Please submit your question to Tom Dozier using the comment field on this page. He will answer your question here.
Question: Is it a form of Misophonia where hearing the “s” sound from some of my kids, but not all, causes the reactions you speak about? I hate that it makes me feel like a bad parent.
Answer: Yes. This IS misophonia. Generally a trigger starts with a single source (one child) and then grows to include other children and other sounds. Misophonia is a neurological condition that causes an involuntary reflex to the sound. You are not choosing to have those horrible feelings toward specific children. It is your Lizard Brain doing this to you. So I give you permission to REGRET the situation but please don’t feel guilty. Your ugly misophonic feelings are beyond your control. I hope you find the information on this website helpful.
Question: One of the most common questions is, “Is there a misophonia treatment provider in my area?”
Answer: There are treatment providers listed on the Treatment Providers page (http://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-providers)
– Tom Dozier works with individuals around the world by video-chat, so this treatment is available to you regardless of where you live.
Question: Is misophonia caused by the genes I inherit or by life experiences.
Answer: Misophonia influenced by both our genes and our life experiences, our environment. A person who is genetically inclined to be anxious or stressed is more likely to develop misophonia than a person who is very calm and easy going. But it still takes life events to develop misophonia. These life events do not need to be traumatic or the result of a bad home environment. Often children who are anxious or stressed can be upset over seemingly small things. People have to develop the misophonia triggers, which is technically a form of learning of the Autonomic Nervous System (our Lizard Brain), but this does not require anyone to “teach” the child this. Just as a child learns to walk, without help, a child can develop misophonia without anyone teaching it to him or her.
Question: Hello Tom ! I would like to ask you about PRT , have you found something new in curing misophonia with this method?
Answer: PRT was a great hope of ours for treatment a year ago, but it still needs work for wide use. My daughter and granddaughter were cured of their misophonia with this treatment. Currently, about half of the people treated show a positive response to the treatment, and half have no effect. The problem is that most of those who respond positively regress. Their misophonia comes back. It did not come back for my daughter and granddaughter. They are still trigger free after 13 months. Right now, we only promote the PRT treatment for individuals who can travel to Thayne, Wyoming to be treated at least once every 3 months. Dr. Sessions needs more practical experience with this treatment, and we are soliciting people in the Thayne area for help so PRT can become an effective, predictable treatment for misophonia.
410 Comments
I need help. I have lived almost 40 years with this sound irritation. Gum popping sunflower seeds cracking pens clicking. I have had thoughts of violence towards people that make these noises. My job I have had for over 20 yrs requires me to sit in a locomotive a few feet from some people who do this for 12 hrs. Ear plugs aren’t enough anymore. I don’t know if I can continue for 17 more yrs to retirement. I need help please. I don’t know where to go or who to talk to.
Misophonia is a reflex condition. We have developed methods of changing the miso-reflex. See misophoniatreatment.com or email tom@misophoniatreatment.com. It usually takes professional help to get the benefit you want and need. Also see the video, https://youtu.be/jpSQf6IN-WU
Hello Dr. Dozier,
I have been diagnosed with misophonia and hyperacusia.
My first triggers, starting about 7 months ago, have been vibrations like those from a fridge or other home appliance, although this has since extended to sounds associated with vibrations or impacts, such as planes flying overhead or doors slamming.
However, I have also found myself feeling tremors even in the absence of any physical stimulus (even outdoors). Most medical explanations for that have been ruled out, including me getting a clean MRI. Can this also be explained by the misophonia, in the same way that I’lll sometimes be left with the impression of a sound even in the absence of a stimulus (tinnitus)?
Hello Guil,
I think you are experiencing a memory, such as when a song plays in your head. Remembering triggers (and feeling as if you hear them) and being triggered by this is fairly common with misophonia. There is treatment for misophonia. It ususally does not go away with time, but gets progressively worse. It is a reflex condition that can be changed for the better! I wish you well. See misophoniatreatment.com for a list of treatment providers.
Thank you this information has been invaluable to me.
I have implemented your advice and have seen immediate improvement and relief.
Where do I go now? After suffering so much, how can I return to humanity like I am a normal human being? I don’t feel human anymore. After so much suffering, today I’ve come out of it.
Some talk about coming out of a very bad experience feeling as if reality isn’t real anymore. Others talk about enlightenment in this way.
It feels as if I am watching a movie, and I feel as if other human beings should look onward, and away, since I have become something that doesn’t belong in the world.
As if my suffering has alienated me from existence itself.
Best regards,
Ray
Hi Ray. It is fantastic that you have such a positive response to the methods we teach. I hope that as you start engaging in life, little by little, it will become a happy experience. It is time to be “born again,” so to speak. Maybe some help with a good talk therapist if you need that guidance, or some other social group or church. I wish you well.
Sincerely,
>tom<
Hello–I had never heard of this until I came across an article about it. I believe I have it… Have for over 50 years. When I was a child snoring was it for me. I don’t know how many family camping trips I ruined by causing sleepless nights for everyone because my little brother snored. Yes I would get angry I would punch him and wake him up. Snoring has always done that. But now that I am an adult, After 35 years of marriage my husband now does something that drives me over the top. He has COPD… He blames it on that but I don’t know about that. Has had for about 3 years. In the last year he has started clearing his throat. I never even noticed it. But suddenly in the past year he made a big production out of it. It’s not just a ” AH HEM” Throat clearing as normal people do. It’s like a concert. Sounds like an animal. He does it almost constantly in fact he doesn’t about every 3 minutes. It goes on for hours.Slowly at first it started to annoy me. Now– if I do not yell at him to stop it, I feel like I could explode. Yelling or saying something temporarily relieves my terrible anger. With him however, alot of times he does deliberately though..or more often or more dramatically. It makes me so anxious. My question with this is, isn’t there some responsibility on the person that is making the noise? I mean if they weren’t doing it we would not be so frustrated with it. Right? I end up having to leave the room shut the door I’m in and turn on some sort of Noise to drown it out. How can I get past this before it drives me insane?
Hello Wen. I apologize for the slow response. You are certainly in a difficult situation. Loved ones of those with misophonia should definitely be considerate and helpful, but it is the reflex response of the person with misophonia that is the real problem. You didn’t choose to develop this reflex, but this is common when there is a repeating sound that is a bit irritating or annoying. The good news is that this miso-reflex can change for the better and often go away completely with proper treatment. There is hope. I help people every day with this. In your case, it is more likely to succeed because you are dealing with a single trigger. See misophoniatreatment.com for a directory of treatment providers, or email me, tom@misophoniatreatment.com. I wish you well.
Sincerely,
>tom<
Is it possible that what I’m experiencing could be a symptom of ptsd, and not misophonia as I assumed? My worst misophonia triggers started with my dad, who also happens to be the source of great, prolonged childhood trauma for me.
There are many who have childhood trauma and misophonia. If soft sounds are greatly upsetting you, you probably have childhood trauma AND misophonia. You need to address the misophonia directly. Resolving the childhood trauma will not eliminate the misophonia.
Hello, Dr. Dozier,
I have read your book and I have to confess it astonished me about how different the triggers can be. I had mixed feelings of relief and sadness about how the condition can differ from person to person. As I wrote in a previous comment, I have been going to therapy for a year and a half now, but it seems my therapist does not want to address this topic. I have been searching, reading and providind her resources to at least try to help me, but it seems she is not willing to or simply can’t aid me. Sometimes even her body language shows she’s bored when I’m telling her how I feel when I hear certain noises and their psychosomatic symptons.
I really like talking to her. She has helped me through a lot of stuff. But as we reached the point where my main concern is misophonia, it seems we have hit a wall. Is there any way I can help her help me?
Best regards.
Hello Ricardo,
I don’t know how to help your therapist. You may need to find someone with good experience with misophonia. It is not easy to comprehend. All the directors of Misophonia Institute can help.
We wish you well.
Hello, Dr. Dozier,
I appreciate the fact that the Misophonia Institute is available to help people with the condition. Unfortunately, I live in Brazil. Although, would there be the possibility of virtual sessions?
Best regards.
Tom Dozier (me) and Chris Pearson both work with people virtually. See MisophoniaTreatment.com
Hello Mr. Dozier,
First of all, thank you for making this space available to all of us. My name is Ricardo and I live in Brazil. Recently, my therapist diagnosed me with GAD. However, the disorder seems to be linked to noises made by neighbours, such as drilling, hammering, loud talking and laughing, random thuds, and so on. The symptons invariably are: racing heart, muscle tension, losing focus, sadness, irritability and irregular breathing. This has been happing for years and now it seems that I have reached my peak. But it gets stranger, for when I’m away from home, I can hear all these noises and I am not triggered by them.
Having said all that, my question if this can also be characterized as misophonia. I have read articles and books related to the subject, but could not find a link between GAD and misophonia, since there are more specific noises that realted to it.
Best regards,
Ricardo Manenti
Ricardo, This makes sense for misophonia, because the context of being at home is part of the trigger, and the sound you hear in your home is different that if you were outside (somewhere else).
This is misophonia. I suggest you learn to relax your muscles and try relaxing as much as possible when you are home. You have to train your brain (grow new pathways) to relax your muscles on demand. Please download the free Misophonia Muscle Relaxation app. The app has Portuguese as a language option. Do several sessions a day. After 30 or 40 sessions, you will have better brain connections to relax your muscles on demand. Muscle Relaxation Training is also very good for anxiety.
I wish you well.
Sincerely,
>tom<
Mr. Dozier,
Thank you so much for shedding some light on my condition. I’ve already installed the app and will start using it. If I may ask, can you recommend any books or articles about misophonia? I really want to know more about it.
Best regards,
Ricardo Manenti
If you want a technical/academic description of misophonia, see this journal article. https://f1000research.com/articles/12-808/v2
To read about misophonia, get Understanding and Overcoming Misophonia at your favorite source for books.
Is anyone here familiar with the concept of the Highly Sensitive Person? I viewed Sensitive: The Untold Story documentary on Amazon and am now reading The Highly Sensitive Person by Dr. Elaine Aron. I think that the trait of beinghighly sensitive–in every sense– is a foundation for the misophonia triggered by trauma. Here, I mean trauma in Dr. Gabor Mate’s sense: not necessary really obvious, capital “T” trauma, like war or rape, but the trauma of rejection, mockery, disempowerment in childhood. Any thoughts!
Have a good day!
There are many paths to developing misophonia, and I feel HSP is definitely one of those paths. Somewhat similar is SPD or Sensory Processing Disorder, where a person is more sensitive to loud sounds,certain touch, and perhaps taste and food textures. Research indicates that a person with SPD is more likely to develop misophonia than average.
But we understand what misophonia is and how it develops. It develops when a particular sound or signt is noticed and a negative thouht is attached (that is unfair, they don’t care about me, that person is breaking a rule, etc. The thought (as with all emotional thoughts) includes physical components, usually some muscle tightenin or holding breath. The Autnomic Nervous System picks up that pairing of the sound and the muscle and then a minor physical reflex develops.
As an HSP person, you clearly identify feelings of rejection, mockery, disempowerment or many others. So you have many chances to hear a should and have a negative thought. Once the reflex develops, it strengthens with normal experience and the emotions grow and grow until all you really experience is the intense negative misophonia emotions. But there is an unnoticed physical reflex that triggers the emotions.
For a very detailed explanation of this process, see the recently published journal article, “Novel five-phase model for understanding the nature of misophonia, a conditioned aversive reflex disorder” https://f1000research.com/articles/12-808/v1
The directors of Misophonia Institute use this understanding of misophonia every day to provide treatment for misophonia and to train other therapists.
We wish you well.
Sincerely,
>tom<
Hi Tom,
Our 12 year old daughter has not been diagnosed with misophonia or any auditory processing disorder but we’ve been dealing with an issue now for several years. It started 3 years ago when she had a cold. The crackling, popping, muffled sounds she hears from the fluid in her ear are unbearable to her. We’ve been to an ENT, Audiologist, Neurologist and there is nothing physically wrong with her ear. She describes it as too loud. Now, every time she has a cold, she has several meltdowns over the course of the cold. Screaming, crying, shaking, some of these will last for hours. Distraction used to work pretty well but this last year has been challenging in that we can’t avoid the meltdown and only after she has tired herself out can we get to distraction. It causes stress and many missed days of school. Does this sound like misoponia and if so, how can you treat a sound that is “internal”.
Thank you!
I personally have this condition. If my throat and jaw muscles are still, there is no sound, but any movement of these muscles (and I can’t tell which ones specifically) causes a rumble in my right ear. This is never a problem in my left ear.
This is a bit like tinnitus, where you hear a sound that does not exist externally. I have tinnitus also.
The problem for your daughter is the emotional response it triggers. I think this is like misophonia, because she is triggered by individual occurrences of the sound. I think that the treatment we use for misophonia (Relaxation and Counterconditioning Therapy) could be reduce the reflex, the way it does for misophonia.
I wish you daughter well.
Sincerely,
>tom<
I have misophonia with hyperacusis as a secondary symptom (I believe). I have an upcoming appoinment with an audiologist who will use TRT treatment. What I don’t understand is how TRT can help misophonia. If misophonia is about selectivity, then how can sound generators replicate a sound like a TV set coming through.a wall or the bass from a stranger’s car stereo. Maybe I’m being too analytical, but these sounds do not bother me if I make them, only if others make them. How can a sound generator provide the context that makes the sound selective? Also, how does lessening the effect of a sound problem translate into helping with misokenesia? I used to love 12-step meetings, but seeing dogs or people on their cellphones on meetings became too unbearable. How will adjusting the sound or frequency of an ear-level sound generator alleviate this?
We believe there are better treatments for misophonia than TRT. I (Tom Dozier) provides Relaxation and Counterconditioning Therapy. Chris Pearson (and those he has certifed provide Sequent Repatterning Hypnotherapy. Nate Mitchell provides CBT-Misophonia. All of these were specifically developed for misophonia and include both auditory and visual triggers.
A sound generator can greatly reduce the perception and severity of auditory triggers, but does nothing for visual triggers. We prefer the term “visual triggers” than “misokenesia” because it is the same condition whether there are visual, auditory, or other triggers.
See MisophoniaTreatment.com for more information on these treatments.
Can you help me? In 2020 I had an implant placed in my sacrum for the bowels. When I woke up in the recovery room I could barely stand on my feet and my right hand was wagging. One year later they removed the implant, nothing improved. When I am exposed to sound my body response is triggered to make the right hand wag. I do not get angry or frustrated. Repetitive sounds are worse :ie, washer running, dryer running, garage door opening or closing, lawn mowers, to name a few. In a quiet envionment my hand and thumb do not wag. My husband demonstrated to many doctors by turning on his electric razor my hand and thumb would be triggered to wag. My phone # is 267-424-4549. I reported this immediately in the hospital and I was told it was probably from the anesthesia and it would go away in a few days, well, to date all is the same and has not gotten worse or better, thank-you
This sounds like a learned reflex, but I am not sure how it developed. If it is a neurological defect, I don’t know how to make it better. But if it is a learned reflex, then we have ways to change the learned reflex. I wish you well.
Hi Tom,
I’ve had misophonia since I was 10 and I’m 18 now. My triggers have always been from family members and they would increase year by year. I really can’t handle it anymore as I have recently got triggered by strangers sniffing (not an extreme trigger but with time it will become severe as my other triggers).
I have also noticed I have rapidly been getting new family triggers since 2022 idk why I feel like anything ‘ ‘abnormal’ or repetitive my parents and brothers do becomes a trigger on the spot and it no longer takes months for it to anger me like it used to years ago.
I really don’t want this to affect me outside of my home as it will have a big impact on work life and social life.
I have started to look for treatments in ur page and I saw the muscle relaxation app so I want to start the exercises.
My first question is given my case do you think it will have an impact on my miso?
I have also came across the trigger tamer app but I really don’t understand how that would work as it’s kind of like exposure therapy and most my triggers are quite severe and I have tried many times to endure them and not make faces or feel like throwing an object but I still feel my chest tighten inside and being able to release the anger makes me feel better.
I’ve tried listening to one of my triggers (my mums laughing from far) while using my airpods and listening to music and it feels the same, I can force myself to not react to it but I’m still burning inside so I don’t think it will work if get the app. I think the best way for me to get treated is through therapy but I have no idea which type will help me best.
I have also saw an article some months ago about propranolol and how it helped someone with misophonia, however I understand that it’s only one person and the article barely gives any information about the study. So I did some research on the medication and It seems like it would really help as it changes the way your body responds to nerve impulses. What is your opinion on this?
Hi Samie,
First propranolol. I know people who have benefited from this drug. It is a cortosol blocker. It does not change the initial trigger, but reduces the strong physiological response caused by the cortosol release.
For treatment, I suggest Relaxation and Counterconditioning Therapy (RCT) by me by Zoom. email tom@misophoniatreatment.com or see misophoniatreatment.com. This is my business website. It does help to work with a therapist. Misophonia Muscle Relaxation training app is recommended for most of my patients, but not all. It depends on your individual misophonia reflex response. It is always recommended for individuals with anxiety. The Trigger Tamer app is used carefully. You are correct about normal exposure to triggers causing misophonia to become worse. With the Trigger Tamer app, you can adjust it so you get only a small bump to your body and none of the “burning inside” or feel your chest tighten.
I wish you well,
Sincerely,
>tom<
Hi tom,
i have had Misophonia since i was around 10 years old and i am 18 now. It has been progressively getting worse and it started off with my mums singing voice as she would always sing while cooking/cleaning and i knew exactly what it was at that young age because my older brother was diagnosed with it. My triggers were always from my family and although i got more and more year by year it never affected my social life as i have never been triggered outside.
Triggers i have developed:
Mum – singing, when she rubs her feet together (visual), the way she chews (visual), when she picks something up and grunts, sniffing, coughing (more of a visual trigger as she sticks her tongue out while coughing), her loud laughing (trigger is much worse if i was far away and i can hear her), hearing my dad and mum speaking again when i’m far away in another room .
Older brother – sniffing and biting his nails but he has recently been having dry coughs which has quickly become an extreme trigger of mine. an unusual one is I noticed some years ago that whenever my brother wakes up and goes to the bathroom he leaves the water taps open the whole time hes in there. It happens every morning and it is slowly transitioned from questioning why he does it to feeling angry because it’s such an irrelevant weird thing to do so it’s now a trigger.
Dad – chewing, moving his foot back and forth constantly, picking at his nails, and his loud breathing (all very recent except the chewing trigger).
little brother – picking at his lips (visual), sniffing, chewing (these are very new so they haven’t become that severe yet)
I have rapidly been developing new triggers since 2022 especially these past couple months i have been getting triggered from strangers sniffing and swaying there foot back and forth and these are only early stages of the triggers so i know it will get much worse but it frightens me that i might have to deal with this outside my home. I am constantly worried and have been feeling hopeless these last 2 months as a trigger that has been on my mind lately is that my dad was driving me to university and was driving with one hand and picking at his nail with the other, i’m worried that when i start driving lessons i will be triggered by my driving instructor if they did something repetitively i wont be able to concentrate and ill feel claustrophobic as there’s no where to escape, especially if i’m nervous and stressed in these situations which i’m most likely will be because it requires concentration.
This is all very weird to me as i always looked at misophonia as something i couldn’t change and i never wanted to think about or do research on treatments as that was my coping mechanism ( i always felt the more i thought about it the worse ill feel and it will get) and plus most of these triggers didn’t matter to me but only in the moment, i felt perfectly fine if i’m trigger free but like hell if it was happening so i had mixed emotions about it. i also always wear my airpods and my family knows about my condition so i don’t feel that guilty when i lash out or make faces, but its slowly affecting my social life and I cannot live with that.
So is there any hope for me to get better and get rid of most/all of my misophonia with your treatments, if so what treatment would be best for me try out.
There is absolutely hope for you to get better. My goal is to have your misophonia reduced by 75, 85, 90% or more.
Misophonia causes great suffering. It is caused by normal brain plasticity (the ability of the brain to change/adapt with experience). It can definitely change for the better with the right treatment.
Is there any evidence that an exposure type approach is damaging? Thanks
Traditional exposure can be damaging, especially something like Exposure and Response Prevention therapy. But we find that counterconditioning (which involves a very positive or distracting stimulus and often relaxation, and weak, intermittent triggers) can be predictably beneficial.
I have a client with pretty severe Misophonia. I use EMDR and there is an EMDR protocol for Misophonia based on the general approach to phobias. I
was wondering about a prolonged exposure approach using a recording of a triggering sound (laptop typing) and doing EMDR while playing back the
recording at a level lower than audible and slowly increasing the volume. I’ve read that people have very different thoughts about prolonged Exposure
and Misophonia. I’d love any thoughts.
First, misophonia is not a form of phobia. I have read that for a phobic stimulus (systematic desensitization), the person must attend to the stimulus while the response decays. For misophonia, it is the opposite. It is better for the person to not attend the trigger, but focus on other sensory imputs or distractions (especially relaxing or fun). The only benefit of EMDR would be as a distraction for the person (so it could be beneficial), especially if the person is thinking about Hawaii, etc. Misophonia Institute has some training videos for clinicians (low cost, no CEs). I also provide supervision.
But, fundamentally, what is misophonia? It is a Pavlovian conditioned physical (usually muscle) reflex when then expands with intense negative emotions, physiological distress, and other behaviors. You need to address the core issue of Initial Physical Reflex and described on this website and MisophoniaTreatment.com.
>tom dozier<
How does your trigger tamer app work if trigger is chewing of any kind. Crunching would be the obvious worst form, but if even eating things like rice and soft chicken is a trigger how do you record that?
This is a good question. You need to use (many) different recordings. There are many in the app, and you can record your specific triggers. The app also allows you to practice relaxing with small triggers, which you can apply to real-life situations. You can reduce the severity of real-life triggers by adding background sounds (use a noise app, like White Noise by TMSOFT).
Hi Tom, I’m starting to do research into misophonia because I think I’ve developed a serious case of it. Three years ago a relative of mine that I live with developed a persistent chronic cough. When I say chronic I mean she coughs (and its VERY loud) all…the…time. It feels like its non stop at least every 15-20 minutes she has a fit.
