hatred of sound”, is a rare disorder that is negatively affecting the lives of many individuals.

It was only recently, in 2010, that a major textbook recognized misophonia as a nervous system condition and it has been called many things – Soft Sound Sensitivity Syndrome, SSSS, SSS, 4S, Hyperacusis, Phonophobia, and Misophonia.

The majority of triggers are counted as harmless or just part of every day -to -day life by the “normal” person, but to a person that has this disease they are overwhelmingly loud, nerve racking, and agitating sounds that haunt them to their core.

Dr. Roshini Raj, a c2-step-misophoniaontributor on the TODAY show, shared that there probably is a genetic component to this, and that other people are talking about this.  “The first step is knowing that other people have this, there are support groups on line…. at this point it is learning how to live with the disease because right now we don’t have a treatment for it.”  Raj said.

As it is not clear on how common this condition is there are reports from anywhere of 10% (of European population). These studies are compared with those who suffer from “ringing in the ear”, also known as tinnitus. 52.4 percent of individuals who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder also suffer from misophonia.

Lance Bergeson, MA, FAAA, of the Veterans Hospital in Sioux Falls suggests that the abnormality in misophonia sufferers is likely an issue in the brain’s processing of the sound, not in physically hearing it. “It could be multifactorial issue with a lot of things that could be contributing to that issue.” Bergeson said.

Experts believe the condition usually begins in the early teens and worsens overtime, where annoyance of one sound may expand to three or four sounds. This also can lead to watching others tap their foot or seeing them fidget out the corner of your eye. Although there is no known cure at this time, earplugs or white noise generators seem to help with blocking the noise.

Breakouts:

An entire support network does exist and those that suffer with this are not alone.

Sound-Rage: A Primer of the Neurobiology and Psychology of a Little Known Anger Disorder Paperback – June 23, 2013 , by Judith T. Krauthamer (Author)

sound rage