to ask about your misophonia struggles?

[awesomeauntie]

After seeing the feature on This Morning today about misophonia I just wanted to start a thread to hear other people's experiences and what they struggle with as it makes me feel better to know I'm not alone

The sound of feet tapping or nail biting sets me off, but my absolute biggest trigger is neighbour noise and specifically music. My ears tune into bass and low sounds and I can't hear anything else.

If my neighbour plays music with bass I honestly sometimes feel like I could smash up the house. I can't stop myself from going and standing in the room next to it to listen to it, it's like self torture and only makes me more age filled but I can't stop myself! Last summer someone at the other side of our estate was playing loud music with thumping bass for days on end. You could only hear it if you tuned into it but my ears automatically tuned into it and I couldn't stop, I was on edge every day waiting for it. I honestly nearly had a break down, the stress I felt in my head from it brought me to tears. It was awful and my partner just didn't understand, but I do understand why as even writing this out here I can see how odd it all sounds to people who don't have it.

After the feature today I've made a GP appointment to see if I can get referred for some kind of therapy - I need to try something as it's starting to control my life.

What about Jo Whiley doing her weird slurping intake of breath? Can't listen to Radio 2. DH can't listen to Dr Sarah Jarvis because she has a clicky voice and it turns his stomach.

I've just been reminded of another one that sets me off - my DH has this habit of getting a frog in his throat but rather than clearing it he'll continue to talk in this warbled, throaty voice - can't explain the feeling this gives me in my chest, I shoot him a look and he clears his throat but I just see red!

I will say the triggers from my DH give me small moments of stress but don't set me off anywhere near as bad neighbour noise - it's a completely different story for me. I'd say the noise of someone tapping their foot on the train is a close second - although thankfully due to wfh I've forgotten about this somewhat!

Oh god another one I've just thought of - I absolutely love the cinema, favourite thing to do ever, but I can't tell you the amount of time it has been completely ruined for me by sitting next to a heavy breather or the rustling of sweet bags! Can't focus on the film AT ALL and may as well just go home. I have snapped at people for talking a few times, again which I think is selfish, but just can't ignore it. I avoid prime time cinema trips now at all costs, would never go on a Friday or Saturday night.

I can’t bear it when my family eat crisps. The noise of the bag, the crunching and then the bag again. My Dad hated it when we were growing up too, so we used to empty the crisp packet into a bowl instead. I still try to do that when I can now.

I also hate loud swallowing noises, the way DH coughs in the morning and the snuffling when clears his nose.

People slowly taking the wrapper off a sweet makes me almost murderous. Just open the fucking thing in one big go rather than torturing me with the tentative noise!

Someone I worked with until just recently. We had our lunch break at the same time. She first ate a raw carrot, followed by an apple and then eventually her sandwiches. I sat there looking all normal when inside I was full of rage. She was such a lovely person as well but in that moment I wanted to murder her!

Another thing that I wonder is related to misophonia. In the summer I hate to hear neighbours in their gardens. I feel like they are invading my personal space because I can hear them in my garden.

Worked in a bakery once, and a lady came in. She spoke with a very deep syrupy mellifluous accent. It repulsed me so much I actually couldn't speak to her. It still haunts me to this day.
I also find slurping, chewing, breathing rustling utterly foul, to the point that the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

People eating in cinemas makes me cry. I just can't concentrate with someone eating a bucket of popcorn by my ear. If I remember, I bring ear plugs for that ear. It spoils my whole experience and, I move if there are spare seats.

It's mostly people eating, clicking jaws, chewing, swallowing, scraping plates.

My next door neighbour had a chronic cough, I think it was because he vaped and he used to cough all night. Drove me mad but I wore earphones until I fell asleep.

Crunching. I messed up an exam once because a bloke sitting near me was crunching on polo mints for two hours. I just couldn't concentrate. I wanted to kill him.

Tapping in keyboards. Slurping drinks. Sandpapering. Repetitive noises. I'm not too bad with music .

I feel a mixture of rage, frustration and tearful. I want to cry with frustration, especially if it's spoiling my enjoyment of something I've paid for.

Just remembered a woman I used to work with. She used to bring lunch in in a glass square Pyrex dish and eat it with a metal knife and fork. Every time she clattered and clashed I wanted to punch her in the face. Then she'd eat a yogurt. Scrape scrape scrape. I used to have to put my hand over my mouth to stop me screaming it's all goneeeee at her.

People breaking into song as well! If it happens on TV I have to mute it. I can tell if it's out of tune. Drives me insane. Can't watch musicals.

Honestly, don't avoid it, go down the exposure route, like facing up to fear of flying. The mind learns its not important and starts to filter it out. Short term pain long term gain.

Conversation in the foreground, basey music in the background. Even worse if I’m stressed / late etc.

I can cope with eating noises so long as mouths are closed...

She spoke with a very deep syrupy mellifluous accent. It repulsed me so much I actually couldn't speak to her

This isn't misophonia this is just rudeness.