Over time as you can imagine this has caused terrible mental distress. I’ve developed sleeping issues, trouble regulating emotions, I’ve had crying fits even in the middle of the night when awoken from there coughing. I have such a serious emotional response to it that I’ve punched and kicked things, thrown objects, anything to get the anger out which doesn’t work because I never get a chance to calm down before the next episode. During the day my fatigue can be terrible. There are days I’m so on edge, that being at home is emotionally torture and exhausting. All I do is think about how much the sound of coughing bothers me. In the last few months someone at work also has started coughing all the time and that can bother me but not as bad as with person I live with because I can get away from the person at work, at home I can’t.
I literally have no break from this when at home and now I’m bothered to a degree by it at work which is bad since I rely on going to work to get a mental break from home. The only thing that I’ve resorted to doing is wearing ear buds at home with the sound of white noise playing. But this has caused ear issues like sores developing because I sleep with ear plugs, to low grade ringing in my ears because of the non stop noise I play in my ears.
I want to try PMR but that’s going to be hard to do while at home. How can I get control of something like this when I’m exposed to it so much?
You need help understanding the Initial Physical Reflex of your misophonic response and how to countercondition it (make it go away). I provide this by videochat in the first treatment session. If you are interested, send an email to tom@misophoniatreatment.com and I will send you the information of this treatment. It may be much easier that you can imagine since you have only 1 specific trigger. I wish you well.
>tom<
Good morning. Since Misophonia is not an official DSM diagnosis – what CPT code is recommended when treated individuals with this issue?
Some use a anxiety disorder code. I prefer to call it an abnormal reflex. I cannot provide specific advice.
Hello, Tom —
I’m a therapist in Los Angeles (and misophonia sufferer, though I suffer much less than I used to!). I’m very interested in SRT and would love to find out more about available trainings. I can’t seem to find much online. I wonder if you know of any or could provide me with any suggestions regarding where to look? Thanks very much!
See https://sequent-repatterning.co.uk/ for infor on Sequent Repatterning Therapy. Chris Pearson developed this and does the training and certification by video-chat.
Hi, I have two questions:
First do you think misophonia could be added to the DSM? And in your opinion, would it help taking in charge people suffering from it?
I have been suffering from misophonia for years and I had to wait three years of therapy to hear of this name for the first time and whenever I talk about it, even to health professionals, nobody knows what I’m talking about. So I’m asking myself if making it official would help…
And second, I feel quite bad asking people to try and change just a little bit what they are doing (for example eating with an open mouth), but it seems sometimes like the best solution to avoid the crisis. What do you think is best to do?
The DSM is changed by committees of the American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association. This is a difficult process and will take time. We first need to understand what misophonia actually is. Revisions are usually very broad, affecting many conditions, so it is a big deal.
The ICD (International Classification of Diseases is an international document of medical conditions by the World Health Organization. Adding a new condition is simpler. We will probably see misophonia in the ICD in 5 to 10 years, but that is just my guess.
Hello, My father recently remarried. We have recently learned that she had D.I.D, and P.N.E.S. Her Psychogenic Seizures are triggered by loud noises that range from a fire siren to someone suddenly talking loudly around her. To complicate things further, if she has a seizure, when she recovers, an “alter” or other personality is present. I have just begun researching this, do you think the seizures can be an extreme form of Misophonia?
Thanks for your time and consideration.
Because the seizures were triggered by a loud sound, I think this is not related to misophonia.
I have a severe problem with listening to dogs barking. The root of it seems to be something that happened around 20 years ago. Prior to that I had no issue with dogs and in fact I grew up with them in the household. But when I moved into my current house, I had a very close next door neighbor with a large, loud dog that barked all day long. At first I was somewhat annoyed by it but not to a truly distressing level. Over time, though, as it wore on it became unbearable, although the situation eventually resolved on its own. Ever since then, however, I get readily anxious and upset whenever a new dog shows up in the neighborhood. If a dog nearby barks a lot, I quickly develop an aversion to the sound of that specific dog’s “voice.” Recently things have gotten bad again as a neighbor got a dog that has turned out to be a big barker that I can hear anywhere on my property. As soon as I hear that dog start up, my heart races and I feel like someone has attacked me. I then get so furious that someone is unfairly subjecting me to this awful noise that I sometimes totally lose my temper and start screaming angrily at the top of my lungs. I find the barking nearly unbearable and it makes it impossible for me to think about or do anything else until it stops. Then in between barking sessions, I get feelings of despondency and hopelessness over it.
Based on reading the section here on Diagnosis, I think I do not have misophonia, but am instead just a “Highly Sensitive Person” as you call it. Nevertheless, I am quite sad and distressed, and have become aware that I most likely need help. I have done CBT in the past for social anxiety so I know and have tried some of the techniques such as reframing. However, they don’t seem to help much as the reaction to the noise is so intense and immediate. My question is whether this kind of noise sensitivity can be treated and are the treatments different from the treatments for misophonia? What kind of therapist should I be looking for? Thanks for your advice.
I note that your response intensity to the unique dog’s “voice” increases with time. That indicates a reflex is developing, and to me, suggests it is misophonia (not HSP). There is a list of treatment providers on misophoniatreatment.com. You need someone that understands the response chain of misophonia identifed by Misophonia Institute. I wish you well.
Sincerely,
>tom<
Dear Tom,
(sorry about my English, I am not a native speaker)
I listened to your video, which is really great and was really relieved, that I am not the only one.
Even though my trigger is not a common trigger like smacking, – but other noises, the worst is my neighbors’ rumbling (trampling, hearing the steps on the floor). I find the rumbling also bad because there is also a kind of vibration. But as I learned from your video, this can all be conditioned over time. However, I don’t find any real physical reaction. It is more like the world stands still for a moment (in a negative way) and I feel like “I am holing back /trying to control my stress”). Maybe I hold my breath for a short time, but I am not sure.
It stresses me out a lot, and I’m in fight / flight mode almost all the time on some days (depending on my 3 neighbors).
I am now trying to apply what I learned from your vidoes to myself, since I am from Germany and there is no therapist here.
My idea was, when it is a lot of loud noise, to play relaxing music, and relax while the noise is there. Since I also meditate, I manage this at least for a time quite well and am still relaxed as long as I am aware (in the relaxation / mediation). Do I see it right that this would already be a first step?
Since I cannot record the sounds, I can unfortunately not train “without my neighbors”, I then try to visualize how I am relaxed despite trampling.
Since the sounds of my neighbors unfortunately also occur irregularly, I try to ignore them, or if it is just too extreme and I have to work, I use my noise-canceling.
I would be very happy to know if I am on the right track.
If there is a possibility for an online therapy session to discuss further possibilies, then I would love to.
Thanks a lot for your opinion on the things I try to do to control my lizard brain.
Thank you so much!
BR Carmen
As I discussed in the video, the Initial Physical Reflex (IPR) is hard to perceive because the emotional experience which follows is so strong. If you hold your breath, that is likely your IPR. If breathing is your IPR, breathing slowly and steadily (constantly) will reduce the immediate severity of the trigger, AND it will reduce the future severity of the trigger. Breathing slowly and steadily when the trigger is happening can cause the misophonic trigger to go away.
Andreas Seebeck is in Niedersachse, Germany. https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/name/andreas-seebeck/
You are correct that using music/noise-sounds (which reduces the severity of the trigger) and relaxing is good. Make sure you are also continuously breathing. It can help some if the out-breath is longer than the in-breath because that triggers an autonomic “rest and digest” downregulation reflex.
Use headphones and music/noise to reduce the severity of triggers. Do not endure prolonged misophonia distress because that makes your misophonia more severe.
I work with people all over the world. If anyone is interested, see my work website, misophoniatreatment.com.
I am happy to send anyone information about the services I provide. Email me, tom@misophoniatreatment.com and I will reply.
I wish you well.
Sincerely,
>tom<
Thanks a lot.
I contacted you per Mail regarding your Service.
Is one trigger harder to solve than another, eg as it is not recordable, or doesn’t it matter which trigger?
Is it just practice? The inprovements in your video, approx. 80% reduction in 5 month and 4 treatments, is it the average, is that what a patient could expect?
Once reducing the trigger during the day, will it also improve sleep when hearing it at night?
Thank you so much.
KR Carmen
The Initial Physical Reflex, which is different for each person, has a bigger effect on treatment than the trigger. But having a trigger that you cannot record can be a problem. 80% reduction in 5 months is common, but not with only 4 treatments. To start, there are usually 3 treatments at 1-week interval, then short treatment session and less often. So a total of 4 more full sessions (after the first 3) is typical.
If a trigger is reduced during the day, it should be reduced during the night also. But triggers are context sensitive, so it is possible a sound could be a trigger only at night.
hello i came across this page after searching up misophonia trigger sounds. the reason i did so was because i wanted to see if vibration could be a trigger sound, but not all vibrations mainly those of phone call vibrations and notification vibrations, these days its grown a bit worse and i go into a sort of panicking state even after i stop the noise because it goes on in my head. would that be an indicator that i have misophonia?
This seems to be misophonia. Any sound/sight/vibration can be a misophonia trigger.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35029865/
This is working for me and has made life much easier.
I was going through Wikihow when I cam across an article about Misophonia. This website was linked in the references and it has helped me so much. Thank you.
P.S. My trigger sound happens to be my sister chewing, which makes life difficult. Also , I think my parents might suspect that I’m just really sensitive and I don’t know how to tell them.
I suggest you go to the video page and watch, Misophonia, What Is It? Then watch this video with your parents. https://misophoniainstitute.org/videos/misophonia-what-is-it/
I know it is difficult, but I suggest you try to relax your body when you are with your sister. It can really help.
I wish you well.
I just started CBT as a last-chance solution to my suffering from misophonia. I have tried other forms of therapy, AA, Al-Anon, and medications–none of which works. My new CBT therapist has me going through a coping skills workbook. It seems to focus on cognitive distortion, like misinterpreting someone’s actions. But my problem does not feel like I am misinterpreting things–it is that I have an automatic unpleasant reaction to certain sounds, people eating or chewing with their mouths open, or cellphones on speaker. I am already fully aware that chewing with ones mouth open is common and I am unlikely to change the behavior. Similarly, the world is not going to stop using speaker phones just because a minority of people are bothered by them. So, how is my cognitive distortion at work in these situations? Prior therapists have tried to look for childhood trauma or some other explanation for my reactions. I also tried EMDR every day for over two years. I cannot correlate my sound sensitivity to any trauma or emotional abuse. I simply react adversely to certain sounds. How is CBT supposed to help me with this if there are no underlying negative assumptions? Also, do you know if there are any good misophonia therapists in the Las Vegas area?
Traditional CBT is not an effective treatment for misophonia. You are correct in your view that it takes something other than cognitive restructuring. See the home page of misophoniainstitute.org or https://misophoniatreatment.com. There are treatments for misophonia, just not traditional CBT or EMDR.
I’m nervous to even write this, because I feel like it’s going to make me sound like a terrible and unloving person. My husband’s misophonia is starting to affect me seriously though.
Let me tell you a bit about both of our pasts, so you understand us a little. My husband had a terrible first marriage with a wife who was extremely cold and unloving, and constantly took advantage of his generous nature. I was married to an extremely emotionally abusive man who did everything he did to belittle me. I then dated another man who ended up abusing me physically, in every way, as well as emotionally manipulate me into doing what he wanted.
All this to say, we’ve both been though a lot and finding each other seemed like a miracle since we’re now both 40. In about a million ways we get along so well, and are so alike it’s uncanny. I truly feel like I’ve found my soulmate.
Now, let me just say, I am so not perfect. I can be moody and deal with depression and anxiety, as well as severe PTSD, that can affect how I treat him sometimes. I hate it and am going to therapy to try and fix this. I love him more than anything and would do anything for him. That’s why I am writing to you.
I realize that how I’m responding to his Misophonia sometimes (the fact that my feelings get really hurt when it’s obvious that he can barely stand to be next to me just because I’m chewing) can have a negative affect on our relationship, and I don’t want that. God, I so don’t want that.
The problem is that because of everything I’ve been through in my life, I am a beyond sensitive person. Sometimes when my husband’s Misophonia kicks in it really hurts my feelings. When someone who suffers from severe PTSD from both emotional and physical abuse has hurt feelings, it isn’t a small thing. It can take over your entire life. Sometimes I feel like I need to overcompensate by standing up for myself in an extreme fashion. If it were in an actual abusive situation this would be fine. However, this is not the situation. He literally can’t help it.
So… why are my feelings so hurt? What is wrong with me? Why can’t I put aside my natural inclinations and my past trauma long enough to see that he ISN”T doing this TO me. It’s happening TO HIM. My feelings are an unfortunate side affect that he can’t help. It’s not his fault. I’m saying this over and over because I want to reiterate the fact that I know it is true.
So… what do I do? I feel at such a loss. I don’t want this (in proportion) a small thing to ruin us, when we’ve both overcome so much of our truly terrible past.
E
I think you are doing what you can with the counseling you are receiving. But there are things that you can do together to make his misophonia less severe. 1) you can add noise to your world when you are eating or making other triggers. Noise can greatly reduce his triggers. 2) You can eat separately, or do other activities that make triggers in separate space. Then come together and have time together, without triggers. 3) Encourage him to get treatment for his misophonia. We can help. See misophoniatreatment.com for a directory of misophonia treatment providers. We wish you both well.
I’ve always been sensitive to certain sounds. But it wasn’t until after I suffered an eardrum injury when I was 20 that my “sound sensitivities” became progressively more intense and has forced me to distance myself from friends who don’t understand and think I’m just being difficult. I’ve never had a legitimate explanation for my agitation or understood it myself.
Is Misophonia a psychological disorder?
Misophonia is a learned reflex disorder. There are both physical and emotional reflexes. There is treatment by telehealth. See misophoniatreatment.com
I wish you well.
Dr Dozier, I am a clinical psychologist in Chicago and have a private practice in which I treat persons with autism, anxiety disorders and depression. I have recently seen signs of misophonia in two young adult clients and am trying to learn as much as possible about this condition. I have taken a clinician training course with Dr Jennifer Brout and I’m consulting with Dr Erica Drzonek-Edwards. I have been following your work too and I welcome any recommendations you might have for further training.
Best,
Anne Maxwell, Ph.D.
We have video training that can be accessed at misophonia.org/training. We fundamentally disagree with Dr. Brout about what misophonia actually is. We see it as a conditioned response disorder, and the training will clearly explain that. Also, here is a preprint of a manuscript that is in review at this time which explains our understanding of misophonia. The title is, Novel Five-Phase Model for Understanding the Nature of Misophonia and Providing Treatment. https://psyarxiv.com/6sqpr/
I’d like to find an explanation of Misophonia that I can give to my Spanish speaking students.
Unfortunatley we only have materials in English.
Hello,
I am curious if your videos/training has caption as I am Deaf.
Thank you,
Kristine
Yes. They have closed captions provided by YouTube.
Hi and thank you very much for all the information you provide in this site. we really appreciate it.
My son is a 8 years old boy who started with misophonia a couple of years ago. Before his misophonia started everything was smooth an easy but now he is strugling and suffering a lot and so do we. We went to a psychologist a year ago and she recommended us for him no te leave the table while we are having dinner and that was what we did. Right now he has more triggers and even at school.
Our family dinners are starting to be more, let say, complex. We play music during the dinner, something that helps a lot, but his 3 years old sister is lately making noises on purpose and sometimes the situation became stressfull and very very tough to him.
We understand him and since the begining we identified it was misophonia. We support and talk to him and we are trying with louder music, earplugs, and until know following the instruction given by the pyscologist of not let him to learn avoid the dinner situation (we don’t force him to stay. He simply stays). We are very worried because he doesn’t look the same lately, being now a little bit more introverted and sad. Also he express that he is struggling also during the day (in general), in lunch time at school with some other kids, and even sometimes at night.
We have been living in the US until last year that we moved to live to Toronto, Canada. My main question please is if you know someone here in Toronto that can work with him or if he could be treated online if that is the case. And, of course, what else we can do to help him to be better.
Again, thank you very much
Raul
Hello Raul. There are very few people in the world that understand misophonia and work with young children. I don’t know anyone in Toronto that I would recommend. There is a treatment provider directory on misophoniatreatment.com that you can check. I work with people by video-chat, and I work with any age of child or adult. I am also a behavioral parenting coach, and I can help you help your 3-yr-old to not make noises on purpose (that is my primary career). Sincerely, Tom Dozier (email tom@misophoniatreatment.com).
Hi, I’m currently using your Trigger Tamer app and I am having a problem. I have music on iTunes but whenever I click “iTunes” on the app to add songs to a playlist no songs show up and it is completely blank. Do you know of any way to fix this? Thank you.
Do you have the songs on iTunes or Apple Music. It does not work with Apple Music becuase you don’t own the songs. If you sync songs onto your phone using iTunes, they should show up on the app. There may be a file type issue with the songs. You can use iTunes to make an mp3 format copy of the songs and then sync thoes to your phone. I am sure that will work.
My son is 34 years old and has been dealing with misophonia for the last 20 years. It has gotten worst when he’s home so we are trying to get family therapy. Is there someone at the University of Iowa or in the Iowa City Iowa area that you would recommend? He is starting a new job and we want to make that a good thing because he has trouble being at work and being around people. Thank you.
See the Misophonia Treatment Providers on misophoniatreatment.com. There are a number of people what provide effective treatment by video-chat.
Good day Dr Dozier,
I am a 39-year-old woman who had Mesaphonia since I was a small child.
I am reaching out to you not because I need treatment, but because I was wondering if you could look into
psilocybin as a treatment for Mesaphonia.
Four years ago I took some magic mushrooms for the first time (for recreational purpose) and unexpectedly found that my Mesaphonia was gone the next day. This lasted for about 7 months after a single light (but not micro) dose. I have no idea how it worked, and didn’t expect it to, but I am sure it was the psilocybin as I took another dose 7 months later after I started feeling myself not being able to cope with certain noise again and it had the same effect. For the first time I could work in open plan offices without issues. I haven’t had any fights about noise with neihbours (and most certainly didn’t egg anyone’s house or car out of pure range due to some “noise”. I also don’t have to avoid certain people because of the chewing noises they make and I have my life back thanks to this. Even though I can start to feel after about 6 months that certain sounds starts to annoy me, I have never gotten to the point again where I felt like I need to get away or I might attack / confront whatever is making the sound.
I know a lot of research is being done on psilocybin as a treatment for depression, PTSD and addiction, but I have not read anything about it being a possible treatment for Mesaphonia and I think it is well worth looking into.
Kind regards,
Martjie
This seemed like an interesting idea to me also. Though I’ve never tried it and wouldn’t know where to begin.
I found a forum on reddit recently where a number of misophonia sufferers tried psilocybin and found short term relief that typically lasted only a day. It definitely seems like an interesting line of study.
I am 63 and have suffered from Misophonia most of my life (since age 9). Thank to you, a few years ago I discovered that I wasn’t crazy after all!! This thing actually is real and has a name. So thank you for all you do to educate and bring awareness to the public about misophonia! My question is .. Is there a some verbiage I could use to quickly describe the condition. I like to go to restaurants with friends but I sometimes have to leave because one of my HUGE triggers is the sound from other patrons cell phone, ipads, etc playing videos, video games or streaming TV while they are eating. Most restaurants who have TVs mute the sound so that is not the problem. As I was leaving one establishment, the manager asked if everything was ok. I took a deep breathe and explained that I suffer from misophonia and that I couldn’t deal with the noise from the other guests whose children were playing video games in the booth next to me. That manager was awesome! He wanted to know all about it and ask if I had anything he could use to educate the staff so that they would be more sensitive to were they seat people in the restaurant. I was think about making a card or flyer to give him. Do you know of anything like this that is already available so that I don’t re-create the wheel or give incorrect information? For instance, some people are shocked when I tell them that misophonia probably effects upwards of 12% of the population. 🙂
Judy, I don’t know of anything. My short phrase is “I have a common reflex condition called misophonia where certain sounds trigger a very distressing reaction.” This is an extreme understatement, but it is believable. I wish you well. There is treatment for misophonia. See misophoniatreatment.com for more information.
Hi Tom,
I believe I have misophonia with my main trigger being my sister talking. I live at home, we share a room and I am currently unemployed, and she talks constantly, so this entire pandemic has pretty much been hell with no escape. She’s special needs too, so I can’t really get her to stop talking and my parents wouldn’t understand or be able to help either. My struggle has been trying to drown out her voice with other sounds. Even with earbuds in, full blast, in another room with the door shut, I can still hear her, though I’m not sure why. It’s like her voice pierces through time and space. She doesn’t talk much louder than the average person as far as I can tell, but I still can hear her. This doesn’t happen with any other person. I don’t really have the money right now to spend hundreds on noise cancelling headphones, so I was wondering if maybe there’s some type of audio/music/sounds I could listen to that would be better at masking her voice? Just playing my own music or tv doesn’t seem to do the trick.
You can wear earbuds under earmuffs. See these pages for low cost products. https://misophoniatreatment.com/ear-muffs/ and https://misophoniatreatment.com/open-ear-headphones/
I suggest you get a noise app, such as White Noise by TMSOFT. I recommend the $1 blue icon. You an play a single noise (such as Crowded Room), or a mix. You may be able to watch a video using noise in 1 ear and the video sound in the other ear.
I wish you well.
My 12 year old son who is on the Autism spectrum has a severe aversion to clapping and cheering. I can be one person clapping or a thousand. It’s gotten progressively worse over the years. He often responds with rage, sometimes hitting or breaking something. It affects every aspect of his life, it’s difficult for him at school, in public and at family gatherings. I strongly suspect her suffers from Misophonia. My questions where to I start with diagnosis and treatment?
Hi Debbie. See the treatment provider directory at misophoniatreatment.com. https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/
I (Tom Dozier) can help you by video-chat, or you can contact someone else. I think the Relaxation and Counterconditioning Therapy (RCT) would be very appropriate for your son.
