AIBU to ask if misophonia is real?

[Twowrongsdontmakearight]

DS (15) has self diagnosed misophonia. For a few years he has overreacted badly to some sounds like sniffing (particularly me and DD) and people licking fingers when eating fish and chips. He has described a growing rage that makes him want to lash out. As he's got older he's learned to take himself away when the feeling of rage starts but we're heading into winter which is colds/flu and of course sniffing season.

I've never heard of it but when I Googled it it does sound possible. Have any of you lovely MNers come across this? Is it something to see the GP about or will he grow out of it? Any thoughts? I've posted in AIBU because I can't work out the more appropriate place. Thank you.

Oh misophonia is horrible. For years I thought I was the only one, I thought I had to be an underlying psychotic or something, the rage it provokes can be so strong!

I do think it's related to other sensory issues though. For me, it seems I am very sensitive to aural stimuli, for example I get ASMR (pleasant tingling and relaxing sensation connected to certain sounds - it's all over YouTube) though some of the most common triggers can bring on the misophonia too. I also have a massive and ridiculous phobia of balloons which stems from fear of the noise of them popping.

My advice is to definitely buy your DS a good set of headphones. Without them, I'd have probably chucked a chewing commuter out of a top deck bus window long ago!

I suffer from this, so we always have the TV on at mealtimes. Other noises drive me batty, too - a dripping tap, creaking pipework, a buzzing fly. Oddly, tho, I do like a ticking clock. I wonder if I like a regular sound, but can't stand an irregular one

I've had it all my life and only learned that this was a real condition a few years ago. I hated Sunday lunch with a passion - the family in a silent dining room and all the scraping of knives, chewing noises and smacking of lips made me want to scream and feel nauseous. My dad would slurp when he drank hot cups of tea and even as five year old I would be shouting at him to stop slurping. As an adult I tend to play classical music when I'm eating a Sunday dinner with the family, it really helps! Other noises bother me as well, my ex-h didn't snore but breathed really loudly when he slept, he basically breathed through his mouth all night and I think I spent approximately 70% if not more of our marriage moving to the couch to sleep at night. My dh snores, oddly the snoring sound bothers me far less.

I spend a few years living in Japan where loudly slurping your tasty ramen noodles is perfectly acceptable and ironically I somehow wasn't bothered by it. Although the other Japanese habit of sniffing when you have a runny nose drove me crazy (in Japan it is considered rude to blow your nose in public, yet perfectly acceptable to sniff instead.)

I'm getting more and more noise sensitive in general as I edge towards middle age. Visiting my parents is a bit of an ordeal as my dad is losing his hearing and he has the tv on so loud that I can't be in the living room, it only seems to bother me though.

I must admit I'm a little curious about my misophonia, my siblings don't have it nor my parents. I do wonder if it's linked to an OCD type thing? I also wonder if it it ever connected to EDs? I developed an ED in my teenage years and I remember the sight (and obviously the sound) of people eating would fill me with awful disgust. Even today I get a little nauseated when I am at a big group meal and see people just cramming food into their mouths. I do wonder if my misophonia was a contributing factor to my ED as I strongly associate eating noises with a feeling of disgust and nausea.

A somewhat positive side to misophonia is the greater percentage of sufferers that are musically talented. My theory (bear in mind this in just my own thought) is that because they are musically gifted, they cannot tolerate any kind of aural dissonance or disruption.

When my DD was little, she would scream with any kind of loud-ish sound, so much so I took her to an audiologist as I was concerned about how she might cope with school. She had no physical problems, and as she grew she adapted to sounds. At 15 now, she intending to go to a Conservatorium to study cello. She lives and breathes music, but can't stand anything 'off' - likes forks slamming into drawers, chewing, etc.

I did wonder about hypnosis to see if it could lessen the stress related to the condition ?

