misaphonia

[whoosh]

Hello,
My daughter diagnosed herself with misaphonia about two years ago after suffering from intolerance to certain sounds for a few years. She says she feels pain when she hears the triggering sounds and feels very anxious and angry. It's very hard for her to be among the family at times and very hard for us to cope with her rages if we sip drinks, sniff, cough or sing (just my singing - not the rest of the family's - it must be bad!). I know from finding previous threads today that there are fellow sufferers (and their parents or siblings) here on MN and sympathise with you and wonder if anyone has found any treatments that work. My daughter tried CBT for this but did not find it helpful at that time, though she was suffering from anorexia at that time, so maybe this is unsurprising. She had too much to cope with. She is at university now and is beginning to open up to trusted friends about her problem, which I think has helped her. Any advice or thoughts anyone? I worry for her; so many things are difficult for her - public transport, public spaces, social gatherings.

[Potatoooooo]

Hello,
I have Misophonia, I lived with it from a very young age and like your daughter couldn't tolerate eating noises, sipping sounds etc.
I still can't.

I never had CBT but I do realise how severe it can be. I found that when I was in a situation where I couldn't tolerate the noise, to try and focus on telling myself not to get enraged, sometimes I would stuff earphones in and listen to music, or try to create noise so that I would block out other noises.
In the end though, if she can't do any of that, the best solution is to remove herself until the noise is gone.

It's something you just have to learn to live with, it doesn't ever really go.
I would say, let her decide how to manage it, we all cope differently.
If it's really getting her down then obviously she will need to see her GP again as I imagine if its affecting her that much she will become depressed and very anti social.

[whoosh]

Thank you Potatoooo. I'm sorry you suffer with this too. Thank you for your suggestions. I will try to talk to my daughter about them. She does use headphones a lot to handle being out and is trying to get out in social environments she can handle but I know she is avoiding some places and activities (eg a sports club where the coach makes a particular sound). Can I ask you if there were things that your family or friends have said or done that you found helpful or supportive?