My 14 year old daughter is also on the Autism spectrum. She has had serious difficulty with the following sounds: silverware scraping against dishes, chewing, tapping (when others do it), open car windows, and repetitive noises made by boy in her class who is also on the spectrum (this one is the most worrying). We’ve been trying to find someone to help since September without any luck. We’d like to try something similar to what you did with Sarah (https://misophoniatreatment.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Case-Study-Counterconditioning-Treatment-for-Misophonia.pdf) on our own. We’re going to record the triggering sounds and them to a soundtrack that our daughter enjoys and then have her listen to it while building with Lego (an enjoyable activity). She is on board with this plan. What would be an appropriate frequency of the negative stimulus? Once per minute? What would be an appropriate duration? 30 minutes?
The frequency of the trigger could be from 0.3m (18s) to 2 minutes. We don’t have actual research on this. I isuggest you use the Misophonia Trigger Tamer app that was developed for this purpose. This will allow you to vary the time between triggers, the volume of the trigger, and the duration of the trigger. It also allows you to either have the music continue, reduce the volume of the music, or pause the music. If you use an iPhone, you will need to sync the song files to your phone using iTunes. If you have an Android device, you can copy the music in to the folder triggertamermusic.
We will present a case report at Association for Behavior Analysis International conference where we used this technique for a child with Autism that was very successful. If you don’t want to use the app, use one device for the music and a second device for the trigger sounds.
Hello. I’m wondering is misophonia is limited to sound other people make with their bodies/voice such as the chewing, snoring, breathing, talking, etc, or if It applies to any sound at all that is a trigger? For the past few weeks I’ve been suffering with metallic sounds being my trigger. Anything that sounds metallic that scrapes or sounds hollow, or squeaks makes my brain stay in a loop and triggers the physiological and psychological responses. Even when I just look at something that is metal or my brain makes me picture it in my head, I immediately imagine the sound it makes or would potentially make and triggers. Working in the kitchen is constant cringing at every around the pots, pans and utensils make, and ending up with a headache and an earache. This didn’t use to happen to me at least not noticeably enough. Is this also a common type of trigger?
Misophonia triggers can be any type of stimulus (sounds, sights, smells, vibrations, etc) and can be from any source. It seems you have developed a very unfortunate trigger. There is treatment for misophonia. See misophoniatreatment.com.
I’m 22 years old and I don’t think I’ve ever had this issue before having kids or maybe I did but it was just heightened by having children but I can’t stand their cries and get rage filled when they whine. It’s an instant uncontrollable thing. I also get annoyed with gum chewing and chomping. My dad always got angry at chomping. My sister gets anal about chomping too. There’s also my inability to tune out background noise. These are the only reasons I suspect misophonia in the first place. I guess I’m wondering if it’s possible for me to suddenly develop the condition postpartum or if I’m just broken.
You can develop misophonia at any time to any repeating stimulus (sound). You are not “broken.” You have developed misophonia. About 10% of people with misoponia develop it in adulthood. I (Tom Dozier) am also a behavioral parenting coach, so Ican help you reduce the whining and other child behavior concerns that are stressing you.
How do you help your child when the trigger is her brother, when he eats and supposedly makes a noise with his mouth? It’s hard to eliminate the trigger to help her.
Add lots of sound (use a noise app). The more sound, the fewer triggers. You can also seek treatment for your child. See https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/
As a super high-anxiety, perfectionist personality, could the stress of a relationship w/ someone who tells you they can’t tolerate chewing noises (and you trying to control yourself and your environment to soothe THEM) eventually drive YOU, over years, day-by-day, to develop mysphonia, not only to chewing noises, but extending to many other noises as well? I have developed all of these symptoms as an adult (around age 35, and I’m now turning 45), and I fear they will be with me forever now – and now my husband (who I feel started the whole thing) barely reacts to his old triggers, leaving me the only one bothered by every noise imaginable. Could the stress of dealing with him have caused me to develop this disorder?
The situation you described seems to have caused you to develop misophonia. Misophonia is “contageous” for the reasons you described of having stress around those sounds. There is treatment. See Misophoniatreatment.com for a list of treatment providers. Some need to be locak to you, others can help by telehealth video-chat.
My 26 year old daughter just made her second very methodical attempt at suicide this week due to the hopelessness she feels about her inability to function in society with severe misophonia. She survived, but now by Texas law she has to go to a treatment center where she will have to endure the horrors of misophonia and no one who understands. I continue to beg for help with this disorder but no one seems to understand that this is her main stressor. She will try again. I am frantic!!
I am sad for your daughter. She is suffering greatly, and a lock-up situation is horrible. There is treatment for misophonia. I suggest she try working with one of the directors of Misophonia Institute, Chris Pearson, Nate Mitchell, or Tom Dozier. There is treatment for misophonia.
My husband has had severe misophonia since childhood. Our daughter, age 8 has just started to develop symptoms which are obvious, but not yet severe. Is there any benefit to intervene with early treatment, or is it best to use her cues as to when she needs more than a supportive environment as her symptoms progress?
My view is that it is much better to intervene early when there are fewer triggers and each trigger is less of an event. There are usually multiple factors that contribte to misophonia. These can also be addressed in positive ways that help everyone in the family be happier. I (Tom Dozier) work with families like yours and usually have good outcomes. See misophoniatreatment.com for Misophonia Treatment Providers listing.
Have any studies been conducted that connect Misophonia with early childhood sexual abuse?
There are no studies on this, but I know of one case where their misophonia was connected to sexual abuse. Most misophonia cases are not related to sexual abuse, based on my work with patients.
Hello,
I have had misophonia for years but recently my brain has noticed my husbands sibilant sound when saying anything with “s”. I am having anxiety attacks now and feel physically sick to my stomach. There is no escape as he works from home now. I feel completely trapped and I’m trying everything not to be reactive but I am avoiding him like the plague. My doctor gave me Zoloft for the anxiety. I have not taken it yet. She also recommended EMDR. I don’t want to spin my wheels on things that simply won’t give relief. I am so desperate at this point. Please help!
Melissa
Misophonia causes suffering for everyone involved. There are 2 treatments that I believe in. Relaxation and Counterconditioning Therapy (develoed by Tom Dozier, also known as CBT-Misophonia by Nate Mitchell in Louisville, KY) and Sequent Repatterning Hypnotherapy for Misophonia. You can find treatrment providers on misophoniatreatment.com treatment provider directory. If you seek treatment, make sure you find someone who has a successful track record treating misophonia. “Try this” and “try that” from someone without misophonia treatment experinece is not a good idea.
Hi Tom
I have a few questions:
1. I’m pretty sure I have misophonia, as chewing, mouth noises, plastic tapping on plastic, utensils on plates/bowls, and “s” when people talk make me have a whole world of mixed emotions especially disgust and anger come rushing at me. I’m not sure if this is FOR SURE misophonia, but I’m pretty sure it is.
2. (I’m 12) I have the unfortunite surcumstance of having a brother with bad ADHD. One of the ways he “copes” with it is making, what I called for several years, “spit noises”. These noises combine all of the worst misophonia sounds you could possibly think of (mostly chewing noises, moving spit around loudly, ect.). My relationship with him (he is 8) has suffered emmensly. Luckily, he is now (finally) on ADHD medication, and that seems to make him do them less. Having misophonia and a brother with unrecogdnised ADHD for a couple of years resulted in a handful of fistfights and verbal abuse (at him). (I was extreamly guilty of this, but I now know I it wasn’t really my fault) COVID did not help this. (he only got on medication about 2 months ago) If you have any idea of how to handle this, it would be very appreciated.
3. My parents are the opposite of accomidating for misophonia. they don’t allow me to leave the dinning table if I can’t handle it. so I suffer through. what kind of things should I tell them about so they don’t think I’m just a bit of a sensitive teenager?
I suggest you have them watch the video, Misophonia, What Is It?
I’ve suffered with Misophenia since age 10. I’m Avery young and healthy 76 year young woman who despartly needs help. I was at last convention. Consumtedwiththe audio lin Tampa. Been using tools since before diagnosed only 6 years ago. Divorced and used addictions to deal with the stress. Food. Obesity. Alchol pot men spending. Then after 2 long marriages divorced both. Every thing about then triggered me from eating to breathe to loud laughing My marriages were long. Living alone now is better as no one triggers me but it’s my own prison. My Sanctuaty
Is my hone. Due to fear of economic insecurity and being given notice to move from my FLORIDA villa I never asked for help. It My daughters gained up me I was getting older and both daughters convinced me to move to georgia. My worst nightmare. Dogs barking loud traffic near busy intersection can hear neighbors who talk loud sitting in the outside porch day and night hotter than Florida and I don’t know anybody as a good friend and no beaches and places to run to that are beautiful my water always help me. I don’t know what I can do about this and he suggestions would be so helpful and Misophenia is off the charts
Add lots of positive sounds to your world – waves, rain, etc. There is treatment. See misophoniatreatment.com for treatment providers, some available by video-chat.
Good Morning.
My daughter, 26, diagnosed 14 years ago. She is employed in a lab job that is not working. her condition manifests itself in panic attacks.
She needs a safe place to get treatment for misophonia, depression and anxiety. Without the treatment focusing on the underlying misophonia
i do not believe standard treatment will help. She is working on getting a disability decision. Is there any place you can think of where she
could get inpatient treatment (or outpatient but full mental and physical help) for misophonia?
I recommend Nate Mitchell, PhD, in Louisville, KY. He has an intensive 1 week misophonia treatment program. He is a psychologist and can provide treatment for comorbid issues. https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/name/nate-mitchell/
I have a major reaction to crunching and popping gum, when I was able to wear headphones at work I was able to avoid the anger hearing the sounds brought out in me. Recently my employer banned headphones from the work area, I told them of my condition and asked for ear plugs. They unfortunately didn’t help, I practically begged them to let me wear noise cancel headphones so I could continue working. They refused to let me wear them and told me I could quit if I could not stand listening to noises that trigger me.I had no choice but to quit. What should I do?
If you requested accommodations (headphones) as a disability accommodation, then you should file a complaint. Google Americans With Disabilities accommodations. You should have made an official request to wear headphones before you quit. I am not sure what you can do now.
Good afternoon Tom,
My name is Arabia and I’m from Spain. I am working in a university projet about Misophonia and I would like to know your opinion on some questions. The diagnosis criteria of Scrhöder (2013) is a good start, but I think that it must be revised. All studies report the common trigger of oral, eating and nasal sounds; and I’ll give you an example,: Jager et al. (2020), which is the study with more subjects (575 misophonia diagnosed). 100% of the subjects reported one of these triggers. So, do you think that had a physical or emotional reaction toward almost one of these triggers, must be an indispensable criterion in Misophonia?.
Thank you for four attention.
Arabia Alvarez Plaza.
I think the Schroder (2013) criteria is outdated. Yes to a physical/emotional reaction. See Dozier, Lopez, & Pearson, 2017.
Dozier, T. H., Lopez, M., & Pearson, C. (2017). Proposed diagnostic criteria for misophonia: A multisensory conditioned aversive reflex disorder. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1975.
My mother, myself and 2 of my 4 siblings have misophonia. Until recently we have avoided talking about it because even that triggers rage. Instead we try to manage our environment so that we avoid chewing, crunching, coughing, swallowing, sneezing, etc sounds. It is hard and ruins family meals. For some reason my reaction is more severe when it is family members who are making the sounds. When I am eating with friends I seem more able to control my reaction. It has made me wonder if I hate my family. However, now, in the time of Covid, my condition seems to be much worse. I was at a meeting yesterday where someone brought a bag of taco chips! The minute the first person started to crunch, I almost leaped out of my seat and accosted them. It was all I could do to not scream at them or just get up and flee. I don’t think I’ve ever had that dramatic response before. I live in a very rural community, pretty much remote from services. Can you recommend any online/book resources that could guide me in learning how to deal with this?
Tom Dozier works with individuals by video-chat. See https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/name/tom-dozier/
email tom@misophoniatreatment.com
Hello,
For as long as I can remember, I have had a very strong emotional reaction to the sound of bouncing balls, usually only when indoors…it’s the echo or reverberation that really gets me–even as I imagine it typing this now, instant anxiety/dread/doom/overstimulation. I hate it! And now that I’ve had a child, I’m noticing this awful feeling come up whenever he plays with any sort of ball…it’s to the point where I actually just put those toys away, which makes me feel so guilty. I’m wondering if this would be considered Misophonia? I’ve had similar reactions to people bouncing on trampolines, swinging on swing sets, and loud bass sounds in songs. What’s strange, though, is that sometimes it is totally manageable and others, I just want to crawl out of my skin! Curious to hear your thoughts. I appreciate all of the information you share on this site so very much!
Thank you,
Lyn
Sounds like misophonia to me.
Dear Dr. Dozier,
I wonder if someones own cheiwng sounds may be the triggers? If so, could some of ARFID behaviours be considered as misophonia?
Misophonia is a reflex condition and does not seem to have any connections to a dislike or resistance to food in general. So I don’t think any eating disorder behaviors would be considered as misophonia, though a person could have both conditions.
I get irate when I hear any kind of chewing or slurping sounds. Like really really angry. I yell at my dog when he drinks out of his bowl. The sound is awful. I can’t be in the same room when someone is eating. My pets grooming themselves make me mad… Help
There are treatement providers on misophoniatreatment.com. Nate Mitchell has a 1-week intensive misophonia treatment program. Tom Dozier and Chris Pearson work with people by video-chat. We can help.
Hi Tom,
I had a few questions on misophonia that I was hoping you could answer.
1. If I experience sharp pain in my ear, head, and face/cheek with certain sounds, is that a symptom of misophonia or something else? This almost exclusively happens on the right side only.
2. Regarding PMR, the website mentions “It has generally not been effective for trigger sounds where anyone making the sound causes the trigger response.” If my triggers can be caused by anyone or are unrelated to people (fork hitting a plate), will PMR benefit me?
3. Is the point of PMR to be able to actively relax a muscle that is tensed from a trigger or is it more so just learning to relax the body in the presence of a trigger? Or is it something else altogether?
Thank you!
1. Sharp pain can be the Initial Physical Reflex of misophonia. I once met a man what felt burning, like fire on his face when he heard a trigger.
2. The comment is not about PMR, but is about NRT. PMR is great for all types of triggers.
3. PMR allows you to relax all muscles after a trigger to shorten the anger response. Best of all, PMR allows you to relax before a trigger and hold that relaxation through the trigger, which can cause the misophonic reflex to decay and extinguish.
Hi, I’m 18 and I’m pretty sure I have misophonia (but I have never discussed this with any therapist). I had always been an extremely sensitive child. My problem is that the only thing I could think of regarding this would be “I’m just weird, too much sensitive, overthinker, …” just because this wasn’t common and I have never heard about misophonia, SPD nor hypersensitivity.
Now, reading your website, I feel a bit relieved, but still there’s more guilt and unprocessed emotions. My everyday trigger was and still is my mother eating and crunching. But I have always been really close with my mum and our relationship is just perfect, we are really connected, .. and that is exactly why I feel guilty – “Why do I hate my mom eating crisps when I love HER so much…?” And what’s more, my mum used to get upset when I walked out of the table and I couldn’t carry on with our family lunch. She had always said to others at the table something like: “Oh, she hates how I’m eating again, there’s the problem, don’t take it personally guys, it’s just about me. Adele, get back!” and sometimes she was ironically joking about it (and it really hurt me) – and I perceived it as a punishment. This was around my age of 5-13 let’s say. Now we know about my misophonia and my mum apologized to me, but the emotions are really strong when the trigger comes and I feel this kind of guilt, emotional outburst and hate myself at that moment. I’m really sad about it. I am in a vicious circle of telling myself it’s not my fault and of hating myself (what a terrible daughter) and crying my eyes off. My question is: What could be the first trigger – the first misophonic reflex, …? What do you think about it? What should I do (especially with the feeling of guilt)?
Thank you so much for your answer. Adela
Misophonia is an accidentally acquired physical reflex. It is not your choice. It does not reflex the feelings you have for your mum. When you go out on a hot day, you sweat. That is a reflex. You should not feel guilt for sweating. When you are triggered, it is a reflex. You don’t control it. Please try to not take it personally and feel guilt for this. You are not choosing to do this. It is better to feel sad that you have such a strong reflex to these triggers, but guilt is not appropriate. Please be kind to yourself. Read the page on guilt. I will explain it better.
There is treatment for misophonia. See misophoniatreatment.com.
Hello, I have misophonia it’s been especially bad during the pandemic with everyone at home, hearing the bass through walls and distant conversations from tvs turned up too loud. I have very good noise canceling headphones, but I have been wearing them from when i wake up to when I go to bed, and I was wondering if I’m just worsening the situation? Does avoiding the triggers to that extent have an adverse effect, or is it fine?
I think if you are listening to music (or a nice rain noise) and staying calm, then it will not make your misophonia worse or better. You need to learn to relax (use the Misophonia Muscle Relaxation Training app) and try to relax around weak, intermittent triggers. You can make them weak by using your headphones (maybe noise cancelling off) and playing rain sound.
Dr. D — Do you know of any doctors in the DC, Maryland or Virginia areas who are qualified in this special field to help my 15-year-old daughter? She has been under therapy for almost a year but the therapist says she (the therapist) has reached a plateau. We need to find someone in audiology or any field who can deal with this, but as you know, they are few and far between. I see on the internet one person in Columbia, Maryland and that may be our only choice. But perhaps there is someone new in our area who is not on the usual list. Unfortunately we live in the sticks and it is impossible to find anyone close by. But we will drive to wherever we have to go.
I don’t now of any ones that are not on the misophonia treatment provider list on misophoniatreatment.com. Check there.
Did you have any luck? I’m also in the DMV and am hoping for a personal recommendation of a provider who was helpful.
I responded privately, but here is a public post for everyone. There seems to be few therapists that understand misophonia and know how to provide treatment. Many seek help by internet video-chat. That is an option for everyone that speak English. I wish everyone well with their misophonia.
Hello! Can hearing bad singing be a trigger for Misophonia? My whole family is bad at singing but it only makes me mad when my brother is singing. I don’t know if it’s because of my Misophonia or if I’m just overreacting because he is my brother.
I know a person who was extremely triggered by a family member’s casual singing (not bad, just not good). I know others with singing triggers. Good singing, bad singing, any and all can be triggers.
Hi Tom, thank you for the website and the opportunity to ask a question. My 10 year old daughter has developed Misophonia in the last 9 months. She now can’t be in the same room as her family if anyone is eating. I am looking for treatments and have seriously considered music therapy, the Safe and Sound Protocol, Neural feedback treatment and, more recently I have found an audiologist who treats misophonia with a desensitisation approach. I am a bit overwhelmed! Do I try them all? I’d be interested to know your thoughts. Thank you
Hi Emma. My personal bias is the counterconditioning treatment I developed based on my research. This directly treats the reflex response that is causing the problem. See https://misophoniatreatment.com/misophonia-treatment-for-children/
I work with parents so the parent can provide the games that allow the reflex to go away. See the treatment provider list on misophoniatreatment.com.
You need to make sure the treatment is fun for your daughter. Fun plus tiny triggers make the triggers decrease and can even go away. Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy is also a good treatment, and it is appropriate for those 10 years old and up. That is also listed on misophoniatreatment.com.
I wish you and your daughter well.
Hi Tom, I just wanted to say thank you for the guidance. I have had misophonia for approx 30 years and it is only in recent years that I became aware that it was an actual thing. I was today pointed in the direction of your website and am grateful to have found it. The misophonia has had a fairly major debilitating effect on the enjoyment of my life. My triggers are coughing and sneezing and there are complex childhood psychological reasons for these which I think I understand (but understanding doesn’t deal with the problem). I find it so hard on a train or in the office etc and I feel such rage and go into fight mode by mimicking the cougher/sneezer to get “revenge” or flight mode in feeling desperate to escape but that is so hard in situations where I cannot get away e.g. on an airplane. I am also hyper-sensitive to any noise at home but I am not sure if that is misophonia in the same way as the coughing/sneezing as I think it is connected with childhood trauma and not feeling as though I have a safe place. I will try the PMR – I think I will struggle to do it twice a day with work but I will try to make it a priority to do it once a day. I also ordered one of the Bose headsets that you recommended. I have found that music/noise does help although sometimes I hear a sound which triggers rage and then I switch off the music as my mind goes searching for the sound and wanting “revenge”. Is the combination of the PMR and the Bose headset the right approach or is there anything else I should do? I am also seeing a therapist and a doctor for a broader spectrum of mental health related issues but the misophonia has been a particularly difficult nut to crack. Thanks again. Darren
Hi Darren. It usally takes more than that to greatly reduce you misopohnia. PMR and good use of headphones and sound can be a big help. But we do have treatment that that can change the basic reflexes of misophonia that cause you such distress. There are 2 good treatments — Relaxation and Counterconditioning Therapy (RCT) and Sequent Repatterning Hypnotherapy. You can find providers for these at misophoniatreatment.com. I wish you well. >tom<
Hello, I’ve been doing research on misophonia because I was trying to look for an answer as to why I react the way I do to certain sounds and I think it may fit. I also looked into co occurring disorders as I do have multiple other diagnosed disorders, two of which I came across articles on their relation to misophonia; Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorders. I’ve always gotten irritated at sounds my mind deems to be “unnecessary” even if I myself can recognize that they are. But over the last few weeks it’s gotten much worse and it’s not even all “unnecessary” sounds. Babies crying? Keyboard typing? Chewing? Anything involving bodily functions I’m fine with, although I know those that involve mouths are the most common misophonia triggers. My trigger sounds seem to be absolutely ridiculous though. My house doesn’t have very good windows so I can hear every car that passes by the house, and it’s a moderately busy street. Every time I hear a passing car I get this unexplainable anger that feels similar to how I feel in the beginning moments of the rage episodes I have due to my BPD. Car doors aren’t trigger sounds for me though unless they’re slammed, in which case that’s more of a PTSD/fear of upsetting people trigger. I live with my grandmother, and she is, for lack of a better word, a heavyset woman, so her footsteps are louder than the average person. Her footsteps incite the anger too anytime she moves around the house, even if it’s when she gets up to go eat or go to the bathroom. The plumbing in the house is also a trigger sound for me, but my worst one is definitely the cars. More often with the cars but with all of my trigger sounds after hearing them even once I get so mad that I’ll yell or scream the words “shut up” as well as swear words. And if it’s rush hour and I’m not getting a break from the noise I usually graduate to not only yelling but punching the walls as well. Does this sound like misophonia is something I should talk about with my psychologist? Or is there something different I should be looking into?
