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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Misophonia - anyone else?

105 replies

RosaMoline · 31/05/2023 15:12

I think I’ve suffered from this for many years now - it’s worse now to be honest.

I feel triggered and irrationally angered by:

whistling (I have a colleague who does this. I literally have to grit my teeth and stop myself from shouting at him to shut the fuck up)
throat clearing, coughing, sniffing
eating sounds - this isn’t such an issue for me now, as I live alone, am for the most part a lone worker, and tend not to notice it whilst in restaurants etc with friends as background noise phases it out
there’s a bench behind my workplace, and you can hear everything, I hate peoples sitting there and having long phone conversations. If I could move the bench, I would
people sitting in their cars for hours playing r n b music, something with bass
car engines idling

I’m sure there are more. Rather conversely I love watching ASMR videos. Especially whispering, mouth sounds, tapping and so on. What’s that all about then?!

OP posts:
Twocrazycats · 31/05/2023 16:25

I have this too! not with eating noises, but breathing, music, snoring...drives me absolutely nuts. I'm interested in that remedial hypnosis @Eyesopenwideawake , does it work? I've tried CBT but didn't really help

Choccablocca · 31/05/2023 16:27

Eating loudly - reminds me of a pig snaffling in a trough, snoring, keyboard taps. Pre-covid my boss had a ping notification for every new email (and she got lots!), I had to ask her to mute it!

Eyesopenwideawake · 31/05/2023 16:30

@Twocrazycats - yes, it does. There's no physical reason why someone should be oversensitive to particular noises, so it's an emotional response which is controlled by the subconscious. CBT is great but deals with issues by using logic and reasoning, not at a deeper level.

onlyamam · 31/05/2023 16:32

Chewing with mouth open. Makes me want to stick pins in my eardrums, particularly people chewing gum.

SilverGlitterBaubles · 31/05/2023 16:34

For me it's sensitivity to loud noises, like music or the TV being turned unnecessarily loud it just stresses me out. Also munching and crunching, even with mouths shut some people just seem to have speakers coming from their mouths.

KY2021 · 31/05/2023 16:37

People making any noise when they eat or even breathe makes me want to cry. I have to leave the room when people in work start slurping a drink or eat an apple. I also love the ASMR videos of things I can't bare IRL though!

RaspberryCloud · 31/05/2023 16:38

Eyesopenwideawake · 31/05/2023 16:30

@Twocrazycats - yes, it does. There's no physical reason why someone should be oversensitive to particular noises, so it's an emotional response which is controlled by the subconscious. CBT is great but deals with issues by using logic and reasoning, not at a deeper level.

Would it require a misophonia-specialist hypnotist? It has a real impact on my quality of life so this is very interesting to me

Jacopo · 31/05/2023 16:39

Dogs barking, especially the really penetrating yap of the Jack Russell Terrier. Also people that speak loudly on trains. And people who won’t stop sniffing.

Thesunwillcomeoutverysoon · 31/05/2023 16:40

Currently undergoing cardiac investigation due to high blood pressure. Stress caused by early morning noise where I live. .
Actually caused by people who deliberately make noise at 6am 7 days a week. Even typing it is pumping my blood rapidly...

Eyesopenwideawake · 31/05/2023 16:52

@RaspberryCloud - no, you wouldn't need a misphonia specialist. Imagine the subconscious as a team of individuals, all with their own responsibilities but ultimately working together to keep the boss (you) safe and happy. One of them has mistakenly decided that you need to hear all these annoying noises as a priority and is being really attentive in this role.

The remedial hypnotist simply connects with that team member and tells them to dial it down because it's not making you happy - which is their primary aim. The same process works for phobias, anxiety, trauma, smoking, etc.

CoinsinaJar · 31/05/2023 16:54

My DH eating his favourite sweets (wine gums!). The noise drives me crazy. I now leave the room immediately he starts. I have to add the noise of strimmers/lawn mowers/power tools, wind chimes (ARGH!!!), and (sorry mumsnetters!!!) just about any sound that comes out of a child.

StuffYouAllInTheCrust · 31/05/2023 17:19

Aargh this is me too! Whistling is so bad it feels painful, I have to actively get away before I shout ‘shut the f*ck up!’

Long notes being held in songs/adverts (i’m looking at you Super Noodles!) are horrendous, ridiculous motorbikes and cars that have stupid loud exhausts and when a word is repeated over and over again in song.