I didn't know it had a name but I get very upset by other people eating around me too. I thought it was just me being oversensitive and horrible. But it doesn't seem to bother them as much - or are they just nicer about it?

I have to say living alone with the children and never eating together at a table is probably the only way I can manage it.

I just leave the room when they are eating or tell them to do it more quietly...

I think for me it comes from a hatred of my family dynamic and being forced to eat with my extended family every couple of weeks in an environment where everyone hated each other. I also had a proper eating disorder which I think was caused by this. I'm stable now but still have massive issues with food.

It's all kind of tied up together.

Interesting about the musical thing. I was told I was the most musical child that my teacher had ever encountered - and yes I have a good ear and can pick up accents, language and so on, and play stuff by ear.

So maybe it is something to do with that, but also I have music constantly in my own head, in the background, which other people's music or noise disrupts. I can't stand listening to music when I didn't choose it, eg in a car or through the walls. It conflicts so badly with whatever is playing in my head.

I must be a joy to be around

I didnt know it had a name till recently i have undiagnosed its hellish chomping and slurping is 100 times louder than you would hear it your nerves go on edge and sometimes it can physically hurts because your nerves are jangled it isnt just eating whistiling sets me off too, I saw a woman on t v was so bad she had to put earphones on to feed her baby.

My stepdad is the noisiest eater i think its where mine stems from he slurps and chomps and smacks his lips .

Misophonia is a diagnosable condition, DD 13 was formally diagnosed almost a year ago and has it very severely

You will in my experience find you are in a catch 22 situation as it generally starts between the ages of 8-12 however the only doctor who specialises in the condition (based in London) can only see adult patients!

There is a growing network of paediatric audiologists in the UK who are now trained to recognise and treat Misophonia, our audiologist at the local childrens hospital is currently treating 3 children in an area covering 250,000 people

First line treatment is with white noise generators, you can download this on ipods until you can get help

Approach your gp with caution, as a nurse with ENT experience I also realised this was my daughters problem but the gp virtually laughed in our face and said he had never heard of it and DD was just a naughty child

Educationally the Senco at school should be able to help, we sadly reached the point of suicidal thoughts and had to remove our DD for education from home as she is also visually triggered but our LEA have been very helpful and we finally have an EHC (statement) to provide an education from home

The latest research seems to place misophonia on the autistic spectrum as a severe sensory proccessing disorder, approximately 2/3rds are affected this way. Its felt the final 1/3 is made up of individuals who suffered severe ear damage due to infections in early childhood

We are currently waiting for sensory reintegration therapy and hopefully CBT but its been a long slog to get this treatment being sent round the system, through CAMHS etc

Another sufferer here, and noise cancelling headphones or just removing yourself from the situation tends to be the defaults.
If its things that the family can work on reducing though "please blow your nose", "please eat with your mouth closed", "please don't slurp loudly at your fingers when you're eating fish and chips" then that would be a kindness.

I have it (self diagnosed) with eating noises, breathing slurping etc. however I also get a visual version of it too, if there is a repetitive movement in my field of vision, eg sitting next to someone at a conference and they repeatedly jig their leg, or tap their hands on the table, it gives me the absolute burning rage even if there is no noise.

crazyboo i sing like a bag of cats and was told in primary the recorder maybe wasnt for me

Nail biting is my worst trigger, I could happily kill someone for doing it and not feel in the slightest bit sorry
The rage it induces is terrifying

So I'm not alone in having to turn the TV off when the Pringles / Magnum / Polygrip adverts come on?

I must have this but didn't know there was a name for it or that it was an actual condition.

I can't stand ticking clocks and the noise made when things like coins and other loose objects move around in a car when you go round a corner.

We don't have any ticking clocks in our house after I threw the last one of our our kitchen door in a rage (over the fence into wasteland).

I don't have any loose shit in my car and anytime I go anywhere in DPs car, which is full of loose coins, deicers rolling around etc, I always say to him 'how can you stand that racket' to which he invariably replies 'what racket'. I feel stressed even typing about it.