This definitely sounds like misophonia. You need to work with someone that is expert in misophonia treatment. I suggest you look at the misophonia treatment provider list on misophoniatreatment.com
I wish you well.
>tom<
Hello,
I think that I have misophonia but where I live I can’t get properly diagnosed is there anything I can do to get a diagnosis to show it to my place of work to get the people around me to stop triggering me. Like the lip-smacking, the letter S and pen clicking. Now that everything is online new triggers have risen. For example, hearing their saliva due to mic placement and breathing into their mic. I am in need of an official diagnosis to aid me in telling people to stop or at least encourage them to be mindful.
People can be very cruel in the work place. What you are mentioning are normal workplace behaviors. A better question is, what can you do on your end? Can you turn down the treble and turn up the bass on your computer? That will reduce the “s” problem. Can you use background noise that helps mask the lip-smacking and pen clicking?
Consider using the phrase, “Can you help me? I have a reflex condition where certain sounds, like pen clicking and lip-pop when speaking trigger a very distressing reaction.”
See misophoniatreatment.com for a list of misophonia providers. Audiologists and psychologists can provide a diagnosis.
Hello, I have been having this phenomenon for about as long as I can remember now (since the age of 8 maybe), but anytime I hear people chewing, smacking their lips, or anything related to eating I get this urge to scream at them if they don’t stop. It also happens with things like the clicking of saliva in the mouth and sounds similar to the sound of slime with beads in it. I have been wondering for a long time if this is just me being weird or if it’s a medical disorder like misophonia. Other noses that ‘trigger’ me are the sound of metal on metal and metal on teeth. It causes me to have a similar reaction even thinking about these noises, so if you could please tell me what’s going on that would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Misophonia is a “learned” or “acquired” reflex condition. See the videos, Misophonia, What Is It for a good explanation.
Why do I rarely, if ever, see the following listed among misophonia noise triggers: leaf blowers, huge lawn mowers, pounding bass from cars, backup beepers, car alarms, loud exhaust pipes?
All of these sounds immediately set off anxiety, anger, rage and disgust within me. They immediately distract me from whatever I am doing until I am able to get my earbuds stuffed into my ears so I can mask the offending noise with music that I like. Also, I find that my response to these wretched noises is not proportionate to their intensity. For example, if I so much as hear a leaf blower in the distance I am triggered by that sound the same as if it were just across the street. So please tell me, Don’t the above listed noises qualify as triggers for misophonia? Oddly, I am not easily agitated by the typically listed sound triggers such as chewing or lip smacking.
Any sound or sight (also other stimuli) can be a trigger. These sounds are not as commonly triggers as the other ones you hear about. You are not alone. Others have these sounds as triggers also.
What could I do to cope better with misophonia? I’m 15 and I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. The main ways I cope with it are just listening to music or wearing earplugs but when I’m in school I’m not really allowed to do it. Of course, I do have other methods but those are like the ones I use to calm my anxiety down like the bouncing of a leg, rocking, wearing a big sweatshirt, and use it sorta as a security blanket but they take a really long time in order to calm down. It makes it really hard to focus on my school work and especially big tests because of how loud sounds get when the whole room is quiet and no one is talking. I’ve tried to ask my parents or people around me what to do but no one around me really was it or knows what I’m talking about. I just really don’t know what to do and I’m trying the best that I think I can to help myself but I’m at a roadblock. More things have been seeming to trigger it more than normal and it’s confusing me. I just don’t know what to do.
Yuo can get treatment for misophonia. You can also get accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act that would allow you to wear headphones and use earplugs in school. See https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/ for misophonia treatment providers. Treatment can be provided by video-chat. We wish you well.
Hello, I would like to do genetic testing for marker associated with misophonia. What do I ask for on 23 and Me?
Contact 23 and Me website. There is one gene associated with misophonia. But it does not “cause” misophonia. Many have the gene and do not have misophonia. Even more do not have the gene and have misophonia.
My cousin recently underwent in-vitro fertilization, not because she and her husband were having trouble getting pregnant naturally but because they wanted to do genetic testing on the embryo before implantation to test for hereditary kidney disease. It got me thinking… can the same approach be taken for misophonia? I’ve heard that the genetic testing companies like 23andMe do isn’t fully vetted yet, so do you think it’s a complete long shot? (I’m asking because my husband and I are thinking about having a baby soon but I absolutely dread possibly passing on my misophonia.)
There is a gene that relates to being 18% or 36% more likely to develop misophonia if you have 1 or 2 copies. This is not a yes-no gene for misophonia. Misophonia includes both genetic and environmental factors for development of the condition.
Good Afternoon,
My 11 year old daughter has been suffering with Misophonia for the past year, with her main trigger being our (her immediate family) voice. It means that our home is often silent, fearful of her ‘rage’. We are currently engaged with a psychologist who is trying her best but our daughter is also a ‘tween’ and just wants it to go away without having to put in the effort. We have seen small improvement with EMDR but with C19 lockdowns, this has been interrupted. I am now looking at Integrative Psychiatry, considering neurofeedback, sensory diets and additional coping strategies but this is extremely difficult when you cant talk to your child and all she wants to do is avoid you. Do you have any other suggestions? Misophonia is destroying our family!
I suggest you find someone that has experience and success treating misophonia. See https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/. Most of the treatments you mentioned have sporatic success. Some treatments available by video-chat are Sequent Repatterning Hypnotherapy (good treatment is your daughter is willing to engage) and Relaxation and Counterconditioning Therapy. Tom can also help with the tween issues. Both of these treatments work to reduce the fundamental reflexes of misophonia that are causing your daughter to experience rage.
My son was diagnosed with Misophonia in high school. Due to the recent pandemic, he is having to do all his classes online and is required synchronized learning. Recently, his new professor in college constantly smacks at the end of each sentence and he is experiencing major issues trying to focus on the class with not being able to escape these noises. He is meeting with the DSS this week at his University. They asked him to think of accommodations that would be plausible for the university to provide. With this being a new way of learning, what accommodations do you think would be helpful to him in this situation?
Maybe he could have a speach to text device, and so not have to hear the instructors words.
Thank you for your website and resources! What do you think about noise reduction earbuds such as Loop earplugs and dBud for helping in misophonia? Many thanks!
I don’t have any experience with these.
Hi Tom–
I am trying to find someone to help my daughter who we believe suffers from misophonia. We live in Minnesota. Are there any providers in this area that you know of? Thanks for your help.
You can check the treatment provider list on https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/. There are audiologists in Edina, MN. Treatment can also be provided by video-chat. See https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/cat/video-chat/.
when I see loose strands of hair lying around, I get chills, my head automatically shakes like a dog shaking water off himself. Is it possible that this is a visual trigger which developed from audio triggers?
It is very possible that this is a visual misophonia trigger. The sight of the hair causes a physical reflex, which is the hallmark of a misophonia response, even thought the emotional reflexes of misophonia are far more disturbing than the physical reflex.
Hello Tom,
Do you know if anyone has ever attempted to build an online database of movies, TV episodes and commercials that have scenes with misophonia triggers? If not, that would be a good side project that the community could compile together. It would be so nice to be able to know in advance when to hit the mute button 🙂
Thanks!
We don’t know of anything like this. Go for it!
I am a misophonist living in London, England.
I would like to be assessed and evaluated for my misophonia (to know the extremity, and perhaps treatment)
Is there anybody in London’s surroundings who you can recommend to me?
Thank you.
The treatment provider directory, https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/ does not show a hypnotherapist in the London area. We don’t know of anyone else. You can be assessed by video-chat with Tom Dozier, email tdozier@misophonia.org.
Hello
I recently purchased a book of yours on misophonia, and i feel treated to be acknowledged for my issues. Thank you!
i am 18, this is the first time i hear of the physical reflex that occurs. i hurried to find out what mine was, but as i am listening to the trigger sounds i immediately cringe.
is the cringe my reflex reaction or is it simply my body hearing the sound and knowing of its oncoming arrival?
it is a cringe behind my ears which makes me push my head forward.
What you describe as a “cringe” is several muscles tightening. This is your Initial Physical Response. Try to hear very soft, weak triggers. Get the free Misophonia Reflex Finder app which allows you to play a soft, short trigger. Muscles do not push, they only pull. So you are reporting Initial Physical Response as 1) the muscles behind your ears and 2) muscles that pull your head forward.
I am developing an understanding what is really going on here for the first time. The symptoms and history of my child’s Misophonia occurred exactly as described by Tom Dozier. I understand what a severe handycap Misophonia can become in life and that it is neccessary to do something about it. Thanks for your articles and videos!
Tom
My 13 year old son seems to have developed misophonia for the last 3 years. The trigger is only his mom chewing food or clearing her throat. He Orrin’s to close his ears or walks away from her. I do not believe he has any other trigger.
Any suggestions / treatment / counseling / consult suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
You can check the treatment provider list at https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/. You can also email tdozier@misophonia.org
Tom made an interesting assumption regarding the importance of the role of muscular contraction in misophonia reaction.
However, it seems to be very easy to verify.
For those misophonics whose muscle reflex appears in extremities (42.3% from your own study reportedly have it in arms/hands), apply local anesthesia and check a person’s reaction.
Or, even simpler, apply a blood-stopping tourniquet until numbness and then test for misophonic reaction.
Will there be an emotional response?
We considered this idea but have not been able to do such an experiement. Because it is a hyuman subject research study, it needs extra approval. I have suggested that individuals consider contacting a doctor about this on their own, but no one has done that so far, including a doctor that I was working with.
I have misophonia, and it is at the point where I get very aggressive when I hear a noise I am sensitive too. My parents often yell at me for reacting aggressively, saying that I should stop. I often tell them I can’t help it, and it is just instict, but they don’t believe me. I feel terrible, and I am asking, how do I try to cope with the noises? I’ve tried things like trying to block the noise out, but it is like I can still hear the noise.
The best management technique is to add a lot of sound (rain, waves, etc.) to your world. For cheap, good blocking of triggers, you can use earbuds (with noise app) and ear protection ear muffs.
I suggest you have your parents watch the video on this site, “Misophonia, What Is It?” I wish you well.
Do you have any information on using EMDR as a treatment for Misophonia
Usually, EMDR is not effective for misophonia.
Why isn’t it effective? Could you perhaps point me in the direction of research that has been done to support this? Thanks!
I don’t have specific research on this, just what I hear from comments of others. EMDR is meant to address a persistent negative feeling about something, as a past experience. The misophonia reflex is an immediate response to a specific stimulus. This is quite different than what EMDR addresses. But EMDR could be helpful for persistent, negative feelings about misophonia experiences.
Hi Tom,
I am a 23 year old considering going to dental school. The career checks off all of my boxes except for one major issue: the sound the high speed/hypersonic hand-pieces make when coming into contact with teeth to polish or “scale” them gives me instant goosebumps and mild nausea – even from just thinking about the noise or watching videos on youtube. The best comparison I can make is the sound of nails on a chalkboard. I have always dreamed of being a dentist, but this is a little roadblock I am currently facing since scaling is done on a daily basis. Any advice on treatment? I have considered immersion therapy but have seen a lot of negative opinions on its effectiveness. I have two years of pre-requisite courses to complete before I would begin dental school so I really want to get this under control and not sacrifice my future over a stupid reflex!
Hi Zachary,
How this is addressed depends on if this is a learned or genetic reflex. My guess is that this is a learned reflex. Misophonia is a learned reflex. Relaxation training and counterconditioning therapy (RCT) may address this. Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy would be another possible treatment. If it is a genetic reflex, then it may habituate with counterconditioning.
Hi. I have an almost 11 yo son who I believe has misophonia. He says the only trigger is chewing. It is anybody chewing, although at first it was just his sisters that upset him. He seems to be getting more upset with it as time goes on not less, and more quick to anger. Initially I read the headphones were the treatment so I got some a few weeks ago, unfortunately, and it seems now that without them his reactions are worse as I mentioned.
Can you please advise on how you would start treatment with him. I am a trained therapist and have some skills in cognitive behavioral therapy so was wondering if I should start there or with something else. If CBT is recommended is there a protocol I can follow? Or specific CBT skills to start with? I would greatly appreciate your input. Thank you
One more point. He does not want to learn skills to manage his anger. I just tried to introduce the idea in general although I think he is worried that would mean a loss of the headphones. I will keep gently trying but maybe there is another way in to that you can suggest
Misophonia treatment should not be about learning how to manage the anger. Treatment should be about reducing the misophonic reflex so that there is no (or far less) anger to manage. This is a reality with existing treatments. Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy focuses on the emotional reflex and Behavioral Treatment by Tom Dozier (and others) focuses on the initial physical reflex. Both of these treatments make it so the person does not have to “manage” their anger.
Are there any providers in San Antonio, Texas or Texas at all?
Tom Dozier can help you by video-chat. There are several other clinicians that provide treatment by video-chat. See https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/cat/video-chat/
How do I take the test? I didn’t see a link. Do I have to be on a computer?
You will need to download the document and complete it with a PDF viewer app.
Hi Tom,
My daughter Lyndsay and I attended the convention last year and hope to be back with you all in October if the world settles down by then. I am listening to Hidden Valley Road, while I understand it is about schizophrenia ,there is a conversation in it about the double click test one of the researchers used. He was testing their sensory gating deficit. It goes on to say many patients he diagnosed with schizophrenia also had sensitivity to sounds. Clearly my curiosity was peaked. If i understood what he was saying correctly he traced the reaction to the Alpha 7 nicotinic receptor. Do you know if this has been looked into for misophonia?
I am not aware of any such research for misophonia.
Hi,
I was wondering if Misophonia can go hand in hand with weight issues. I have very bad Misophonia and can easily fill up two pages with different sounds that trigger me. I know Misophonia triggers a fight or flight response. Would that mean that the body is flooded with cortisol every time someone is triggered?
I think that is a good assumption – you are often flooded with cortisol.
Hello Dozier, I’m a student and I’m doing a project of misophonia, also I suffer this condition.
I noticed that when I have a good mood the triggers are less annoying, however, when I’m neutral or bad mood, the trigger sounds are worst and my responses intensify. I would ask you if you have studied this condition, or notice something similar.
Thanks for your attention.
Arabia.
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, faculty of psychology
I have noticed the same thing with my patients.
Hi Tom,
I just found your website. I hear Low Frequency sound. Is your method suiteble for this? If yes, waht could I use? I started with the PMR audio/
Thanks for answering me.
Regards,
Kato
Practice muscle relaxation training (see misophoniatreatment.com/pmr) and relax when there are triggers. Also use the Trigger Tamer.
We have a daughter who somewhat recently constantly complains about her older daughter eating with her mouth open during dinner. Older daughter had large braces for a long time and did eat with her mouth open, but couldn’t help it. They are now off and it took her a while to learn to eat with her mouth closed again, but she keeps complaining about it, multiple times during dinner, really like a robot now (repetitive, monotone voice, etc). I came across the syndrome and website searching for it, but don’t think she really has it. I think it’s one of the few ways for her to embarrass or degrade her older sister who she may think is “perfect” b/c of grades, college acceptances, etc. My guess is she doesn’t complain about friends or others who may be noisy eaters, but no real way to know. Just wondering about your thoughts and whether there is any way to know whether she really has an issue with it or if it is just another sibling rivalry matter manifesting as potential misophonia. Thanks,
It is more likely mild misophonia that sibling rivalry, but it could be either. Misophonia generally starts with 1 person or 1 setting making the triggers. It could be easy to head off at this time, but will be harder if it is misophonia and spreads to other family members and eventually to non-family members. We could do a test for misophonia if you wish in an assessment meeting.
How can we do the assessment?
See misophoniatreatment.com for contact information.
hi,my name is aly,and i found very interesting the article about the noise.
Lately i started suffering from misophonia.It s a complex story.The thing is ,i had to leave my home and pay rent somewhere else,because i can t stand the noisy neighbors.They disturb my peace and take away my concentration.I m an artist and i can t create anymore.I became anxious and with panic attacks.I feel like the house is the ultimate teritory of intimacy,meditation and recharging your batteries.Is a spiritual realm.The noise disrupted the magic of my life and inspiration.I wonder if there s any solution to things like that,because i feel like i lost all the power i once had.I have no sense of belonging,i have no roots,i lost my nest,my life,my parents have to pay it all for me,our lives have been shattered.it might sound strange,but is true.Peace and serenity was the root of my life and my creation,which was an immersive process into a world of wonder.Without it,i am nothing.
Aly, There is treatment for misophonia now. In fact, there are 2 good treatments. See misophoniatreatment.com.
Hi Tom,
My 17 year old daughter has a tic disorder, possibly tourettes, but her worst triggers are are the voices, coughs etc of myself and my 2 other daughters who live at home. She went to a very well respected psychologist who is an expert in tourettes, ocd etc, for CBT to help control her tics, but in the end it did not work, because the sound triggers simply overwhelm her. We only recently became aware of misophonia, and are quite sure that it is her bigger problem. I have briefly read through the information regarding treatment and am not sure it’s something she can do right now, as she is somewhat “burned” from CBT and would probably not be able to put in the requisite practice time at this point. I have 2 questions. 1. Will it get worse over time if we wait a bit to see how things go for her as she reaches maturity and gains more autonomy that comes with it? 2. She will probably be going overseas for school next year and will be removed from the family setting. She is pretty much OK outside. Can she end up developing new triggers in new places, or will this help her by being removed from her worst triggers? Thank you
Most people continue to develop new triggers as time goes on, or have them expand to other people and places. I suggest she get treatment for misophonia by someone who is competent and can share their success rates with you/her. She should work on relaxing as best she can, rather than tensing up when she is around triggers or when she is triggered.
Hi Tom. I’ve been told I have misophonia, but my “triggers” change and even then not always bothered by any sound. But when my mind decides something is a trigger, it spirals out of control and I feel severe rage and sick to my stomach.
This sounds like an interesting variation of misophonia. Triggers include the stimulus and everything associated with it – the setting, who is present, social expectations, and more. So a sound or sight may not trigger you in one situation, but trigger you horribly in another. Your level of health and well-being also affect whether you are triggered or not. When you feel great, you are less likely to be triggered.
Our son has exhibited multiple Misophonia related triggers including his mom and his brother chewing, his brother “clearing his throat” and his brother twirling his hair. The one that has us all stumped is his intermittent reaction to his mom’s voice. He is nearly always triggered by either the sound of his mom’s voice (and it can be a severe trigger that causes him to scream at the top of his lungs) or even just seeing her if they are in separate rooms and she comes into where he is. But there are also times throughout the day when he can see and/or hear her and not be triggered at all. Right now he stays mostly in his room with his noise canceling headphones on and listening to music. Mom tries her best to avoid him, but this isn’t really practical in a family of 5 and a small house. What is so baffling is that he can have times when he is around her, and isn’t triggered at all, but those times typically don’t last vey long (about 20-30 minutes) and then you can just see his demeanor changing and we know the triggering is about to come. Based upon all the research and reading we have done, including your complete collection of videos, and your 2nd edition book, I thought triggers were always triggers and that makes him bein intermittently triggered by his mom’s voice so baffling and hard to deal with. HELP!
A misophonic trigger is controlled by a complex stimulus. It is not just the sound or sight. It also includes the context, social expectations, setting, people present, stimulus source, etc. For example, we have heard the sound of a lion roar at the start of an MGM movie and had no reaction. But if we were camping, in a tent, in the forest at 2am, the same stimulus would cause a very different reaction. This is why he may be triggered only to his mom’s voice and sometimes why he is seemngly not triggered.
A second factor is that the severity of triggers is worse if a person is upset, distressed, tense, tired, or other factors that lower their well-being. Your son is probably being triggered, but not reacting outwardly at times, because he is feeling better or motivated to be near mom. If you see his demeanor change, that probably means he is being triggered, but restraining himself. He keeps trying, and the accumulation of triggers becomes too much for him to tolerate.
Hello.
My daughter suffers from misophonia, but only when her trigger sounds come from me. In other words, everyone else in the world can clear their throat, but I – her mother – cannot. Everyone else has a pair of hands that move. That doesn’t bother her. Only the sight of my hands bothers her. Every other family member can breathe, chew and basically be alive – except me. Is that misophonia or displaced anger/ hatred?
Thank you for any help.
Sometimes (and usually at first) only a specific person will make the triggers. This is horrible for you, but better for your daughter than being triggered by everyone. The sooner you seek treatment, the more likely you will be to succeed. See https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/ for a list of treatment providers. Tom Dozier and Jaelline Jaffe can help you by video-chat because there is probably no treatment provider near you.
Hello
I cannot hear someone whistling. It feels like I will lose my mind. It makes me so sick. Before, its only from one particular person. But lately its just anyone who whitles. Help! Please help..
We know how to help. The methods on this website are good. See misophoniatreatment.com or email tom@misophoniatreatment.com.
Hello!
I have extreme miso for 2 years now. My biggest trigger are voices. No matter which voices. It can be from a child, a woman or a man. I cant go out to the doctor, I needed to end school and I cant go work. I cant even stand a voice for 1 minute. Its horrible. Im so alone because I cant talk to anyone. Im just 20. and I tried expensive hypnosis therapy, white and pink noise and cognitive behavioral therapy for over 1 year. Nothing worked and I dont have any hope left. Is there any hope? What can I do? I live in germany. I cant do another therapy because the voices a very high trigger now.
See misophoniatreatment.com/pmr. Read the video transcript at the bottom, and do one of the PMR scripts. Do at least 1 hr of muscle relaxation training a day for 1 month. If you can do more, do it. After 1 week, relax as best you can around weak triggers, and then work up from there.