And my dog licking himself! Absolutely adore him, but the licking! 😫Good lord…

heidihigh · 31/05/2023 17:31

I'm pretty sure I have some form of this. Eating sounds mainly - they make me so irrationally angry I have to leave the room. I have a colleague who smacks his mouth as he eats Envy which drives me insane. And I have to cover my ears if the Magnum advert comes on... who thought chomping down into a bloody ice cream was great marketing Hmm

Skyblue92 · 31/05/2023 17:35

Ice, can not stand people who eat ice or even ice lollies. As soon as someone has an ice lolly i flinch and constantly flinch while they are eating it

LemonjeIIo · 31/05/2023 17:58

I need a hypno specialist
Who can recommend???

DepartureLounge · 31/05/2023 18:04

I have misophonia. I especially hate eating noises and the kind of 'hubbub' noise that you get in cafés - clinking of glass and cutlery, conversation rising and falling etc. I hate very loud noises too - cars backfiring or stadium type noise. But I also hate the kind of ASMR sounds that you say you like, so I haven't voted because I think YANBU and also YABU!

For context, I'm autistic and also have synaesthesia and shocking tinnitus. When I was really little I used to think my tinnitus was the sound of time whooshing by and was really surprised that everyone else couldn't hear it! It got much worse for about 6-12 months after I had an epidural with dc1 but did go back to normal eventually. I have pernicious anaemia and have to have B12 injections every 10-12 weeks. If I realise my tinnitus has suddenly got much worse, I know I've left it too long. It goes back to normal a day or 2 after my jab. Crazy stuff but fascinating!

Eyesopenwideawake · 31/05/2023 18:07

LemonjeIIo · 31/05/2023 17:58

I need a hypno specialist
Who can recommend???

Me, or any of my control system colleagues can help. Happy to send you a list of practitioners.

HeartandSeoul · 31/05/2023 18:08

I have this too, and it’s definitely getting worse 😞. I suspect I am perimenopausal, which would explain why it has worsened over the last couple of years. There are times I could just cry/be violent from certain noises, and it’s worse because these noises are everywhere!

Teaslurpershutup · 31/05/2023 18:13

Yes but only certain things. Colleague who slurps her tea. Not only disgusting and rude but every. single. slurp. Why? Just why? Also a dh who sniffs, snorts continuously clearing throat. Doesn't do it anywhere else but at home. Again why do it at home then? Also stuff a gigantic amount of food into his mouth and then I have to listen to it all moving around and sloshing around his mouth. I just want to smack him in the face. I think I have a problem with gluttony though. That's why I hate buffets. Maybe there's a word for it.

Teaslurpershutup · 31/05/2023 18:16

I also can't stand the Magnum advert where they bite into the hard chocolate coating which makes a large cracking sound! Add me to that therapy list!🤣

pimplesquisher · 31/05/2023 18:17

Yep and I've started using calmer ear plugs which are a game changer.

Teaslurpershutup · 31/05/2023 18:18

heidihigh · 31/05/2023 17:31

I'm pretty sure I have some form of this. Eating sounds mainly - they make me so irrationally angry I have to leave the room. I have a colleague who smacks his mouth as he eats Envy which drives me insane. And I have to cover my ears if the Magnum advert comes on... who thought chomping down into a bloody ice cream was great marketing Hmm

Yes! Just seen your post after I added the same thing! I like the one with cuckoo clock for minis though.

Floofydawg · 31/05/2023 18:19

Yep to all of what you said in your OP.

The sound of my stepson slurping his food makes me feel murderous. I can't eat in the same room as him.

Justmuddlingalong · 31/05/2023 18:21

I'm usually not too annoyed by noises, but I'm premenstrual today and wondering if that and misophonia could be used by the defence when I'm up on a murder charge. 🤔

Katerinakaterinaki · 31/05/2023 18:22

Fellow sufferer here.

Snoring. Breathing. I wear earplugs at night.

All the terrible sounds of noisy people eating. the sound of cutlery on plates and bowls. Scraping the yoghurt pot. People stirring tea with a spoon and going ding ding ding with the spoon in the cup 😡 my brother might as well be ringing a bell every time he has a cup of tea.

All the food related sounds triggers me so badly and I can't stay in the same room or I turn up the volume on tv to try and drown it out, although ironically I hate it when the tv or radio volume is really loud.

I have anxiety about visiting my mum or having her come and stay because I wonder how I will cope with each meal time. My PILs have terrible table manners too and talk with their mouths full.

I have a colleague who chews gum loudly 24/7, can literally hear the gum squidging between his teeth and popping noises, I feel like turning round and strangling him sometimes, but instead sit there stewimg over it and thinking of all kinds of passive aggressive questions I could make like "doesn't your jaw ache chewing all the time?"