How misophonia, aka "sound rage," can destroy relationships

boing
41

That’s not what misophonia is.

I have a pretty strong case of it, so I always appreciate stories like this that help raise awareness of it. It’s a genuine nearly uncontrollable rage triggered extremely quickly by very specific sounds. Chewing and similar mouth sounds are probably the most common trigger.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve developed coping strategies for it, but it was a real problem when I was younger. I punched my sister once, completely without warning, because she started eating cereal near me. It was totally unexpected for both us and needless to say we had a family meeting about that little incident.

I had a coworker who ate cereal right next to me in morning meetings every day. I started wearing an ear plug on that side to that meeting. It was genuinely necessary to maintain a good mood in that important daily meeting.

5 Likes
42

Me, too. We were just talking about this in the house recently. I wonder how much of the sounds would drive me crazy if I hadn’t been so harshly scolded as a kid. We’ll never know, of course, but it does help put it into perspective and make me not want to be like the people that caused me the trauma. If I feel it aggravating me, I just turn on the radio or put on a record. Luckily don’t have to worry about it in the office anymore, but like @VeronicaConnor, when I did still work in an office, I found coping mechanisms.

3 Likes
43

The flipside?

44

Unthanks for the retractable pen nib visuals.

1 Like
45

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.