I’m male, 63, and have a history of childhood neglect. My mother (deceased) disgusted me. I have a misophonia reaction to the sound of mothers cooing to babies or pets. The combination of psychological and auditory triggers confuses me. I live in a place that is a psychological / psychiatric desert, but could travel a modest number of times to a major city. Any suggestions?
Counterconditioning with muscle relaxation training and Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy are good treatments for misophonia. See misophoniatreatment.com for help. These treatments can be provided by video-chat.
Hi Tom, I a Special education and recently got a kid on my caseload who suffers from misophonia and autism. What are some interventions that have worked previously? We are having difficulty with the student being around others who are snacking. We have attempted to implement a break card intervention but the student is refusing. What would your recommendations be?
Adding lots of noise to the room can be a big help, especially near the child with misophonia. You can get a sound machine like Lectro-Fan or use a box fan sitting against a wall (or with cardboard covering the back). This way, it will not blow air, but still make a lot of noise. Headphones and smartphone/tablet with a noise app like White Noise by TMSOFT is also very helpful. Misophonia Institute has training about misophonia. See the page under the Professionals tab or misophonia.org/training.
My daughter has a very strong trigger towards a specific ‘t’ sound. It started from her father but has extended to a few other people. It makes her very angry and aggressive and she totally shuts off when she hears the sound. My husband can’t talk in the house when she’s around. She usually tolerates it when she is a happy state but when things don’t go in her favor, she starts reacting. We’ve had her evaluated for other symptoms but she passed all psychological tests for OCD and others. Is this regarded as misophonia?
This sounds exactly like misophonia. We can help by video-chat.
Is it possible to trigger emotions with music? Or to be more precise, using music to distract yourself from other sounds such that the music can control your emotions to some degree. If you feel really bad, you listen to a song with the right beats and text which can actually make you feel like the king of the world. Again and again. To ignore the sounds of the world, you increase the volumes. Your ears start to hurt but the rhythm keeps you going.
To be frank, the latter part was mused. My question is more like: “How does music affect people misphonia?” The music-connected-to-emotions-thing is actually a general phenomena.
People with misophonia are affected by music. There is no data on this, but the negative emotions of misophonia are much stronger than the positive emotions from music.
I have just watched your video that explains sound sculpting. Our misophonic daughter does not like any white or pink noises played in her bedroom and she does not tolerate nature sounds being played either but she doesn’t mind the buzzing of an aromatherapy diffuser. She has
ow indicated she wouldike a fish tank in her bedroom. I guess this can be used for sound enriching her bedroom? Do u have any experiences of this?
I’vd had clients that would not tolerate certain noises. Maybe she needs to work on finding these other noises pleasant. If you have other compliance issues, then you could benefit from behavioral parenting coaching to help you with your daughter.
Hello Tom! 🙂 Is there any scientical connection between Misophonia and memory/learning. Sorry if this is not the best place to ask such questions but I’m from Poland and we don’t have many informations about Misophonia. I’m a therapist working with a 5 y.o. boy who has misophonia and also some memory problems and I’m wondering if there is a possibility that it is connected. From what I could found Misophonia is connected with hippocampus and amygdala and these parts are responsible for remembering things (as far as I know it’s more about memories connected with emotions but maybe there is a lead). Let me know if you hear anything from scientific perspective or obsereve such connection yourself. Have a wonderful day! Jagoda
I don’t see any connection between memory/learning and misophonia (except that misophonia is a learned reflex disorder, so it is a type of accidental learning of the reflex). I suggest you try the Trigger Games for Children treatment. See https://misophoniatreatment.com/misophonia-treatment-for-children/
Hello! I am currently a college student and have known that I have misophonia for 4 or 5 years now. However, new issues are arising all the time. The latest and greatest issue I am facing so far is how to cope with testing situations. I have been in the middle of an exam multiple times when the person behind or next to me starts tapping on a desk or with their foot or starts cracking their gum, and it greatly negatively impacts my test scores. I have gone to the office of accommodations and talked with the director. In order to get testing accommodations, such as testing in a separate room with noise machines or music playing, I would need to be diagnosed by a professional/doctor. That is not exactly an easy feat, especially considering that misophonia is not yet in the DSM-5. What would you suggest? I have done a decent bit of research into treatment, and it seems like the best option for me could be using something like a Widex hearing aid with the functional ability to play sounds via Bluetooth from a phone. An issue I could run into with that, though, is that without registering with the school as having some sort of hearing disability or brain disorder, which, again, is difficult for the reasons stated above, then they could see the hearing aid as a method of cheating. Otherwise, I have also been looking into earplugs, but none seem to cover anything more than 37 decibels. Is that enough? I know this is a lot, and a very specific situation, but any help/input is much appreciated; thank you!
Contact James Claiborn in South Portland Maine and see if he can help you. Also, you can go to https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/ and look for someone. Jaelline Jaffe in California may also be able to help you.
For now, see if you can wear the earplugs (fully inserted into your ear canals) and ear protection ear muffs (if needed). This will provide treat noise protection.
Hi Tom. Thank you for offering so much advice and management solutions for misophonia. Our son’s symptoms started about a year ago, and he has grown to be very uncomfortable with noises while in the car, during meals, and in theatres. After discovering this website, I suggested to my husband that we buy him noise-reducing (not noise cancelling) headphones in December, and he agreed. They noticeably eased his anxiety with his triggers immediately. He no longer isolated himself during dinner in another room and seemed to find comfort in putting them on right after school, as he did not want to wear them at school. We still found a child therapist for him so he could talk about his frustrations with a professional. A few sessions ago, she assigned him the “homework” of trying to wear his headphones less. I wasn’t sure why, as they offered him so much comfort and the management page on your site said that we should not force children to endure their triggers. This made sense to me, but my husband embraced her suggestion heartily, telling our son things like, “You don’t need those in the store, do you?” or “If you don’t wear them at the restaurant I’ll buy you a toy,” which I fear made our son associate his headphones with a stigma and embarrassment. He was noticeably uncomfortable with them off, but would stick it out, watching for his father’s approval, and when I gave him my hand in the car or at the restaurant, he would squeeze it to show me how hard it was for him. My husband recently asked him to take them off for an hour car drive if he wanted to keep the toy he’d bought him, while I sat next to him rubbing his back and distracting him with phone games and he squirmed with tears in his eyes the whole time. His dad thought he was fine and said the headphones are clearly making it worse, enabling him to the point where he can no longer handle his triggers. I have shown him this website, and explained the management techniques to him and the therapist. She said she had never heard of misophonia before we brought it up as a possibility, and tends to discourage any aids, since children can’t always have them in life, but didn’t care if he used them or not. She also suggested we see a specialist like an OT. I am working on making an appointment with experts you’ve listed, but in the meantime, my husband is actively bribing him to stop wearing them completely. Do you think it will do our son harm to endure his triggers? Do you have advice for how to help other adults in my son’s life understand why headphones are a helpful rather than enabling aid, such as more specific reasoning or any peer-reviewed studies to support their helpfulness? I think it makes this confusing for my son to have different adults who care about him tell him different things. Do other families struggle with wanting different management techniques?
Many families struggle with what to do for a child with misophonia. It is not a sign of not caring, but comes from which source to trust for advice.
In Schroder et al. (2017) there was a comment on response to typical exposure. “Importantly, in the development of the unpublished pilot study we noticed that mere exposure to misophonic triggers did not decrease symptoms. Mostly, it even increased misophonia symptoms.”
Any profession who does not understand a condition should not provide treatment by simply assuming it will respond the way other conditions respond. For a professional to do this is risky because it could result in malpractice. Most disciplines specifically state that a therapist must have specific training and development of expertise before treatment is provided.
Misophonia includes 5 stages. 1) Trigger, 2) Physical Reflex, 3) Emotional Response, 4) Physiological Distress Response, 5) Overt (visible) Behavior. The suggestion that your son experience stages 1-4, and suppress stage 5 is not good because stages 2 and 3 will likely increase in intensity by doing this.
Is the etiology of Misophonia still unknown?
I believe we understand the etiology of misophonia, but there is not a general agreement on this. Misophonia include a physical reflex which develops by the pairing of a stimulus and an unconscious response. We conducted a study of 26 people with misophonia and all had a physical response to weak triggers. We tested 3 people using visual observation and electromyography and each had an immediate response. For a visual trigger, the response occurred 200ms after the start of the trigger. The delay was about 350ms for a visual trigger. So we feel misophonia is a conditioned aversive reflex disorder based on our research.
Hi, my daughter is 10-years-old. She is a highly sensitive person and within the last few months has really been bothered by her 7-year-old brother chewing with his mouth open, or just chewing. Recently, she has become VERY emotional and angry about “battle noises” he makes while playing. Sounds like crash noises, bombs, guns, typical little boy sounds. We were in a long car trip over the weekend and every time he made the noises she went nuts. I am really worried for her. I have OCD and have had times in my life where certain sounds drive me nuts, almost crippling. However, for years, with a few rough weeks here and there, I feel fine and sounds don’t bother me. But I know how disturbing sounds can be and I am really worried for her. What should I do? I tell me son Jack to stop making those noses, but these are average little boy sounds. I am very worried it will spread and she will become not be able to function and it will effect her quality of life. what do you recommend I do?
Hi Lori. You have good reason for concern because misophonia generally starts with one sound and spreads to other sounds and visual stimuli. Here are several things you can do. 1) Minimize the occurance of situations where your daughter is upset by the triggers and cannot escape. You can provide headphones and books/tablets for the car so athat she can escape the trigger stimuli. You can allow her to leave the table, with out asking permission. You can split up the family for meals. Each child can eat with one parent (or take turns with the parent). 2) You can teach your son to chew with his mouth closed using a daily (or each meal) reward for meeting this expectation. Correcting your son when he makes a trigger is usually of no benefit. 3) You can seek treatment for your daugther. See misophoniatreatment.com for treatment by video-chat or someone near you. Beware of getting help from someone who does not know about misophonia and is not willing to study the condition before providing treatment.
I wish your daughter well. The sooner you take action the better because every new trigger stimulus makes her misophonia harder to treat.
Hi! We found the diagnosis Misophonia on the internet about a year ago when we tried to understand what our 14 year old daughter is suffering from. She hates sounds of eating and breathing, but also needs to correct how we (her family members) say words. We have to say them the way she wants to hear them and that is not the correct grammatical way but just the way she wants them. She interrupts all the time and keeps repeating the word until we repeat them the right way. It´s making all of the family really tired and we don´t know what to do because the more we correct ourselves the worse it gets. Do you think this is Misophonia or something else like maybe OCD? She is an angel at school but at home she is really aggressive.
The eating and breathing triggers are definitely misophonia. The word issue may also be misophonia.
My teen daughter has been complaining about certain sounds for years, but it has grown more pronounced in the last year. We think she may be suffering from misophonia, but there do not seem to be any therapists in our area (DC) that specialize in this area and from reading some of your comments to other posts, I am wary of trying a therapist who is not familiar with this condition. By chance, do you have a recommendation for someone in the DC are who specializes in this condition? Also, I would love to read the article you mention of a father discussing his son’s misophonia. The link, however, does not work. Is there any chance you can share the article in any other way? Kindly, M
You may check our current list of treatment providers at misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory. There are several who work by video-chat that you can contact.
The page you mention was removed because it was about 4 years old, and therefore did not include current information.
Hey Tom, I am someone who suffers from misophonia, and has for many years. From what I have read, my personal issues with it or more on the intense side. To keep it brief and simple, my reactions to sound triggers include anxiety(which I also experience aside from misophonia), conditioned aversion, fight or flight, and occasionally nausea. As a 30 year old male, it becomes difficult in the work place because I can’t block these sounds out. It also doesn’t help that i have extremely good hearing. This makes me experience something I found out, only after some reading today, that others deal with as well: the anticipation of sound triggers even worse. If anything, I suffered this for many years with no real way of explaining it to other people. I am very glad I was able to find that there are people actually studying this phenomenon.
My question for you: Do you know of anyone currently trying to conduct studies of misophonia? I live near a rather large hospital, Henry Ford of Detroit, and I was considering inquiring with them, but if figured asking here more prudent. The reason I ask is because I would absolutely be interested in being a volunteer as a test subject. If I can do anything to help not only myself, but also others who suffer with misophonia, I would gladly do so.
Feel free to email me as well, as I might not see any response posted here.
Thanks,
Sean
Hi Sean,
You are not alone. Misophonia is very common affecting 10-15% of adults in the US. I don’t know of any treatment sutdies at this time. Thank you for your willingness to help.
Sincerely,
>tom<
Hi Tom As many of the people on here I thought i was crazy till recently my worst trigger is whistling but all the chewing sounds progressed from my dad to ALL other people – it heas got to the stage where i see an apple or a packet of crisps near my b/f i get so wound up – i feel anger and repulsion and want to kill then it turns to helpless feelings.
Is there any work on EFT Tapping and misophonia?
Liz
We don’t have any good reports of EFT Tapping being an effective treatment for misophonia.
do you think it might work on the angry feelings i feel ?
I do not know, and as behaviorist, this is outside of my area of competence.
I have been suffering from mesophonia around my family members only. Unfortuneately their noises are so loud that I hear them pretty well in my room. My trigger noises are mostly coughing, nose sniffing, cutlery noises, children noises, doors/cabinets being shut loudly and screeching noise of chairs being moved against the floor. My reactions to the noises are pretty severe. Sometimes its so bad that I involuntarily scream in anger. I have been telling them to manage the sounds, they say they are trying but in reality the sounds aren’t going down. They have been strongly urging me to go to a psychiatrist, they think it is my only solution. Problem is most psychiatrists in my country are not well associated with misophonia issues. Anyhow I still went to a psychiatrist telling him about my misophonia problem. He has prescribed some drugs for me saying that these drugs will fix or help with my misophonia. The drugs he prescribed to me are :
Stemedil 5mg
Telazine 5mg
Perkinil 5mg
Rispolux 2mg
I have done some research regarding these drugs and found out that these are mostly used for anxiety, schizophrenia, manic behavior and psychosis. Should I go along with the doctor’s treatment? I am unsure as psychiatrists have a habit of just handing out pills without fully understanding the situation. The drugs might help or do nothing or even make my mental health worse. I really need some advice from people experienced with mesophonia
We cannot provide medical advice. Sorry. If you ask on a Facebook misophonia group, someone will share their opinion.
Kind of rude TOM
I did not mean it to be rude. There are no medical doctors here, and we are not competent to provide any medical advice. I can say that some people have reported a medication helped their misophonia, and many have reported that it did not. But as for as specific medications, I have not heard of any consistent positive response from any medication.
I have been struggling with misophonia since I was about 10 years old, of course at the time I didn’t know why I certain noises plagued me so terribly. I am now 22 years old, I live a relatively normal life between going to college and working full time. I have had a number of stressors in my life recently and they seem to be effecting my misophonia in a negative way. My triggers are: nose sniffing, loud chewing, oral smacking (salivation noises), and silverware scrapping teeth and plates. Usually I can subdue the anger and anxiety long enough to escape the sound. However; lately I can hardly seem to control my anger when I hear one of these noises. I react by screaming or punching something, I feel like I am getting incredibly aggressive. I can’t even eat dinner with my family anymore, because it ends in me yelling at someone to chew with their mouth closed. My family thinks it’s all in my head, but I know it’s deeper than that; my heart races, I feel dread and panic. I hate who this makes me. How can I work on it, why is it getting worst, why did I get this? Please help me, I just want to live a normal life.
We do have treatments that are generally effective at reducing misophonia severity. I suggest you review misophoniatreatment.com for more information on treatment options.
Hi, I have dealt with Misophonia since age 12/13. I always just assumed I was crazy. My sister was really the only person who knew about the sounds that drove me nuts. I often got enraged due to sounds like chewing/typing/whispering and usually had to leave the room. Being stuck on a plane or in a car is a large fear. Thank goodness for soundproof headphones these days.
I read about misophonia 6-7 years ago and realized I wasn’t crazy or alone, and I saw a psychologist about it who tried to treat it like PTSD. It didn’t work, but it did help me open up about it and talk to my husband and family.
In the last 5 years, I have experimented with my diet. I have found that eating gluten free and/or low carb seems to help, but not a cure. There are days where I don’t notice my husband chewing at all and I wonder what the difference is? Has there been any research on dietary influence?
There is no real research on diet and misophonia, but there are others that have reduced symptoms with a changed diet. I think the issue is that if you are sensitive to a certain food, then removing it from your diet will improve your health and thereby reduce your misophonia.
It will also help if you try to relax whenever you are entering a situation where there are triggers or when triggers are occurring. Relaxinng is much better at tensing. It reduces your immediate response to triggers and can slowly reduce the severity of your misophonia.
Hi Tom,
I absolutely hate the sound of background television. I find myself trying to ignore it in social situations when other people want to watch tv, but after a certain point (anywhere from instantaneously to 30 minutes) I become extremely extremely irritated, lose my emotional composure, and have mild panic. At that point I either have to physically leave or request that my friends use headphones. And even after that, my heart rate feels elevated and I feel agitated for about an hour to two hours afterward. But I can handle watching tv when it is something I’m actively watching. My question is, can misophonia ever apply to television?
Thank you!
What you are describing sounds like misophonia. Yes, background television can be a misophonia trigger. It is also common to have television or music heard through walls to be a trigger.
I am writing about my 14 year granddaughter. She reacts immediately with an angry look on her face and yells our name if my daughter or I talk with food in our mouth. I sent her mother a link for your phone seminars which I did but she did not. My daughter gets very angry at my granddaughter for scolding her at the dinner table in front of everyone. I am determined to find help for my sweet granddaughter. I have been on your website for over 2 hours, reading everything, and now I have these questions. What does a video chat with you entail and what is the cost? (No providers in Michigan). I became so hopeful as I read about Misophonia, that I responded to your request for a donation. I just hope the cost of treatment does prohibit getting some much needed help for this painful condition Thank you!!
The initial assessment/education/management/treatment-options takes 80 minutes and costs $150. If that fee is prohibitive, I have a 50% discount for cases of need.
Kathleen, you are so great doing this for her. Why why why are parents and doctors so in denial of this condition? My son has had it for years and I feel so guilty as we had no idea what it was. He is 26 now and amazing. Would just love him to get paid for his advice and wisdom. The food thing is terrible for someone with this. We deal with this now as a family when he comes home. He often eats on his own but has developed strategies to cope a lot of the time. The only person that he does not react to is his brother. We live in England but maybe there is some way we can talk. What an amazing granny. Once the family recognises and accepts it it makes it so much better for the person. It can cause very serious rifts in a family…. good luck
Hi Tom,
My 18 year old son was diagnosed in late 2017, but he had been showing the symptoms around 2012. He has had a very negative relationship with his father (my husband). In middle school we had him see a psychologist because we thought he had anger management issues. He was seen by 3 different therapists but it was the last therapist that had mentioned misophonia. So we pursued that route and I think we have found a local audiologist who has been helping him a lot. My son has grown a lot in terms of understanding his misophonia and he has realized that he has to learn various strategies to help himself. I have no issues with it, and I am able to work on the strategies with my son. We have a way to communicate to each other when something is triggering him or have a talk after an “episode.” His father on the other hand has not been able to understand what is happening, and although he loves and cares for our son, he is still not able to wrap his head around what is going on. He isn’t actively involved in finding out what is going on or doing his part to help the situation. He supports our son seeing the audiologist, but he thinks that the responsibility for getting better rests on our son. It is hard for him to adjust his ways to support him. Our son is ready to go away to college, and my husband is a little relieved that he will not have to be around him on a regular basis. My concern is their deteriorating relationship and what this relationship will be like moving into the future. I am sad for both of them, and I’m feeling helpless. Any suggestions on how to encourage my husband to understand my son and to make some changes on his part?
I have 2 suggestions. First, ask your husband to watch the video, Misophonia, What Is It? https://misophoniainstitute.org/videos/misophonia-what-is-it/
Second, I suggest your son seek treatment that will reduce his reflex response to his father’s triggers. Most audiologists use management techniques that do not change the fundamental emotional and physical reflex responses. We have good results with a combination of behavioral treatments, sequent repatterning hypnotherapy, and the management techniques your son likely been learning from the audiologist. For additional information on treatments that will reduce the misophonic response, see https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-by-tom-dozier/ and https://misophoniatreatment.com/sequent-repatterning/
Hi, Tom- I have family member who has struggled with OCD and misophonia for many years and it’s hard to tell which one of these disorders is tormenting him during an ‘episode’. Is there a connection between the 2 conditions that you know of? Also, is medical marijuana being considered as a treament for misophonia, or is there anecdotal evidence that it might help? Thank you and I have asked for access to the December 3-4 webinar as well (made donation just now).
Hi Jenn,
I have heard that OCD can be made worse with misophonia, and that if the misophonia is resolved, the OCD may also. It it is happening with misophonia triggers, I think it is simply misophonia.
I don’t have any info on using medical marijuana.
Hi! Could you answer my question before Friday because this is for a science project and it’s due next week. So I’ve been scanning the internet for this but I can’t find my answer. What is the difference between male and female brains that causes women to have extreme misophonia more? Please answer as soon as possible. Thank you!
I do not know the science on the difference in male and female neurology. You might look for data on the prevalence and severity of anxiety and similar disorders as a comparison.
It is also interesting that the prevalence of misophonia is similar in male and female, but the participation of people on the Facebook misophonia groups is about 75% female.
Hi Tom, my son seems to have misophonia from all of the things you describe. He has triggers to certain sounds from chewing to computer keys. He even gets raged before he hears the sound if he sees that someone is about to eat something. There is an office in NY that says they see patients for misophonia and they mentioned possibly using “maskers” in his ears. (They are not listed on your site as having the misophonia training). Do you have any information about these “maskers” and if it helps? We want to get him the most effective treatment to help him with this. Thanks
See these pages: https://misophoniainstitute.org/audiologists-misophonia-management-protocol/
video: https://misophoniainstitute.org/videos/sound-sculpting-use-noise/
I also want you to be aware that we are having a webinar, Misophonia Treatment and Management Options. See https://misophoniainstitute.org/webinar/
I’d like to be able to work with a local professional on my misophonia. Should I start with an audiologist or another type of provider who is most likely to be able to address is problem?
