Noises That Make You Want to Scream

Have you ever heard someone scratching their arm from across the room and it makes you want to scream? What about sitting next to the person you love, but while they are eating and you hear the food crunching and saliva mixing in their mouth it makes you want to stab them in the neck with a fork? Or someone popping their gum not only disgusts you but you can hear it from such a long distance away that you could black out and murder them without even blinking an eye? Does someone breathing and hearing it make you panic and feel the need to escape or do anything to stop the noise? Chances are you are very sensitive to small noises and sounds.

But these little noises don’t just irritate you. You can hear things that others might never hear. When you do hear such sounds, it is as if they actually hurt you and cause an EXTREME reaction. If this sounds rarely familiar don’t worry. You aren’t crazy. You just have misophonia… yes this is a real thing. And do not underestimate it…

According to WebMD, misophonia is actually “the hatred of sound,” and it “is a disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable give the circumstance. Those who have misoponia might describe it as when a sound “drives you crazy.” Their reactions can range from anger and annoyance to panic and the need to flee.  The disorder is sometimes called selective sound sensitivity syndrome.”

I personally suffer from misophonia and even when someone I love sets me off, I have to literally blast music not to hear it (even though I still can) or I have to completely remove myself from the situation because I fear hurting them due to me freaking out over their noises.

I started noticing my misophonia more when I was in high-school. During family dinners I had to have the tv on or music on so I wouldn’t hear my mom chew her food and get angry or have the extreme desire to strangle her. I even noticed it when I was driving in a car with a friend that made little grunting noises and I had to scream at them to stop when they didn’t even know that they made such noises. My father did the same thing and it sounds like he can’t breathe, but it’s actually him grunting and I have to yell at him to breathe because it makes me panic and become angry. Even in my place of worship, I cannot sit in front or behind certain people because I know they suck on candy or have long nails and scratch a lot. I have even removed myself from rooms when there was a person in it tapping their pen or a constant clicking of some sort from a fan or something similar. Even at work, I have a co-worker that CONSTANTLY whistles throughout the day. I know he doesn’t mean it and it is just a noise that keeps him thinking throughout the day, but honestly it makes me want to shove a pencil down his throat.

Misophonia at times affects my life in ways that isolate me and its very inconvenient. Some people, family or friends, think that I just overreact or I’m ridiculous, but this is not a disorder that I like having. (Not that anyone would enjoy having any disorder at all.) This isn’t something wrong with my ears, it’s truly mental and psychological. Some doctors think that misophonia is because of how sound affects your brain and then triggers emotional responses. An article written by NPR mentioned that to people with misophonia,”it’s as if the survival part of the brain thinks somehow it’s being attacked or it’s in danger” and that is why we react the way we do to certain sounds.

Now, there is no one, true diagnosis as to why people develop misophonia. There are many different ideas as to the true cause. One article by phillyvoice.com states that it might have to do with “the anterior insular cortex (AIC), a part of the brain that plays a role both in anger and in integrating outside inputs (such as sounds) with inputs from organs such as the heart and lungs. Researchers found that the AIC caused much more activity in other parts of the brain during the trigger sounds for those with misophonia than for the control group. According to Harvard Health, that finding demonstrates that these areas of the brain are responsible for the disorder.” But again, this may not be the true cause. There are many articles that state that it is linked with anxiety disorders and depression or even OCD. Some say that it is a form or panic and a response to trauma and the reason why the brain picks up on such sounds and reacts extremely.

All I know is how to avoid reacting since there is no real cure.

• Invest in noise cancelling headphones (BEATS makes a great pair)
• Keep music, radio, tv or other noise in the background while working, eating or going about other activities
• Tell the people you love so that when you get angry over noises they make, they don’t get hurt and they cease their behavior and are sensitive to you
• Talk to a therapist and find exercises to keep you from reacting or to help block out the noise
• Avoid situations and people that make such noises that set you off
• Remove yourself from certain environments that have noises that trigger you

If you suffer from misophonia, you are not alone and you don’t have to feel crazy for your sound sensitivities. Below is my sources to my research but also a link to a misophonia support group that could help you. YOU CAN LIVE HAPPILY WITH THIS DISORDER TOO.

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-misophonia#1 https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/18/702784044/misophonia-when-lifes-noises-drive-you-mad https://www.phillyvoice.com/misophonia-syndrome-aggravating-noises-anger-selective-sound-sensitivity-/ http://misophoniasupportgroup.org/