Misophonia is a disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable given the circumstance. Those who have misophonia might describe it as when a sound “drives you crazy.” Their reactions can range from anger and annoyance to panic and the need to flee.

A startle reflex can occur in the body through a combination of actions. A reflex from hearing a sudden loud noise will happen in the primary acoustic startle reflex pathway consisting of three main central synapses, or signals that travel through the brain.

We can thank our protective reflexes. This instinctive reaction is called the acoustic startle-reflex eye blink and is part of the protective mechanism we all show in response to potential danger. Loud noises can often mean danger and our eyes need protecting more than most parts of our bodies.

Hyperacusis is a hearing disorder that makes it hard to deal with everyday sounds. You might also hear it called sound or noise sensitivity. If you have it, certain sounds may seem unbearably loud even though people around you don’t seem to notice them. Hyperacusis is rare.

Sound sensitivity can be common among individuals with OCD, anxiety disorders, and/or Tourette Syndrome.

Emotional exhaustion can make you irritable, and depressed, and stress can get you down, but a new study shows it can also make women more sensitive to sound.

How to Deal with Noise Sensitivity

1. Be prepared. Do some problem-solving with your therapist and make a plan for the next time noise intrudes into your life.
2. Know your triggers.
3. Check your state of mind.
4. Consider the source.
5. Set up quiet zones.

The brain’s response to Noise Brains that generate higher concentrations of sleep spindles—bursts of high-frequency brain waves—have demonstrated greater resistance to noise during sleep. Sleep spindles first occur during Stage 2 sleep, a phase of light sleep that composes nearly half of a typical night’s rest.

Symptoms

1. irritation turning to anger.
2. disgust turning to anger.
3. becoming verbally aggressive to the person making the noise.
4. getting physically aggressive with objects, because of the noise.
5. physically lashing out at the person making the noise.
6. taking evasive action around people making trigger sounds.

Intriguingly, misophonic symptoms and sensory over-responsivity have been recently documented in the context of pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder,16–18 as well as a number of neurodevelopmental conditions, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autistic spectrum disorder, and Fragile X syndrome.

In misophonia specific sounds elicit an intense negative emotional response. Misophonia was more strongly related to obsessive symptoms of OCD. OCD symptoms partially mediated the relationship between AS severity and misophonia. Results are consistent with cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of misophonia.

While misophonia is a lifelong disorder with no cure, there are several options that have shown to be effective in managing it:

1. Tinnitus retraining therapy. In one course of treatment known as tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT), people are taught to better tolerate noise.
2. Cognitive behavioral therapy.
3. Counseling.

Nonetheless, misophonia is a real disorder and one that seriously compromises functioning, socializing, and ultimately mental health. Misophonia usually appears around age 12, and likely affects more people than we realize.

Misophonia: When Life’s Noises Drive You Mad. For people with a rare condition known as misophonia, certain sounds like slurping, chewing, tapping and clicking can elicit intense feelings of rage or panic.

Misophonia involves a negative reaction to sounds such as chewing, tapping, or ticking. Individuals who live with misophonia can experience negative impacts on their day-to-day life, and treatment can help them to better manage negative reactions to specific triggers.

It’s a real thing, called misophonia — the dislike or even hatred of small, routine sounds, such as someone chewing, slurping, yawning, or breathing. It’s often an ADHD comorbidity. Similar to ADHD itself, misophonia is not something we can just get over if only we tried harder.

One strategy for coping with misophonia is to slowly expose yourself to your triggers at low doses and in low-stress situations. This strategy works best with the help of a therapist or doctor. Try carrying earplugs when you go out in public.

The term misophonia, meaning “hatred of sound,” was coined in 2000 for people who were not afraid of sounds — such people are called phonophobic — but for those who strongly disliked certain noises.

Misophonia is a form of conditioned behavior that develops as a physical reflex through classical conditioning with a misophonia trigger (e.g., eating noises, lip-smacking, pen clicking, tapping and typing …) as the conditioned stimulus, and anger, irritation or stress the unconditioned stimulus.

Chewing noises are probably the most common trigger, but other sounds such as slurping, crunching, mouth noises, tongue clicking, sniffling, tapping, joint cracking, nail clipping, and the infamous nails on the chalkboard are all auditory stimuli that incite misophonia.

Misophonia, also called selective sound sensitivity syndrome, is a condition in which certain sounds trigger an outburst marked by irritation, anger, or aggression. People with misophonia react in an extreme and often emotional way to certain “trigger” sounds.

Blocking out sound actually makes the misophonia worse. The trigger sounds become much more intrusive — perhaps even more trigger sounds develop — and earplugs are worn more frequently. Recent research has shown that we have central auditory gain.

They have a minute of discomfort then the moment passes. With misophonia mundane noises like eating, typing and even breathing can prompt responses like violent anger, disgust and anxiety. These intense emotions are accompanied by a high level physical response – think fast heartbeats, tension, shakiness and sweating.

Remarkably, they noted that PTSD was the only comorbid disorder related to the severity of misophonia symptoms. Other studies have also found PTSD to be one of the most common comorbid disorders, being present in from 15.38% [9] to 30% [15] of cases. Its presence was associated with the severity of misophonia symptoms.

While misophonia causes an emotional reaction, hyperacusis results in physical pain in the ears. The degree of pain depends on the volume of the sound, so louder sounds will elicit a more painful reaction. The pain can manifest as pressure or loud ringing in the ears.

found that misophonic trigger sounds elicited increased activation in the anterior insula and abnormal functional connectivity with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, posteromedial cortex, hippocampus and amygdala, regions involved in emotional processing and regulation.