The most important thing is that you find a local professional who has successfully treated misophonia patients. If you cannot find a local professional, you can either go to someone or get treatment by video-chat. https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/cat/video-chat/
Hi Tom, I am particularly sensitive to the sound coming from a song or video being played (by someone else) on a laptop in the same room I’m in while I am watching tv or listening to my own music. The sound does not need to be very loud and it also happens even when I’m not actually focused on watching tv. It makes me very nauseous and anxious and either the lapto or the tv sound needs to be turned off immediately for that feeling to go away However, when I’m playing a video on my laptop and the tv sound is on too it doesn’t seem to bother me at all. I must add I have mild conductive hearing loss and tinnitus in one ear. Could this be misophonia?
This sounds like misophonia to me.
Dear Tom Dozier,
Every time when I am at the dinner table with my parents and I hear them either swallow, chew or slurp or if I can hear then sniffing, humming or breathing loudly, my whole body tenses up even if I try to relax and I have great difficulty with distracting myself from the noise, the noises also make me feel highly irritated and annoyed. If I hear these noises for more than a minute, I start to feel a bit panicky, angry, trapped and would like to run away from the noises. Does this mean that I could have misophonia? How severe is it in me? It also doesn’t bother me when other people make these noises, just my parents.
Thank you!
This sounds like classic, mild to moderate misophonia. You should discuss this with your parents. The more you are trapped in a situation with these triggers, the more you experience misophonia-distress, the more likely your misophonia will slowly increase in serverty. Now is the time to take action.
I have a question about the trigger tamer app. Doe it have pre-programmed sounds on it or can you record the individual’s who trigger you making the triggering sounds onto the program?
The Trigger Tamer app has few sounds. You should plan on recording your on triggers with the app.
The provider link is not working. Trying to find a hypnotherapist !
Fixed. thank you.
Dear Tom Dozier,
From what I understand of misophonia, its forms might not include the problem I have. But I’ll ask about it anyway, just in case.
My problem is that I am very sensitive to low-frequency sounds. Sensitive both in the sense that I can hear it (sense it) more than most others, and also in the sense that it drives me nuts.
For example, when the neighbor with whom I share a separating wall plays music on his stereo, even if I can’t hear the music at all, the bass beat drives me crazy. (I’ve got a deal with the him now, that if I’m home when he puts on music, I can text him and he’ll turn down the bass setting.)
But there are others sources of “bass bother”, sometimes inescapable. The big problem is, I don’t just feel annoyed – it makes me feel like there’s an emergency. It’s not strong physiological response, like an adrenaline rush or fight-or-flight or anything, but a persistent, disturbing discomfort. (I think if I’d lived a few centuries ago, I’d have been the clan’s early-warning system for earthquakes and tsunamis.)
It seems to be getting worse lately (I’m 56 now, and otherwise (knock on wood) in good health). Also, I’ve gotten into the habit (maybe 3 years now?) of using earplugs every night, because of disturbances at a different apartment – I’ve moved since then, but continued the earplug habit.
So, for some specific questions: Do you know of anything that could lessen this hypersensitivity?
Do you think the earplugs make it worse?
Do you know of anything else that might be making it worse? Like some nutritional deficiency? Or too much coffee? (2 to 3 cups a day)
And I’d be grateful to hear anything else that occurs to you on the topic.
Thank you!
Edwina
Your symptoms seem to be misophonia. Misophonia is an acquired involuntary, negative response to a stimulus. When you say, “distrubing discomfort,” you are probably experiencing some form of physical reflex. You describe it as getting worse, and it wasn’t always a problem for you.
I suggest you add lots of good sounds to your home environment. The louder your home is with good sounds, the less the “base bother” will happen. But if adding noise to your home is not enough, then you can seek help through some of those listed on misophoniatreatment.com.
Thank you for your quick reply! I’ll take your advice.
E.
My daughter has audio triggers but most of her triggers are visual and she contunues to develop new triggers since the misophonia began 2 years ago. What treatment can you recommend for her given the visual element?
Thank you in advance.
Hello Rachael,
I believe we have an effective treatment for misophonia which is a combination of behavioral/management techniques (to prevent developing new triggers and manage better) and a treatment that reduces the fundamental misophonic response.
We offer treatment for misophonia by confidential video-chat (similar to Skype, but confidential). The first session covers assessment/education/management/treatment-options. The first session typically takes 90 minutes. There will be some “To Do” items from this session that will start the treatment process. These form the foundation a behavioral or Sequent Repatterning treatment.
Based on the assessment we will decide on the treatment to pursue. The treatment can vary greatly, but usually it consists of either Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy or behavioral techniques, or both. Behavioral treatment sessions could be as little as meeting for a half-session every 2-4 weeks for 3 to 6 months. A better estimate is possible after the initial session.
The most common treatment for severe misophonia is Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy, which is provided by video chat. The minimum age for this treatment is 10 years. The treatment takes 8-10 consecutive weeks.
For children under 10, we create fun activities that are conducted with the parents. These are highly effective at reducing the misophonic response. There is also a need to have a good family plan and cooperation with that plan. It is usually also important to address any family conflict issues (such as a sibling refusing to turn off video games or the child with misophonia not following the “family plan.”
For more information, see https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-by-tom-dozier/
I am 53 and ever since I was a little girl certain sounds cause me extreme emotional distress (irritability, irrational response, etc.). The sound of smacking/popping gum, crunching popcorn, and especially clicking one’s fingernails together makes my head spin. It becomes the only thing I can focus on and I want the noise to STOP. My father clicks his fingernails all the time while we are visiting and literally I feel like I’m going to jump out of my skin. Does this fall under Misophonia? Thank you in advance!
It definitely sounds like misophonia.
My daughter starts college in August. Based on several assessments, she has misophonia at a moderate to severe level. How can we get an accommodation for a Reduced-distraction testing environment when there is not a medical diagnosis and code for this disability? She had a 504 plan in high school, and she graduated with 3.8 out 4.0 grade point average. A psychiatrist is willing to supply a letter confirming her need. Without a DSM code what can we do?
Yes. Get the diagnosis. Your daughter need to talk to the Disability Office and ask for accommodations.
Thanks for your quick reply! We seem to be at an impasse. Her college has Guidelines for Documentation which unequivocally state: Documentation must address all DSM-IV-TR criteria, present criteria for diagnosis of a particular condition and provide the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic code. Nothing I have read has a diagnostic code for this condition, neither in the ICD-10 nor in the DSM-5.
Apparently some audiologists have been using other, somewhat related diagnostic codes in order to allow for billing. Do you know what codes they use? Thank you again and again for your research and your time!
My daughter has ADD and after trying a mulitiude of courses and exercises the doctor finally put her on 36 mgs. of concerta which she has been taking since she’s about 12. She does have problems with depression and anxiety which i think is related to PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). She is a sweetheart and very smart but has a problem finishing projects on time without getting anxious. She also tends to isolate in order to hide her anxiety. She has a good sense of humor, is quite beautiful and has a boyfriend, who I’m sure gets overwhelmed by her anxiety. She is a senior in college and just recently I noticed that she gets annoyed by the sound of paper rubbing together, perhaps napkins. I don’t even hear it. She had stopped her concerta cold turkey because she ran out and at first I thought this could be an effect of stopping her meds so abruptly but now that I read your article I see that this just may be another issue.
Hello,
I’ve been reading articles about misophonia for several months now, and I’ve found I can relate to a lot of the symptoms. I can’t go to school without my earbuds anymore because they allow chewing gum, and every time I hear it or smell spearmint, feel the urge to cry or hit something. Leaving is not a viable option for me because trying to physically escape the sounds whenever they became a problem would mean I would be missing pretty much all of my classes. The earbuds are also a very limited solution because teachers don’t let me have them in during lessons, when people in my class are still permitted to loudly and freely chew their gum. As most incidents happen at a public school, I’m almost never in a situation where I can simply turn on a fan or add other white noise to my environment. Whenever I express my frustrations people just look at me really confused, and it feels like I’m the villain in the situation because a lot of people get angry with me and think I’m just irritable. I genuinely believe it has started to impact my acedemic performance, as it has become harder and harder for me to focus on tests and my grades have started to slip. Eating dinner with my family has become a struggle too, and one of my parents gets very offended whenever I try to explain that I’m acting quiet or irritable because she chews very loudly. She also likes to listen to a lot of music that has a certain pattern that has also started affecting me in the same way (again, if I say anything, people always act like I’m a terrible person and they’re the victims). I wanted to talk to my doctor about it, but my parent was in the room and I was afraid the doctor wouldn’t be able to do anything and then I would have to deal with a huge argument at home. I don’t feel like I can openly ask for help, because I’ve tried in the past and no one seems to take me seriously in the matter. Even if I talked to my family and people at my school about misophonia, my previous experiences with them have led me to believe they’d just call me a wimp or tell me to suck it up and dismiss misophonia as a fictional problem. I also don’t currently have the ability to secretly pay for any kind of treatment or devices to help me, as I don’t want to answer awkward questions from my parents as to why I feel the need to buy or use those things. Is there anyting I can do, in secret and on my own, that would help solve the issue in the long term?
Marissa, you are in a very difficult situation. One thing that you can do is to learn to relax your muscles on demand. This take a lot of practice. You can follow a guided audio every day to help you learn the physical skill of relaxing your muscles on demand. This may sound impossible, and I agree it is a daunting task. But if you learn to relax your muscles then it can reduce the agony of the misophonia triggers. Relaxing your muscles can reduce the anxiety and tension you experience when going into a classroom. So I suggest you go to misophoniatreatment.com/pmr and watch the top video. Then go down to the guided audio and do either the Dartmouth College or Arizona State University audio every day. You can even do this exercise 2 times a day to speed up your learning. Plan on doing the exercise every day for 3 full months. That is a long time, but relaxing your muscles is a skill that can only be developed through practice. You may start to see some benefit in 2 to 4 weeks. Try to “relax into triggers” instead of “tensing into triggers.” It is natural to tense your muscles, but relaxing will be much better. I wish you well.
Thank you for your research.
Have you done any reasearch or found any link to Lyme disease? My daughter has misophonia, and has positive bands for Lyme but not enough to be CDC positive, or obvious symptoms. Asymptomatic.I (mom), had Lyme disease and was treated with multiple symptoms after several years of being misdiagnosed with fibromyalgia.
There is no research on this, but anything that lower overall health and well-being (which Lyme disease does) will likely make misoophonia worse. Fibromyalgia would have the same effect.
Thank you for your research in misophonia. Have you any positive results from diet? Low sugar, no caffine? My 16 yo says she’s had misophonia as long as she can remember and has isolated herself from the world. Her visual triggers are getting worse. She wants to be deaf. She will be starting CBT Neuro biofeedback soon through Braincore. Have you any experience with this specific therapy? Thank you.
Anything that improves a person’s level of wellness and well-being will generally reduce misophonia severity. If a person is sensitve to certain foods, don’t eat them. Caffeine has been reported to make misophonia worse by some sufferers.
Regarding treatment, make sure you are working with a person who is expert in misophonia. Neurofeedback has very mixed results, with most cases having little improvement, but there are no research studies on this. See https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/ for some misophonia treatment providers.
My Trigger is traffic noise. We recently moved into a new townhouse with concrete walls, and the sound at night is awful. I am using a fan, but can still hear the noise since I’m a light sleeper. I had this problem 15 years ago, and we ended up moving to a quieter location. Our new house is in a quiet area, but the concrete walls seem to echo the sound throughout the house. Is this misophonia since the trigger isn’t another person? My sleeping is getting progressively worse.
Misophonia can be from any repetative sound, sight, or other stimulus. This is a persistant irritating sound. This may not be misophonia because the stimulus, itself, is irritating. The progresssive worsening may indicate that the traffic noise is becoming a misophonic stimulus. It is very important that you relax instead of getting tense when you hear the traffic noise, even when it keeps you up, or wakes you up at night. In reality, it is especially important to relax at night. You might try Progressive Muscle Relaxation at bedtime or when you can’t sleep. See misophoniatreatment.com/pmr
Hi Tom
My 13 year old son was recently diagnosed with Misophonia which was triggered by a severely autistic boy in his classroom. This boy continued to repeat mumma dadda coming to get me and he made an odd laughing noise. My son repeatedly told the school it was getting to him. My son stated he couldn’t get this kids voice out of his head and that he was frightened as he envoked such strong feelings he wanted to hurt / kill him or run away from school. My son has not gone to school for nearly two months now as he says the pressure is to much. The other child has been removed from his class but when we have visited the school he becomes extremely anxious and his body language is like a caged animal pacing back and forth. He has had severe meltdowns at home and has self harmed because he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He wants to go to school but states the pressure is to much. His stress level is 10/100 (0 lowest and 100 highest) in my car in the schools carpark but goes up to 90 or 100 once inside the school building. Severe meltdown occurs once we have left the school after re-exposure even if the child that caused the trigger is not there. My son has A typical high functioning Asperger’s, ADHD, Auditory and Visual Processing Disorders, Mild ID and Epilepsy to complicate matters. My questions are: Is the school now a visual trigger? Is it common to hear the trigger once it has stopped? Is it common to have comorbid conditions? My son is seeing a psychologist to help with his anxiety. Do you have any handouts on strategies in these sort of circumstances? Regards Diane
I have heard many comments of people with misophonia “hearing” (remembering) the triggers after they occur. Talk to his psychologist about muscle relaxation training (progressive muscle relaxation, see misophoniatreatment.com/pmr). It doesn’t sound like “the school” is a misophonic visual trigger, at least not a typical one. The school is probably more of a setting/context stimulus, which in this case, is as bad as a misophonic trigger.
Could EMDR and/or EFT (tapping) help my misophonia? The trigger is any noise made with that noxious substance chewing gum, and has gradually expanded to the sight of someone chewing with their mouth open, any kind of lip smacking, watching someone lunge at their food like a hyena. slurping drinks that could be made drinkable with the simple addition of an ice cube, and utensil-banging. I work in a warehouse, where people, including managers, are not held to more civilized standards of workplace conduct. I CANNOT be in the same personal space as someone who is doing this. It causes nearly insane fear and avoidance. It almost goes without saying that I eat alone, always; I no longer go to movie theatres, and not for fear of being shot, either. When animals eat like animals, not a problem: they cannot be expected to know differently or better. When people eat like animals, they need to have their jaws broken. Please help. Im in the USA and doubt that I could get disability for this, even though it is becoming disabling.
There is little (if any) support for EMDR or EFT (tapping) for misophonia. EMDR and EFT can both be beneficial for things other the the immediate response to triggers. I was amazed to have EFT eliminate the depression I was having while dealing with a depressing problem. Anything that improves your overall wellness and well-being usually reduces your misophonia severity.
One thing you can do is give up your “job” as being the etiquette police. It is not your job to decide what is proper eating and what is not. By trying to be the etiquette police, you are making your misophonia much worse. Cultural standards are very different. In China, it is an insult to your host to eat quietly.
To get disability for misophonia, you will need to be very diligent in seeking help and documenting all the treatment with reports. I know one person who did get disability for misophonia, and his paperwork was about an inch thick when he submitted it.
There are treatment providers listed at https://misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-provider-directory/ and there are some that provide treatment via internet video-chat.
Hi Tom
I am 28 and 32 weeks pregnant. I started noticing an aversion to certain sounds about 10 years ago, particularly sounds my father would make. Eating potato chips, sniffing unnecessarily, small things that would make me uneasy.
I would like to know if it is normal for only certain people’s sounds to trigger me? My husband could crunch chips all day and it doesn’t bother me, but my father has recently started living with us and while he is in another part of the house (his living room etc), I could hear him sniffing constantly last night to the point I swore under my breath and put my TV off to go to my room early just to get away from it. It was the worst I have felt since I was so frustrated for at least half an hour that I pulled a few strands of my hair out. I definitely identify with the fact that even removing myself from the situation doesn’t always help me calm down and I stay uneasy for a while.
Foot shuffling, opening packets, sniffing, WHISTLING, slurping drinks, I don’t have many triggers but they are unavoidable. I need advice on how to cope, since my father is not leaving and these are his habits. I feel like I could explode one day and ruin the whole dynamic, since I have tried to explain to him years ago how I feel and how think, and he laughed.
I know its not pregnancy hormones, since I have had this problem for years but the pregnancy does aggravate it I think.
Please help me, I am too young to lose my mind!!!
Yes. It is common for a trigger to only be a problem when made by 1 person. This is usually the way misophonia starts. With time, it often spreads to other sources (people) and places. Contact Tom Dozier (tom@misophoniatreatment.com) for treatment options.
Do you have any advice or recommendations for headphones when it comes to sleeping? I have relatives staying for a few weeks and explaining the situation with my misophonia hasnt helped. One relative clears his throat with ebouuh force it can be heard from outside the outside the house (and I have checked, he doesnt need to, he does it because of something he heard years ago) and he does it frequently. I can hear him over ear plugs blasting music, a loud fan and tv all together. I’m desperate, in pain, and sleep deprived. Anything would be appreciated.
This is really hard. You could try 3M E.A.R. earplugs (fully inserted into your ears) and loud noise, such as the train on White Noise by TMSOFT. If you can sleep in over-the-ear headphones, use earmuffs and Etymotic MC5 (or MC3) headphones under the earmuffs, again, playing noise that has some variation in it.
Hello Tom,
Do you think Cognitive Behavioural Therapy would help with my misophonia? My trigger is my husband’s throat clearing.
Thanks
Debbie
A study conducted in Amsterdam reported that 50% of the people had a good reduction in misophonia severity with cognitive behavioral therapy. There are other treatments for misophonia. Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy has reduce the severity based on the Misophonia Assessment Questionnaire by over 50%, and the improvement was about the same when measured 6 months later. The Neural Repatterning Technique (aka Trigger Tamer) can be used for a single trigger (throat clearing) from a single source (your husband). Contact Tom Dozier for and assessment and specific treatment options.
Hello Tom!
I know you said that misophonia can be caused by genes or life experiences, but I am curious to know your observations regarding misophonia and race. For example, it is respectful and tolerable in Chinese culture to make noises when eating to show that you enjoy the meal. Now, many White American families are taught to eat in small bites and tight-lipped. I realized that my White friend John seemed very discomforted when we went to our local Chinese restaurant, but I have never seen any Chinese people bothered by eating noises and my parents never enforced western table etiquette on me. Is this conditioned response a result of how one is raised and taught regarding table etiquette (ie. Me vs. John)? What are some observations relating to eating/drinking noises that you have noticed between White and Asian people?
I want to write my English essay on these cultural differences regarding the sound of eating. If you know any other resources, articles, or papers relating to this, I would love to check it out. Thanks, Tom!
Brandon, you ask a very good question. A study led by Monica Wu (2014) at the University of South Florida found 19.9% of undergraduate psychology students had clinically significant misophonia. This study was replicated by Xiaolu Zhou (2017) sampling Chinese university students reported only 6% had clinically significant misophonia. Eating loudly is polite for Chinese because is shows you like the food. If you search on Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) you can search for Zhou misophonia and Wu misophonia, and you will be able to read the abstract from each study.
Do I have misophonia? I try not to be around people who eat and I often eat alone. In school, when someone eats, all I can hear is their crunching… all other noises fade away and it is like I am living in their head. I often begin to cry and my legs and hands shake. Time feels elongated. This doesn’t always happen… I can ignore it sometimes. It is hard to ignore it. Basically, I can only hear people eating and breathing unless I am listening to music. It affects my tests and everything! Also when I eat, I think about how I am processing the food for nutrients. I can not eat with my family anymore. How badly do I have misophonia according to my symptoms? This has been occurring for about 5 years… I am 16
Yes. What your are describing is typical misophonia.
Hi. Do you know if misophonia is related in any way to synesthesia? How likely is it?
Synesthesia (or grapheme-color synesthesia) is a funny thing to have (why wouldn’t seeing colors while reading black and white book be funny?). I happen to have both misophonia and synesthesia and I wonder how many people have them both too, especially because people usually don’t realise they see colors until someone asks them. And they seem to me to be very similar, but they cause different emotions. Does or may having both of those conditions help track back why I suffer from misophonia?
The cases I know of and the research I have conducted support the theory that misophonia is a learned (conditioned) response disorder. I don’t think synesthesia is a learned condition. So I think synesthesia and misophonia are not directly related. The same is true with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)and misophonia. But in the case of SPD, it makes it more likely that a person will develop misophonia.
Hello Tom
We believe our daughter has Misophonia,mostly manifesting at the dinner table, tho Im certain this affects many aspects of her daily life.
Chloe is 16, and as many teens,doesnt react well to her parents or older brother’s suggestions for self help. She is a bit stubborn, extremely sensitive and likes to do things in her own time and way.
I texted her your contact and she thanked me, tho not certain any action will follow. She does recognize this as a problem for she and us.
I WONDER IF GIVEN HER LACK OF DESIRE FOR US TO TAKE HER TO SOMEONE IN OUR AREA-Philadelphia suburb, whether therpy by skype with you would be a good option
She is a wonderful young woman, and we would hate for this to be an issue that might stand in the way of her happiness and other potential long term mental well being.
Any suggestions for how to bring her to the table welcomed
Best Steve
A big consideration is that there are few therapists (if any) in your area who understand misophonia. Working by video-chat with an expert is a good option. I (Tom Dozier) am happy to help.
Hello Tom-
I’m in a really hard situation here and am hoping you can help me find some answers. I am a 60 year old female. 3 years ago, I lost my job and was forced to move in with my son, his wife and her young child. I am waiting on my disability case (unrelated issues) so am unable to move out anytime soon.