Whistling sets me off horribly, especially when next door got a parrot who whistled that McDonald's thing every few minutes.

I don't tell people that whistling bothers me so much, as they think it is funny to whistle and watch me cringe.

Yes, it's real. I have suffered for years, especially with high pitched noises. I have regularly had to remove myself from rooms/shops etc to deal with triggers. My response is the rage described by others, or a stifling panic, which makes me cry.
Since I have been on antidepressants (unrelated) I have noticed that I have been a lot calmer in the face of my usual triggers, so I think that it may be an anxiety related problem?

I have had it as long as I can remember. The first thing I remember was the sound of the bike wheel I sat above on my mum's bike as a three year old. It progressed to eating sounds and breathing sounds and slurping sounds and now it includes keyboard thumping and space bar tapping (I have to play loud reggae in my headphones at work to drown out the keyboard thumping).
I also hate food smells and find myself nauseous with the smell of lunches that others insist on eating their desks. The worst is a yoghurt- i can smell it AND hear the sound of the plastic spoon being scraped and scraped around the fucking carton. I want to grab the carton and fling it at the wall- I dont, but the headphones are on when the cartons come out.
I have been to an occie health doctor because I get rage at work with the sounds of slurping and eating at the desk and this is not ok. As a result I have screens so that I dont see the behaviours but I can still hear them and I use headphones. The doctor thought I was just being precious and clearly thought I was a drama queen but I know it is real and if tipped on certain days the rage can drive me to snap and I have to get up and leave my desk to calm down.

Hearing people biting their nails triggers a real red mist in me :( noisy eating is a trigger. Light switches being turned on and off. Weirdly I love clicky noises though, like mouse clicks - I found a clicky keyboard in Maplin and sat there for ten minutes pressing the buttons (I am totally sane most of the time I promise just sounds affect me weirdly).

Also quite musical, pick up instruments quickly and learn to play everything by ear, good ear for accents etc - it's interesting that that is very common in people with misophonia.

My sister and I both have this, and family mealtimes were hellish because my brother eats like a pig. I used to dream of having a soundproof bedroom so I wouldn't have to listen to the neighbours' music and talking.

I also hate being rubbed - for example if DH tries to stroke my arm I swat him away. Fortunately we have been together for a long time so he's used to it.

Whistling!!! Aargh. The work of the devil.

I cannot bear noisy eaters, chewers or people eating with their mouths open. I have to leave the room if people faff around with crisps or other irritating rustly packets, it gives me the rage! I'm soooo lucky that my DD has always eaten with her mouth closed...

Oh god the scraping out the last remnants of yogurt pots - nooooooo! Just get another bloody yogurt, but please just stop!

So lovely to meet people who suffer in the same way! Interesting that so many posters can remember the feelings of rage even when they were children, and now I think of it, so can I.

I hate being rubbed too Limburgse! I hate any repetitive light touch. I like a firm tough, like a hug, or someone keeping their arm around my shoulder, or holding hands (with DP obviously, not just with anyone!) DP loves being rubbed and stroked and often does the same to me and it makes me scream.

I had my hearing tested as part of my university course when I was a student and I was above the average range, so I guess that doesn't help!

I have become a bit more tolerant for coughs and sneezes - I just remind myself that the person genuinely cannot help it. My DP regularly has sneezing fits of up to 10 sneezes in a row - this used to make me murderous but I can accept it more now. I would cheerfully disembowel people who sniff instead of blowing their noses though, and who clear their throats repeatedly instead of doing a big proper cough. I have a colleague who says 'oh sorry, excuse me' after every time she coughs and this gives me the red mist far worse than if she just bloody coughed!

And a huge yes to all eating and drinking related noises - I had lunch with a family of plate scrapers at the weekend and I was screaming blue murder inside my head! It really does feel unbearable sometimes.