to be so sensitive to noises

[gjkufbb]

I think I know that I am being unreasonable, but does anybody else suffer as much as I do when you hear certain sounds.

They make me instantly furious or even want to cry/ get away immediately I hate it so much.

The sounds that bother me the most are:

People scratching
Breathing noises
Water running (especially if somebody's in the shower)
Any sort of low level repetitive hum

I think it's getting worse too. I had a fish tank but the noise of the filter made me so stressed out I had to get rid of it. I don't know what I can do to make myself not get so worked up. Has anyone else got a similar hatred of certain sounds?

Loud noise doesn't bother me at all. It's like subtle repetitive noises I think that bother me the most. I'm considering wearing some sort of ear plugs like loop to help? Has anyone tried them?

Oh god so many noises make me furious! I was beginning to think I was the only one who was affected by this,as no one else seems remotely bothered by noises that make me feel like screaming. Such a relief that it's not just me!

In no particular order(!) these are the noises that infuriate me:-

Chairs being scraped across hard floors.
Footballs bouncing.
That horrible squeaking sound that balloons make when people are messing about with them.
Tuneless whistling. Actually,ANY sort of whistling.
Sniffing/snortling/coughing.
Cutlery being scraped on plates.
That clinking sound when someone stirs tea/coffee.
People tapping their fingers on something.
Babies/young children screaming.
People slurping their drink,then saying 'Aaahhh' after each sip.
People making stupid noises when they yawn.
Loud, theatrical sneezing.
People chewing gum noisily (usually with their mouth open).

My cousin has this misophonia. X

you know radio adverts where the voice person then goes into overdrive saying the small print super fast to fit it in, the “terms & conditions” bit. That,
I don’t know what that does to my brain but I am especially affected badly by that. It’s almost overwhelming to me. It affects my breathing and I almost have an accident in my rush to stop it.
I only listen to advert free radio on low.

Similarly TV adverts. The Go compare one or those that are over dubbed affect me in a similar way.

I’ve had this since a teenager and always hidden it, which has involved a lot of me running to the bathroom during meals to punch myself because I can’t stand it any more. For me it’s only cutlery sounds. Sometimes I’d remember a bad sound I heard years ago and it was nearly as bad as it happening again, like ‘the time so and so scraped a pan with a knife’ is up there with my worst memories! Coffee, lots of exposure to the trigger and tiredness make it worse. Avoiding any triggers makes a difference, which I’ve tried to do since ‘coming out’ about how much this sound affects me. I wear noise cancelling headphones with a soundscape if I’m in a cafe that has cutlery, I only go out for dinner to places where chopsticks or fingers are used, and my family use plastic or wooden cutlery. After a few years of that my tolerance for the noise is actually hugely increased. People who think you’re just being over sensitive or irritable will suggest variations on exposure therapy, but I think the opposite works - cut out all exposure as much as you can, whether through headphones or changing the environment. Obviously this is asking a lot of other people, I have been apologetic and grateful to others in using weird cutlery. It might be more of an imposition to ask others to announce or avoid other sound types, especially as it can feel very personal.

Hm, it never occurred to me I have issues but actually quite a few of these I share...am I supposed to get tested for something? None of it impacts my life and tbh just assumed I'm a grump and that's why I'm affected! This is what I struggle with:

People talking to me when there's background noise like the radio or TV. I can't take in their talking with the other noise, just pause the TV ffs! I really think that is quite normal?!

People talking to me while I'm trying to do something else, most notably cooking - fell out with my mum last time she visited as she thought dinner time was a lovely time to chat and I just couldn't talk while trying to read the recipe etc. I just can't do both and I don't understand how anyone can?

Dripping taps
Coughing really grates on me, and sniffing. Get a tissue!

Extractor fans - I'm OK while they are on but the sense of relief when it's turned off is immeasurable, like a weight was on and it has lifted. I also think our washing machine is unnecessarily loud and wish it wasn't in the kitchen

No issues with chewing or anything else....any other "symptoms" I should look out for to indicate a diagnosis of something? Not that I think anyone with what's described here is sick! I also have a weird thing where my ear randomly blocks but there is nothing wrong with my ears or hearing and it's annoyingly only in social situations like being out for drinks at work etc. Makes it hard to follow conversations when I'm already struggling with background noise.

@Bookworm333 I think mostly you’re describing more auditory processing and orienting issues, like separating out different sounds and concentrating on them the right amount? Then there are two main types of sound sensitivity - hyperacusis, where sounds that seem a normal level to others are very loud and possibly painful to you, and misophonia, which is the one most people are talking about here I think, where some very specific sounds, usually made by people and often worse with people who are close to you, drive you instantly into a really high level of fight or flight avoidance and rage. Like from zero to wanting to punch a wall and possibly doing it in a second.

And there’s not much point getting tested for any of it! Auditory processing issues are pretty common and probably overlap quite a lot with dyslexia. Misophonia can come along with other things like ASD or other sensory issues but is also often just a standalone quirk.

Do those who suffer sleep alone. Can you stand the noise of someone in the same room?
I can't cope with the TV being too loud, and I can't stand when the tennis is on indoor the scrape of their shoes?

Really interesting, thank you. I must admit I've never heard of any of this and it's very helpful to have this information. I will do some reading - would be wonderful to find if there's better ways to cope with it.

I do incidentally as I struggle with my OH's snoring and I am a very light sleeper and easily woken up.

I don't mind the tennis noise and ateuggle more sometimes with the terrible commentary!

*struggle sorry!

Mispohonia responds well to remedial hypnosis - simply by asking the part of the subconscious mind that is hyper sensitive to peripheral noises to, well, just stop doing it.

That's really interesting - my DD has misophonia (as well as wider sensory processing issues) and it causes her so much distress. How could you go about finding a reputable practitioner?

@GretaGarbled - happy to send you a list of Control System practitioners, all of which are experienced in this sort of work. How old is your daughter?

Oh thank you, that would be great! She's early teens.

In that case you should have a chat with Therese Langford of www.facebook.com/calmmindhypnotherapy - she specialises in children (they are an absolute mystery to me!)

Yes, I sleep alone usually due to my misophonia. I just had a baby and weirdly, that is ok. Even though she grunts and snuffles. It was the same with my son. He did not trigger me until he was about 5. Now he does!