After a few months passed everyone stopped being on their best behaviour and I noticed when my DIL would engage in some personal habits my reaction to her was one of absolute, all-consuming hate. I caught myself scowling at her and writing about her in my journal as though she were the devil’s own spawn. She is from a different culture and does things like: blow her nose into the bathroom sink/shower, hocks up phlegm and spits into the sinks (including the kitchen sink while cooking dinner and/or dishes are in there) and ½ the time doesn’t clean it up. She has horrific table manners by western standards and makes every noise possible while eating. I begin every single day in a bad mood since the bathroom is just on the other side of the wall from where I sleep. I have brought this up to my son who says it’s her place too and she can do what she pleases in it.
I have never felt this intensity towards anyone in my life, even those who have deeply hurt me in the past. She’s never made me feel welcome here, has called me an invader and is not someone I like as a person but I don’t think that should warrant hating her so much. She is, though, very good to my son and just when I start thinking things aren’t so bad here, she does one of those actions again and I’m right back to ‘I’ll go live in my car right now!’.
I would greatly appreciate your opinion on whether I have misophonia or I have finally found someone that other people would have a hard time being around and I actually do hate her.
Thank you for being available to answer these questions. Please let me know if you need any additional information.
Best Regards-
Lady in Cali
I would need to know more details to know for sure, but your reactions seem to be misophonia.
Dear Tom,
I am a university student and I have an irrational hatred of chalkboards and chalk sounds. Growing up all the public schools I went to had white boards not chalk boards so I don’t know if I’ve had this fear all my life or just since my first year at college. Halfway through my second semester at college. I was in a classroom when I had a sudden panic attack when my teacher was enthusiastically writing on the chalkboard. Ever since then I have avoided chalkboards whenever possible. Now I am in my 4th year of college with 3 more to go and I find I am having a hard time in my classrooms (they all have chalkboards). Its nearing the end of the first semester this year and I am stressed with finals but I am finding that every noise is making me crazy and I am not being able to focus on anything but the sounds all around me. whether its music I can hear through someones headphones, music I can hear through the wall, someone clicking a pocket grip on their pen/pencil, people talking, the sound of a classmate wearing a letter-man jacket with 2 dozen medals that clang together every time he moves. My roommate making noises on her side of the room. I am constantly irritated and I can’t find a quiet and comfortable place to study for finals unless its 3am and everyone is asleep. I’m in the library right now (libraries are supposed to be quiet) and there is a small group of people studying together and I can’t stand the sound of them talking. I’ve recently sought out accommodation for the chalkboard sound but there is little that the school can do when the math department is attached to their chalkboards and I’m a math education major. I love the friendliness and atmosphere of the school and I don’t want to change schools again, but not having a quiet comfortable place, free of triggers, is making me anxious and on the verge of a panic attack. I’m at a loss of what else to do. I can’t exactly wear earplugs in class. that would defeat the purpose of being in class!
You may be able to have an assisted listening device. The instructor wears a lapel microphone, so the chalk noise would be reduced (but probably still there). You could also add a comforting and blocking noise, along with the assisted listening device.
You could seek treatment, such as the Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy, which can be provided by video-chat. Daily muscle training may also help, and may help greatly depending on your initial physical reflex to triggers.
I wish you well. Misophonia is very difficult.
Hi Tom,
My daughter asked me to research misophonia because of the way I respond to certain sounds. When she was young, the very distinguishable sound she made whenever she said her “es” sounds bothered me. I have many of the triggers you talk about, but I don’t feel rage or hatred towards the person making the sounds. Those are harsh words, so I wonder if, like many other conditions, there is a continuum or spectrum that many of us fall under. Also, if those close to me make noises while eating, it annoys and frustrates me, but being around young children making noises while eating doesn’t bother me ( because they don’t know better). When those close to me trigger my response, I believe it is because I take it personally. Are they trying to bug me? Why would they eat this way? Do they not have manners? Are they not aware of how it sounds? Even when my wife has a cold and coughs a lot, it bothers me because of the sound she is making. Can’t she cough more quietly? Does she have no awareness of how she sounds? Another person coughing the same way wouldn’t bother me because I don’t take it personally, unless I felt that they were being inconsiderate. Anytime there is someone around me who is making annoying sounds, I get annoyed if I feel they are being inconsiderate or are oblivious to those around them. Certain voices also annoy me. I am always commenting to my wife about the irritating voice someone may have. I don’t go into a rage about it, but I am very opinionated about the irritating sound of some people’s voices. My wife says I am very sensitive. My wife and I are very close and love each other, but it seems that more and more I’m annoyed by the sounds she makes. If she is eating an apple, I have to eat one at the same time in order to “cancel” the noise she is making! After researching your site I have a better understanding and awareness of what it happening to me and I feel that I can now move forward and tackle these triggers. Do you feel I have misophonia or am I just a sensitive person who takes things too personally?
This sounds like misophonia. It is likely that some of your muscles are tightening slightly when you hear these specific sounds. If you can identify where you are tensing, focus on relaxing those muscles. If you cannot identify the specific muscles, I suggest you try to relax all the muscles in your body when you are around these sounds.
Do a Progressive Muscle Relaxation guided audio each day for 1 month. If you do this, you will develop the skill of relaxing your muscles. Relaxing after a trigger reduces the frustration feeling. Relaxing before a trigger (and holding the relaxation) and continuing after the trigger can change the reflex and reduce the future misophonic response (and therefore the irritation from the sound). This takes time. For the sound like your wife eating an apple, it may take 30 or more minutes of relaxing and hearing the sound for your response to stop. It may take several times of this.
See misophoniatreatment.com/pmr for a video about Progressive Muscle Relaxation and guided audio files. Please let us know how this works for you.
I have bad misophonia with sounds of eating, and being able to hear my sisters music. Why is it so serious with only my family? Occasionally I’ll get irritated with others if they chew really loud, but it’s doesn’t bother me nearly as much.
Generally misophonia develops to the sound of a specific person (or thing) which we hear often. Most people develop their first misophonia trigger in their home. A trigger is a complex conditioned stimulus. It includes the sound, setting, who is there, and social context. Once it develops, it gets stronger with experience. So the more you hear a trigger, the stronger your response becomes. So you’ve had more time (and number of trigger experiences) with your sister and family members than with others outside of your home.
You should consciously try to distract yourself, relax, and smile when you are triggered outside of your home. This can help slow or stop the process of the outside triggers from getting worse. I wish you well.
Hi Tom,
It is out of sadness, desperation, and utter frustration that I write this. I have struggled with misophonia since I was a young girl. For the longest time (roughly a decade), the only thing that triggered me was my mom’s chewing; gum and food. Whenever she was eating around me there was an instant, physical response. I’d feel a sinking in my stomach and instant rage. Lately, within the past few months, other things have started “triggering” me as well. I can no longer handle when others chew gum or food; family or not. There are both auditory and visual triggers. If I see someone from across the room chewing (gum of food), even if I cannot hear them, my body responds with panic, rage, and obsession. I do not even know where to go from here. I would opt for brain surgery if I knew it would fix my sensitivities. As of today, sounds concerning eating and chewing gum are my only triggers. No other sounds set me off. Some visual triggers concerning the mouth are also present (constant lip licking, chewing on one’s lips, and gum cracking).
My main questions are these:
What can I do? Are there therapies I can do at home that don’t require a doctor? Any apps I can download? I currently live in remote Alaska and there are no practitioners trained for misophonia here. Are there any chiropractic methodologies I could inquire about locally? Secondly, are there any medications that have made a positive impact? I saw a YouTube video of a girl who had been on Vyvanse for a little over a year with positive results! I’m willing to try anything. I’d even fly to Wyoming to meet with the doctor who is doing PRT. Please help me. I’m not suicidal, but there are days that make me feel as though death would be more pleasant than existing with these problems.
Hi Samantha,
There are treatments for misophonia that you can do from home. Internet video-chat is a wonderful tool. The first step I recommend is having an assessment/education/management/treatment-options session. I can provide this. Then, based on your specific characteristics of misophonia, there are several ways to proceed. The 2 that work well by video-chat are 1) Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy and 2) behavioral techniques which include muscle training, relaxation, focused attention, and good management. Many times, it is advisable to start with some behavioral techniques and proceed with Sequent Repatterning. There is hope!
Dr. Scott Sessions is the only person who provides PRT (in Wyoming), and he is not taking any new patients until December, 2018.
I’m positive I have misophonia. I’ve suffered from it for over 52 years but just thought I was being ridiculous that I couldn’t stand to hear people eat, scraping the bowl with a fork or have the fork touch their teeth, crumpling potato chip bag each time they brought a chip to their mouth, etc, etc. I will not go to a movie because I can’t take all the popcorn eating, throat clearing or cell phones on mute. Whatever! The sound of a cell phone on “vibrate” is explosive to me. It’s more bothersome than a full volume ringtone. It’s been worse the last four-five years when I’ve been forced to share an office cubicle with four other people. I’ve been here 21 years and love my job. However, after the first two years in the cubical and being bombarded by a co-workers country music running 8 hrs a day, 40 hrs a week and constant bowl scraping, apple, chips and carrot chewing, I finally asked the person if she would turn the music off and the constant eating was really causing a problem. I asked her twice in a week, but she made no effort to change. One particularly stressful day, I slammed the phone, cussed and accidently kicked a chair as I tried to run out of the office to escape. This co-worker turned me in for hostile work environment. Humiliating. I don’t want to be a problem. I want to get along with people. Thankfully, the offender was directed to wear headphones to listen to her music. But the eating continues. I’ve been dealing with the last three years by purchasing noise cancelling headphones and I wear them most of the day. When it gets too bad, I leave the cubicle until I think the eating is over. I don’t say anything anymore. It’s getting to the point I can hardly stand the sound of coughing, throat clearing, keyboarding or someone repetitively “stamping approved” on invoices, etc. Now I wonder if my 6 year old grandson may have it. He’s very intelligent and his reading is above average. He can carry on adult conversations regarding subjects that really interest him. He’s a deep thinker. His teacher says he cries at least once every day since school started. He says his classmates are “annoying” him. But she says she doesn’t see anyone touching him or what he could be annoyed about. One day he had a meltdown and started punching another kid because he was annoyed. He has had meltdowns in music class where he holds his ears and tries to run out of the room crying because he hates the music. A couple of time whiles watching youtube kids programs, some music starts to play in the background of the video and he holds his ears and runs to another room. Is certain music a trigger for misophonia? I know I have had to leave a store that has country music blaring on the sound system due to my two years of having to listen to it. Anyway, thank you so much for putting a name to this craziness. And thanks for your informative website. Some of the stuff on youtube regarding misophonia is pretty lame and downright scary. I typed in “misophonia music” on youtube last night. There is a band called Misophonia. Not sure if it’s a rock band or what. Very disturbing demonic sounding music. I shut it off immediately. Thanks again for your time.
I know of one case where the office sounds became such strong triggers that the person went on private disability, and then was successful getting Social Security disability. But this is unusual. I suggest you find a noise to play through your headphones that does a much better job at blocking triggers. This is very important to prevent the increasing severity of your misophonia to office noises. I suggest getting the apps White Noise by TMSOFT and White Noise Market. Experiment with the different noises and downloads from White Noise Market. Make several mixes of noise and see what blocks triggers for you.
It sounds like your grandson also has misophonia. There is a section in Understanding and Overcoming Misophonia called “Trigger Game” and I will post that on page now. I am back and just added this information to the bottom of this page https://misophoniainstitute.org/treatments-for-children/. We with parents by video-chat to teach and guide this form of treatment. It is actually great fun for the child and can produce excellent results.
HI Tom,
My 23 year old daughter has always been sensitive to sounds like chewing gum, eating, clipping nails, talking in car, etc. and can get very angry when we do them. She is able to control her reactions with friends but says its hard. We had her hearing tested when she was in HS and also a psychological as she struggles with taking tests. She does have reading comprehension issues and so we got accommodations in place for taking tests such as wearing headphones and taking tests outside of class. It seems to help but lately she has expressed concern that it is interfering and getting worse for her in college. She is studying to be a surgical tech and she had to watch a video of a surgery. The patient in the video was snoring and she said thats all she could tjink about and didn’t get anything out of video. She is scared it will happen when she is actually working. She also says it is causing tension with her longtime boyfriend. He has a breathing problem and sniffs alot. She sees a therapist and takes medicine for anxiety.
Anyway, we don’t know wherr to start. We live in North Dakota but are willing to go where needed. Just want to know if we can go to someone locally to get an idea if this is misophonia or can we go through you?
I don’t know anyone in North Dakota who provides treatment for misophonia. See misophoniatreatment.com for treatment providers. We can set up an assessment by video-chat. Depending on the assessment, a treatment plan will be recommended and the treatment can usually be provided by video-chat. We look forward to helping her.
I’ve just learnt about misophonia and Im not sure if I have it but I don’t know if I’m just over reacting. When I hear sounds like rain, clocks ticking, crunches, heart beats and other sounds that are constant I get really anxious and sometimes it’s really bad and I want to punch something or break the thing that’s making the sound but other times it just makes me uncomfortable.
That sounds like a misophonic response to me. The severity of the response often varies depending on how good or bad you are feeling.
hi tom! i think i have misophonia, but i don’t like to diagnose myself; i want an expert’s opinion. i have issues with repetitive noises such as foot/pencil tapping, chewing, and the clicking of keys/mouse on computers. i don’t usually have extremely negative reactions to these unless i am in a stress filled environment. for example, last year i was taking a test in calculus and the girl around me was biting her nails. i became extremely agitated, unable to focus on my test in front of me. i also would think about doing anything i could to get the girl to stop. the teacher ended up leaving the room for a brief moment; i was absolutely enraged by that point, so much so that i turned to the girl and angrily told her to shut up. another perfect example happened just today. i was taking our weekly quiz in my math class, and my friend next to me was tapping her foot. the same thing happened, i became very anxious and angry. however, this time i ended up just kicking my backpack so it landed on her foot (she stopped afterward). i know i definitely have an issue here. my parents have told me just to tune out the noises, but ive tried so hard and been unable to. i am a very good student, so it upsets me that i get lower grades than i really should because i can’t focus. do i have misophonia or just a form of test anxiety? or a mix of both?
thank you in advance
The next time this happens, slouch in your chair or lean on your desk and relax all of your muscles. Pay attention to anything you feel in your body when you hear the trigger sound and let me know what you perceive. If you can keep relaxing, it will reduce the anger and may also reduce the severity of future reactions. Relaxing and staying relaxed may eliminate the misophonic response.
(you probably have misophonia, but this is not a diagnoses).
I wish you well.
Well I worked hard this summer and got a formal diagnosis for Misophonia. It was expensive, humiliating, and insulting. I was put on display and judged by strangers, but I got it done. Put in a Request for Accommodations at work. I asked for a quieter office or to work from home a few days a week. They denied everything and suggested I get headphones or take a demotion and cut in pay while I “seek treatment.” How can that be a fair outcome? I’m being punished because I tried to help myself. I don’t know what my next step should be.
This link give you information about filing a complaint. https://www.ada.gov/filing_complaint.htm
This link is where you can file a complaint. https://www.ada.gov/complaint/
But before you do this, I recommend that you go to your human resources department (or your employer if there is no HR department), and ask nicely but firmly for accommodations. Tell them that the Americans with Disabilities act required that they make reasonable accommodations. If you are suffering from auditory triggers, then wearing headphones is a reasonable accommodation. You can wear headphones and listen to noise using the app White Noise by TMSoft. You can create your own noise mix that provides the best blocking of triggers. You should also use noise cancelling headphones, such as the Parrot Zik 2.0, Bose QC20, 25, 30, or 35, or Parrot Zik 3. The Bose QC30 gives you the best flexibility and allows you to set the level of noise cancellation, so you can turn it off and talk to others while still wearing the headphones.
For even better noise blocking, use the Etymotic MC5 noise isolating headphones. These come with 3 types of earpieces. I like the memory foam ones the best. Essentially these headphones are earplugs with speakers in the middle.
You should definitely try the headphones before filing a complaint or talking to HR. This way, you can determine how much this will help you and whether further accommodations are needed.
Tom,
My 16 year old daughter has been suffering since the age of 6 with misophonia. It is absolutely heart wrenching to watch her experience the torment that results after a trigger. She is sweet and highly intelligent. Her academics have not suffered, but it gets worse every year. This year (her junior year) we have a 504 in place for her because the misophonia has become unbearable in the classroom setting. I am so concerned for her mental health and what will happen when she eventually attends college. She has seen an audiologist who also diagnosed her with bilateral central hearing loss. Are you aware of any individuals who have the two processing disorders simultaneously? She has also seen a neurologist and therapist.
The children’s hospital is trialing a pair of assistive hearing devices with her and another teen in the area. The devices sync with her iPhone and are ideally supposed to block the severity of the triggers she encounters. This is one part of her 504 accommodations. The other teen’s condition was so dire he attempted suicide. This is a very real disorder and I am so desperate to find answers for individuals who suffer.
I guess my frustration also lies in the fact that so many individuals view misophonia as a made up condition; something that can be easily dealt with. I feel like my mission is to create awareness, and I am lacking direction at this point in time. I don’t know if you can advise me as to what steps can be taken. I am constantly looking for answers, listening to podcasts, reading articles, etc. I just feel like I am not doing everything I can to help her. It is an extremely helpless feeling. Thanks for listening.
The directors of the Misophonia Institute have 2 unpublished journal articles that provides insight into the nature of misophonia. These articles provide evidence of the initial physical reflex response of misophonia. Chris Pearson developed a hypnotherapy treatment for misophonia which addresses this characteristic. Over the past 5 years, the average improvement of his patients has been more than a 50% reduction in misophonia severity as measured by the Misophonia Assessment Questionnaire.
Tom Dozier developed a treatment that addresses the initial physical reflex. His assessment of clients includes testing for this reflex. His treatments include behavioral exercises that can directly reduce this reflex. The effectiveness of this depends on the specific muscles that are included in this reflex.
We wish you daughter well. Misophonia is a very real and horrible condition.
Hello,
My father felt completely alone when he first started experiencing symptoms. When my mother and father got married, they both merely thought that he was different. However, when my brother was born and eventually began to experience reactions to trigger noises, they began research. I remember the first night that I reacted to a trigger. Everyone in my family was distraught because they new the tough future I had ahead of me. Now, I am approaching my college years rapidly. My brother requested a single dorm because of his misophonia and it worked quite well. However, I truly want to experience having a roommate that starts out as a stranger and ends up being a close friend. I want to live on campus in a dorm my freshman year with someone new, but I am afraid I won’t be able to handle it. I also want to join a sorority, but I know that living on a sleeping porch would be the worst thing possible for me. I don’t know what other options there are for sororities, but I know that if I pledged I would want to at some point live in the house. Long story short, do you know of any way I can find myself happily living in dorm or a sorority house?
The individual characteristics of misophonia very greatly. Some people have characteristics that allow it to be easily treated, and for others it is very difficult to reduce the severity of misophonia. There are treatments for misophonia. You can help reduce the chance of picking up new triggers if you learn to relax your muscles. Again, this depends on the individual. You sound like a positive, generally outgoing and happy person. If this is true, it is easier to reduce your misophonia (especially if you can also be easy-going and less anxious about general things). I worked with a young woman who went to university and stayed in a dorm with a roommate. She did very well. The important thing is for you to learn how to gradually reduce the severity of your misophonia instead of it getting gradually worse. I wish you well.
my wife suffers from all sorts of noises. I’ve know a couple of her triggers. 1) sound of children bouncing a basket ball on the street. 2) hearing the neighbors dog bark 3) hearing the neighbors talk on the phone 4) hearing the neighbors music. She did suffer abuse by both her parents as a child. basically, if she can hear it then she suffers anxiety. Snoring is another trigger yet fortunately I do not snore. We both listened to your program tonight. I always try to encourage her to listen to her nice music, wear ear plugs, or do something to change her focus. sometimes she forgets or gets distracted. will your program work for her?
There are other characteristics of misophonia which greatly affect the response to treatment, specifically the initial physical response. My experience is that most people improve with treatment and good management, but the amount of improvement varies greatly. We do our best to make the cost of the initial treatment affordable by having reduced rates where needed. I offer a satisfaction-money back guarantee for the misophonia services I provide.
My experience is that when a person makes a steady effort to address their misophonia, that their misophonia usually improves. But there are cases where it does not.
Hi Tom,
Today I had my ephiny. I didn’t know misophonia was a disorder others shared. I’ve suffered in silence since I was young. My earliest memory of it was of my aunt’s boxer dog drinking and eating. It makes me shutter to think of it even now. Ugh. My mother also had it and expressed it very well in words I could not. She was almost completely deaf for most of my youth. She had otosclarosis . Later in life she had a stapedecomy in one ear. The sounds were so distressing to her she chose not to have the second ear done. She described the sounds of feet scuffling, crickets and such as being horrid enough to drive her mad. She often barked at me as we watched tv in the evening because she could see me twisting my hair out of the corner of her eye. I’ve not had any loss of hearing and my triggers are so different that I didn’t realize they are two sides of the same coin. Mine are mostly “wet” sounds. (sloppy kissing, macaroni salad stirring, etc.) Visiting my Grandmother in the nursing home was a living hell. There were days I had to run out. That’s the background.
Here’s the observation. (bare with me, it my first day of knowing) In my late 20s I went to work for a railroad. On board for 40-80 hrs. a week. I didn’t notice it right off, but, my triggers had subsided. Not just while I was on the train. Even after I got off and went home. Nana wasn’t so disgusting, my mother was now funny when she made those “yum” sounds while she ate her dreaded pineapple, I didn’t have to turn the channel on those sloppy tv kissers. (Geez who kisses like that in real life). 20 years. 20 years I spent in peace. Then I got arthritis and retired early. It all came back; with a vengeance. One time during my working years I did notice the triggers sneaking back in. I had an accident and was home for about 8 weeks. I also noticed I had to get re-acclimated to the train motion again upon my return.
Here’s the question. Do you think the constant motion of the train or the droning noise had some kind of canceling effect on whatever mechanism in the brain sets the signals off for my triggers? Do you think it’s worth looking into? I would discount happiness as a factor because it was an extremely hard job. I only stayed because the money was ok. However I would not discount the distraction factor. Thoughts?