Music. My workplace plays the radio in the office. I literally cannot think. I sit there getting stressed, angry and frustrated. I have ended up wearing headphones with white noise. I've tried explaining to work, but they like music, it makes the office fun apparently. Aaaargh.

I have LOVED home working.

My misophonia...

*Hearing people chew or talk with their mouthful.
*someone phoned at work and ate while they spoke, I smashed the receiver on the desk it maked me livid!
*my colleagues breathes very nasaly and I have to walk out of the room
*another colleague goes "rightttttttt, riiighhtttttt, righttttttttt" when your explaining something
*my dss 14 constantly sniffs or constantly blows on his food even though it's not hot. Anyone blowing on their food for that matter.
*FM radios that have the whisp and aren't clear
*my oven fan
*any Lewis capaldi song
*people who hum just to fill silence
*phones constantly pinging or people with keypad tones
*metal straws in glasses
*Ice in glasses

People eating loudly/audibly

The sound of someone scratching, especially scratching hair. So like DH scratching his chest and the sound of the hair rubbing

*made me livid

I can relate toso much of this and no one IRL understands! The sound of people eating makes me want to kill, soup and cereal are just unbearable. Heavy breathing, pouring liquid. The clicky sound some.people make when they talk, like their ears are mucousy or something. Doors banging, blinds hitting the window when the window is open. That sound some people have when they twitch their mouths, lip smacking saliva sounds.

I'm amazed there are so few (2?) posts that mention barking dogs. Apart from breathing and eating sounds, barking dogs have been known to have me shouting out the window like a banshee.

I think it's noises we think shouldn't be there that we find so intrusive and unbearable. We shouldn't be able to hear people eating. It should be silent. So slurping, chewing, banging teeth on cutlery is wrong.

Another one I've not seen on here is when people are talking with a dry mouth and you can hear their tongue in their mouths. I have to switch off the radio. It makes me feel sick.

I've read a lot into this and the fact that there's no cure and it's our burden to bear. The answer (for me anyway) is to try to distract myself from the noise before I hear it. Because once I've tuned it, it's too late.

My partner eating. He revels making the loudest crunching noise he can with the crunchy bits of his dinner, it’s as if he gets the equal amount of joy as I do annoyance. Sniffing. Mens weeing noise from a great height, with the door open

@Tamingofthehamster

My dh eating too. I need background music at mealtimes. If not available I try to imagine it’s an animal eating instead - if I picture a little goat or horse chewing it’s not so bad.

😂 This!

Why do I find it adorable when a puppy munches something but I’m murdery af when it’s a human!

My misophonia comes in so many flavours. I really hate repetitive noises. Like the bloody birds in the trees here who, rather than providing a lovely dawn chorus à la those relaxation tracks, just drone on like an alarm all frigging day. Rustling is another one. Anyone rustling a carrier bag or food in a plastic wrapper...I want to harm them.

I think I've said this on another thread at some point, but DP eating drives me up the walls. I don't notice at the table when we're all eating together, but when it's quiet, Christ Almighty ...

It sounds like someone attacking wet, soggy fruit with a potato masher. I have never said anything, but occasionally I have to leave the room before I commit justifiable murder.

I know a large part of my reaction comes from a subconscious feeling of people being selfish.

Fully understand. I have that too. For example, I once knew somebody that stirred and stirred and stirred their tea and it enraged me because although it's a small thing, it's annoying noise. But god forbid their tea isn't perfect! So it wasn't just their noise that fucked me off but their total oblivion of anybody else in the vicinity.

Re: barking noises. Animals don't bother me at all. My dog can slurp, lick, bark, whatever, and I'm utterly not bothered. But if a human whispers or eats a bag of crisps in front of me, that makes me want to kill them.

@Bloodypunkrockers

Because I've been working from home I've had the radios on all day and there are some voices and noises that actually induce tears of rage

Sara cox and her fucking wowowowowow and foghorns over decent music.

And two newsreaders that shouldn't be allowed on radio.

Is one of them Lucinda Horsley? Her voice gives me the rage. She has this strange strained/heavy quality to her voice that a voice therapist would have a field day with, and she draws her words out so that she sort of runs out of breath at the end of every sentence. I’m sure she’s a perfectly nice woman but why she got a job speaking is beyond me.

someone phoned at work and ate while they spoke, I smashed the receiver on the desk it maked me livid!

I feel your pain. Somebody did this to me too. He was eating a sandwich and once he'd chewed his mouthful, cheerily apologised but carried on eating. Vile.

I wonder why specifically so many of us find eating so repulsive? From my experience, it feels violating in some way. Like they are sticking their tongue down my throat or something.

There's a difference between being annoyed by a noise and having misophonia. The latter rules your life. It's hard to explain. Every time I go into my back garden, I get a knot in my stomach worrying about what I might hear out there. It's not logical. Kids playing? No problem. Lawn mowers and jet washers? That's fine. Music, even quietly, sends me into a rage. I know I am being unreasonable, but I just can't filter it out. I've moved house because of it. The stress it causes me is completely out of proportion with the reality.