The evidence is that misophonia is a conditioned aversive reflex disorder. “Conditioned” means that the brain develops the response through experience. On the train, the noise may have allowed you to hear triggers, in a muted form or possibly you heard them in a different context and setting (and did not respond or had a weakened response). Hearing weak triggers in a positive situation can allow the reflex to change. This is the basis of the Neural Repatterning Technique (aka Trigger Tamer). Schroder et al., 2017 reported that experiencing real-life, full-strength triggers did not reduce the misophonia response, but seemed to increase it. This is often reported by people I have talked to. So once you stopped the railroad (with whatever beneficial effect that had), the misophonia reflex response increased with continual exposure to your old triggers.
Thank you for this web-site and knowledge. I thought I was just sound sensitive. My son sent me the link to the disorder and said that was me. I agree. I am a 51 year old female whom just reentered the workforce into a cubicle. People talking and the phone ring is disturbing my focus and I feel irritated with the phone sound. I do not want to lose this great job. I do not want to rock the boat. If I brought a white noise machine in, would that help? We are not allowed to wear headphones. I have not told them of this sound issue in full. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I really want my job to be successful.
I suggest you get the apps White Noise by TMSoft and White Noise Market by TMSoft. Then try several different noises (or mixes of different noises). That will give you more flexibility than a single white noise machine.
You may also need to ask for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
You could also seek treatment for your misophonia. Beware that the more you endure the agony of misophonia triggers, that it causes misophonia to become worse.
Good luck.
Hi Tom,
First of all, I want to thank you for your great Website. I’m sure, it will help a lot of People to get a better life. In past, I tried to download your Misophonia Trigger Tamer App. But I couldn’t found the App in App Store. I handle a iPhone with iOS 9. Do I have to buy a Android device or is there a other Problem. Thank’s so much for your help!
Unfortunately iOS9 caused the app to be intermittent, and several programmers were unsuccessful at fixing the problem. Apple also objects to an app changing the volume automatically, which is needed for the app. We are developing a Java app, which will run on PCs and Macs. We hope it will be available in September, 2017. To use the Trigger Tamer on a phone, you do need to buy an Android device. A good used Android phone can be as cheap at $30, and you don’t need to activate it so there is no monthly fee. I just bought a Samsung J1 (Verizon) on ebay for $29 with free shipping.
I am a misophonia sufferer of 30+ years, and I am about to start emdr treatments with the hope that it might relieve some of the intensity of the misophonia. I don’t expect to get rid of it entirely but I was tormented in my family situation as a teenager: my alcoholic father forced us to eat together in silence every night. I feel I have misophonia with a healthy dose of PTSD from this, and since I have had other various traumas as well, I am hoping this will help. Looking on the internet I have seen one practice experimenting with emdr and misophonia but I don’t see any results. Do you have any knowledge of whether emdr has ever proven successful in lessening the intensity of misophonia?
I have heard of an occasional case where EMDR has helped misophonia. There are no studies that mention EMDR for misophonia. I wish you well. If the EMDR helps you PTSD, then you may also see a reduction in your misophonia. Anything that improves your overall wellness and well-being might reduce your misophonia severity. Please let me know how it works for you.
Tom, I want to start a face-to-face misophonia support group in my area. Do you have any suggestions for me? How do I get the word out? What pitfalls should I avoid? etc…
Hi Ellen,
I think the social support can be very beneficial. I suggest you post to the Facebook groups and see if there are people in your area who want to participate.
I think you should avoid excessive complaining about triggers and especially talk which paints the person making the trigger (or the trigger itself) as evil. Most triggers are normal, socially acceptable sounds/behaviors.
Hi Mr. Tom: I am from Laos. First time in my life knowing about misophonia. Our daughter, now 9, is suffering from it. At first, she was so mad whenever her younger brother has a sniff. I thought it will go away but no. The worse part was when we were on the airplane from Manila (The Philippines) to Los Angeles, CA. It was 12 hours flights. And during the last 5 hours, she was crying loudly during 3 hours. She was very tired and trying to sleep but people coughed and other kids made noises. So it woke her up and she was out of control. It was not her brother’s sniffing anymore. It was so hard on all of us and after that I was looking into what is this thing. Now I believe it is misophonia.
Talking to my daughter, she said the sniffing sounds bothered her at school as well but she could not act out as much as at home.
Now we are in Ohio, visiting her grandma. She has been doing well so far but several times with her brother sniff and cough, it got her so mad that she tried to hit him and said mean things to him.
Now that I read your page about Bose QC25. I am going to get it.
But will she out grow of this misophonia ?
Any medical treatment can help make it go away?
We will go back to Laos this August so it is very scary to think about it.
Pleas advise.
Thank you in advance Mr. Tom.
Regards,
Bose QC25 headphones (and all noise cancelling headphones) do not block sniffing. The frequency is to high. Etymotic MC5 noise isolating headphones are much more effective. For a younger child, earmuff (ear protection) is good if the child wears earbud style headphones under the earmuffs. Adding noise is essential. I suggest the noise app, White Noise by TMSoft. There are lots of sounds and you can download many others from the free app, White Noise Market. There are no medical treatments for misophonia. Your daughter needs treatment for her misophonia, because misophonia generally does not go away – it gets worse with time.
My daughter definitely has Misophonia. She is 10 and it started about a year ago and is getting worse. Where do I take her for help? Therapist? Pediatrician? We thought it was just a phase but it’s getting worse. We have some headphones we let her use but it isn’t enough to block out the “chewing” noises. It really is affecting her at school.
I suggest you see misophoniatreatment.com/treatment-providers. I (Tom Dozier) provide behavioral interventions for misophonia, am well as referrals to other treatment providers who can with with you online. We are very fortunate to have the internet and to be able to provide treatment for misophonia remotely.
Hi Tom, I am writing a paper for school about Misophonia and had a few questions about it.
1. is it misophonia if you get triggered by a sound, but only if it’s from a certain person?
2. do all triggers have to be organic, or can it come from something like and alarm clock. was wondering about this one because I hate the sound of alarm clocks to the point where I have to turn down the volume or mute the T.V. When I hear one on it.
3. can you develop new triggers as time goes on, or are a person’s triggers set in stone
4. Are there other forms of treatment other than playing the sound to get used to it?
5. this ones vague, but are there any advancements in the understanding of misophonia
1. Yes. Misophonia is a condition were specific stimuli (sometimes in specific settings) triggers an immediate response. See this conference presentation, Misophonia Phenomenology, Diagnostic Criteria, and Comorbidity https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316822210_Misophonia_Phenomenology_Diagnostic_Criteria_and_Comorbidity
2. A trigger can be any stimulus. Chewing and breathing sounds are the most common, but there are visual triggers, olfactory triggers (smells) and vibration of the body triggers (like base through a wall that shakes you slightly, or someone bumping your desk). It can be sounds made by people, animals, machines — anything.
3. Most people do develop new triggers. Triggers develop through experience. They appear to be conditioned stimuli which elicit a conditioned response.
4. Yes. There are other forms of treatment, but most involve some contact with the trigger stimulus (but it can be through imagining or a greatly modified version of the trigger).
5. I think we developing a good understanding of misophonia. See the recent presentation at the Sound Sensitivity Conference, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316822210_Misophonia_Phenomenology_Diagnostic_Criteria_and_Comorbidity
Hello,
Thank you so much for all of your research and efforts in understanding and treating misophonia. I have many triggers – whistling, gum popping, knuckle cracking, etc. It’s not just from one person, so it would seem that I wouldn’t benefit from Trigger Taming. My question is, I have a new trigger that I’m actually not certain is misophonia related and would be interested to hear your perspective. We moved to a house by a busy street (unknowingly at the time), and now I cannot tolerate the sound of cars going by – mostly louder trucks and motorcycles. I do have a fight or flight response to it and am miserable since I’m home a lot and it’s pretty constant. Moving is not an option at this time and I’ve tried almost everything to reduce the noise (loud white noise machines, window treatments, etc). Do you think this is misophonia related, and if so, is there a particular treatment that you think would be most beneficial?
Thank you,
Emma
The short answer is that it can be misophonia. If you are reacting to the sound because it IS annoying, then it may not be misophonia. See A-d and A-e in the proposed criteria for misophonia below.
The Misophonia Institute recommends the following criteria for misophonia derived from Misophonia: Diagnostic Criteria for a New Psychiatric by Arjan Schroder, Nienke Vulink, and Damiaan Denys (2013).
A. The presence or anticipation of a specific stimulus such as a sound, sight, or other stimulus (e.g. eating sounds, breathing sounds, machine sounds, hand movement, vibration), provokes an impulsive, aversive physical and emotional response which typically begins with irritation or disgust that quickly becomes anger. [ sources for different sensory modality triggers: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
a. Although auditory and visual stimuli are the most common, the stimulus can be any sensory modality [4,6,7,8 plus clinical experience]
b. The stimulus is a conditioned stimulus, which excludes responses in which the stimulus is unconditioned, eliciting an unconditioned physiological response (i.e. sensory over-responsiveness or sensory processing disorder) [2,3,4,6,12,13]
c. Where a single occurrence or a small number of stimulus instances cause the default response [clarification that the stimulus elicits the response and this is not a response to persistent annoying stimuli]
d. Where a minimal intensity instance of the stimulus will elicit the default response (e.g. low volume baby crying or quiet breathing). If a high intensity instance of the stimulus is necessary to elicit the response, then it does not support the diagnosis of misophonia, especially if the stimulus is uncomfortably loud or startling. [6,11 This is the distinction between SPD and misophonia]
e. But not including stimuli that do not cause this response unless they signal other distressing stimuli (e.g. airplane noise indicating the noise will occur for the rest of the day) [6 and clinical experience. This is rare.]
B. The stimulus elicits an immediate physical reflex response (skeletal or internal muscle action, sexual response, warmth, pain, or other physical sensation). Note the physical response cannot always be identified, but the presence of an immediate physical response may be used to more clearly identify the condition as misophonia. [2 This is a new item, not in Schroder]
C. A moderate duration of the stimulus (e.g. 15 seconds) elicits general physiological arousal (e.g. sweating, increased heart rate, muscle tension) [1,15 this is a new itme]
D. Dysregulation of thoughts and emotions with rare but potentially aggressive outbursts. Aggressive outbursts may be frequent in children. [1,6,12,16,17, Schroder item B, plus]
E. The primary negative emotion is later recognized as excessive, unreasonable, or disproportionate to the circumstances or the provoking stressor [16, rewording Schroder item C. It may be better to say, “The negative emotions” because it could also cover multiple emotions]
F. The individual tends to avoid the misophonic situation, or if he/she does not avoid it, endures the misophonic stimulus situation with discomfort or distress [slight wording change for Schroder D].
G. The individual’s emotional and physical experience, avoidance, and efforts to avoid cause significant distress or significant interference in the person’s day-to-day life. For example, it is difficult for the person to perform tasks at work, attend classes, participate in routine activities, or interact with specific individuals [slight rewording of Schroder E]
H. The person’s response to specific stimuli are not better explained by another disorder, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (e.g. disgust in someone with an obsession about contamination) or post-traumatic stress disorder (e.g. avoidance of stimuli associated with a trauma related to threatened death, serious injury or threat to the physical integrity of self or others) [slight rewording to Schroder F]
References
1. Edelstein, M., Brang, D., Rouw, R., & Ramachandran, V.S. (2013). Misophonia: Physiological investigations and case descriptions. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7(296), 1-11. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00296
2. Dozier, T. H., & Morrison, K. L. (in-press). Phenomenology of misophonia: Initial physical and emotional responses. American Journal of Psychology.
3. Dozier, T. H. (2015). Counterconditioning treatment for misophonia. Clinical Case Studies. Published online before print January 20, 2015. doi: 10.1177/1534650114566924
4. Dozier, T. H. (2015). Etiology, composition, development and maintenance of misophonia: A conditioned aversive reflex disorder. Psychological Thought, 8(1), 114–129, doi:10.5964/psyct.v8i1.132
5. Dozier, T. H. (2015). Treating the initial physical reflex of misophonia with the neural repatterning technique: A counterconditioning procedure. Psychological Thought.
6. Dozier, T. H. (2017). Understanding and overcoming misophonia: A conditioned aversive reflex disorder, 2nd Ed. Livermore, CA: Misophonia Treatment Institute.
7. Dozier, T. H., (2017). What is misophonia, 2017. Presentation at the annual conference of the Misophonia Association, Las Vegas, NV.
8. Dozier, T. H., (2017). Misophonia phenomenology and comorbidity. Presentation at the Sound Sensitivity Conference of the Tinnitus Practitioners Association, Dallas, TX.
9. Johnson, P. L., Webber, T. A., Wu, M. S., Lewin, A. B., Murphy, T. K., & Storch, E. A. (2013). When selective audiovisual stimuli become unbearable: A case series on pediatric misophonia. Neuropsychiatry, 3(6), 569-575.
10. Bernstein, R. E., Angell, K. L., & Dehle, C. M. (2013). A brief course of cognitive behavioural therapy for the treatment of misophonia: A case example. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 6(10), 1-13. doi:10.1017/S1754470X13000172
11. Claiborn, J. M., Dozier, T. D., Hart, S. L., & Jaehoon L. (in-review). Misophonia phenomenology, impact, and clinical correlates.
12. Jastreboff, M. M., & Jastreboff, P. J. (2002). Decreased sound tolerance and tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT). Australian and New Zealand Journal of Audiology, 24(2), 74-84. doi:10.1375/audi.24.2.74.3110
13. Jastreboff, M.M., & Jastreboff, P.J. (2014). Treatments for decreased sound tolerance (hyperacusis and misophonia). Seminars in Hearing 35(2), 105-120. doi: 10.1055/s-0034-1372527
14. Kumar, S., (2015). Neurobiological bases of misophonia. Presentation at the annual conference of the Misophonia Association, Chicago, IL.
15. Kumar, S., Hancock, O., Cope, T., Sedley, W., Winston, J., & Griffiths, T. D. (2014). Misophonia: A disorder of emotion processing of sounds. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 85(8), e3. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2014-308883.38
16. Schröder, A., Vulink, N., & Denys, S. (2013). Misophonia: Diagnostic criteria for a new psychiatric disorder. PLoS ONE 8, e54706. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054706
17. Wu, M. S., Lewin, A. B., Murphy, T. K. & Storch, E. A. (2014). Misophonia: Incidence, phenomenology, and clinical correlates in an undergraduate student sample. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70(10),1-14. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22098
Tom, as a psychologist I’m a bit perplexed by “don’t try exposure therapy”. It sounds like you mean “don’t try the type of exposure therapy that involves full intensity”. But this is only one type of exposure (and is more usually called “flooding”). I would do exposure with very low volume or even imaginary sounds, or even just words that describe the sounds. Note that CBT, mindfulness, relaxation all involve exposure to your own thoughts, feelings and body response so strictly speaking there is no therapy without some kind of exposure. Apart from that, great site!
Paul, you are absolutely correct. I corrected this in 2nd edition of Understanding and Overcoming Misophonia, which was released on March 16th, 2017. It seems that the problem has occurred where therapists produce real, full-strength triggers, and expect the person to habituate to the stimulus. There is something about real-world, full-strength triggers that generally increases the severity of the misophonic response. Most of the content of this site are the chapters of the first edition of Understanding and Overcoming Misophonia. Your post has motivated me to change that page of this website right away. If you look at the Neural Repatterning Technique, it is a form of exposure, but with a highly reduced trigger stimulus.
My son is 13 years old. Onset was 12. I am his only trigger. Could he have miso if I am the only trigger that causes severe reactions?
Absolutely! Your son can have misophonia. Misophonia usually starts with one specific trigger and then other triggers are added. If your son is having severe reactions to your voice, breathing, or eating (or other sound), but only when you make it, it is probably misophonia. The Neural Repatterning Technique can be used for triggers that are only caused by one source (person). The quicker you take action, the more likely you are to make significant improvement, including the possibility of completely eliminating his misophonic reactions.
Dear Tom
My name is Carol and i have suffered with this horrible condition since I was 8 years old. It started where I could not eat in the same room as my mom. Im 51 years old now and the condition just keeps getting worse. I have alienated myself from so many people over the years. Its the sound of chewing, breathing ,snoring and muffled noises that affect me. Also certain movements from other people. Like petting a dog or rubbing ones feet together. I have been married for 29 years and have never slept in the same room as my husband. It has within the past 5 years affect me at my job. My father suffered from it. My daughter and my niece suffer from it. I cant eat with anyone. I have to eat in a room by myself. I cant sit in the living room with anyone. My husband resents the fact that I have this condition. He wants a divorce. He claims this has gotten so out of hand that he refuses to live like this anymore. I am becoming more and more isolated from the world.The stress, rage and anger I feel evertime I hear or see a trigger is unbeerable. Sometimes it gets so bad that I think about hurting the offender. I would really appreciate any help or suggestions you can offer. I live in South Eastern Pennsylvania and can not find a doctor who can help me with Misophonia. Thank you
Misophonia is a horrible condition that can be very debilitating (as you have experienced). MisophoniaTreatment.com has more of a focus on treatment options and providers. On average, treatment will reduce misophonia severity by 50% (or more). We can work with you by internet video-chat. If you are interested in seeking treatment, email tom@misophoniatreatment.com for more information.
The first session with Tom Dozier covers assessment/management/treatment-options. It costs $150, but there is also a hardship rate. Follow-on treatment may be with Tom or another treatment provider based on the treatment you choose. Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy has promising results and can also be provided by video-chat.
Hi
I just wanted to follow up and see how you are doing and say that I hope you are ok.
Dear Tom,
I am 17 years old and just recently figured out that I have Misophonia. It’s really bad. It’s gotten to the point where it’s effecting my family and friends. I do not act out aggressively, but do get upset when I hear chewing or repetitive noises.I have very sensitive ears and I don’t know why. I have Googled different kinds of therapies and ways to help, but don’t really know….please help..
Hi Reanna. Misophonia is a difficult condition. We have a team who provide treatment for misophonia. You can email tom@misophoniatreatment. We provide treatment for misophonia by internet video-chat. The treatments do not eliminate misophonia, but we generally expect a 50% reduction in misophonia severity, along with ways to manage the condition to minimize the risk of new triggers and worsening of existing ones.
Hi. Can I download the trigger tamer to a regular windows laptop and use it on the laptop? We don’t own a smart phone. Thank you!
Hi Mr. Dozier,
Is there any chance that the Sequent Repatterning Hypnotherapy could be used on a very bright 8 year old?
It is possible. You and your daughter should meet with a Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapist and see if she has the emotional maturity and focus needed for this treatment.
Thank you for your very well written and organized website! My eleven year old daughter fits the description of a sufferer of this disorder! My question is: how can I explain it to her in terms understandable to her. I don’t want her to feel that there is something wrong with her (she already struggles in school with learning issues and is self conscious about her weight). Also, which treatment do you recommend? Right now her only trigger is my breathing and chewing, and her sisters’ breathing. School does not seem to be a problem (yet).
I suggest you read the “Taking about Misophonia” page and “What Is Misophonia?” page to explain to your daughter.
It depends on your daughter’s initial physical response, as to how you should proceed with treatment. This will be the easiest time to reduce or eliminate these triggers. Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy may be very helpful. Because she only has 3 triggers (your breathing and chewing, and sisters breathing), the Neural Repatterning Technique (Trigger Tamer) might work very well. Both are explained on this website. Those would be my top 2 treatment choices, but I cannot be sure without and assessment.
We are here to help.
Thank you. How can we be in touch re assessment?
Hello Tom, I have a question about the trigger tamer app. How often per day do you recommend listening to the app and for how long? And is it correct that while listening to the app the trigger is supposed to be so quick that I don’t get triggered (don’t feel the anger)?
You are correct that you should not feel anger when you are using the Trigger Tamer app. The trigger should cause an instant, tiny jolt to your body. You should notice it, but as soon as the trigger is over, it should go away. You may feel a tiny bit of irritation or disgust, but nothing like you experience with a real trigger.
I generally recommend using the Trigger Tamer 30 minutes a day, but you can use it more if it is not irritating. One of the first people to use the app would listen to music at work with the app, with triggers interspersed. He would listen for several hours at work. If you do this, you probably want the trigger to occur every 2 or 3 minutes. This is just an expert guess, as we have no data on this. Look at the words on the top of the treatment screen. It says, “Happy Time” which is a requirement for the app to be effective at reducing your misophonic response.
Thanks for your reply. For some reason when I listened to the app I didn’t really feel anything bad (not even a tiny jolt) when I heard the trigger (in real life I still get triggered though) but maybe I haven’t recorded the trigger sound well enough, I will check u pon that. Do you know how long (weeks, months, years) it took some of the people who used this app to feel less triggered? I am highly motivated to use this app. Unfortunately I sometimes lack discipline to really listen to it every day.
I have not read the book or all of these comments, but has any research been done on the incidence of miso being tied to the mother using anti-depressants during pregnancy? I think some research is now coming out that indicates a link to antidepressant use during pregnancy and autism…although miso is not autism, it is similar in the fact that some peeps with autism have certain sensitivities. Just curious since I took an anti depressant during pregnancy before any of the negative stuff about it was out. Although I have another daughter I took anti depressants with and she does not have any sound sensitivity issues….nor any other obvious issues.
These is no misophonia research on this.
Hi, I think to have Misophonia becouse when I hear snorting sound I get really angry and so I have few questions.
Do I have Misophonia?
Can I treat it with trigger tamer app, and if not are there other ways to heal from Misophonia?
Please answer me becouse this is really destroying my life.
This sounds like misophonia. The Trigger Tamer app may be appropriate, especially if you only have 1 trigger person.
I’m a mental health provider working with a patient to have school accommodations met at a university. The example one on your website was very helpful but it designed for K-12. Do you have any example ones for college accommodations or advice about working with a university for a student’s accommodations for misophonia? I already submitted a report with suggested accommodations similar to the example here, but the university did not include most of my recommendations in the approved accommodations for this student, such as having a trigger free testing environment with no eating/gum chewing. The university feels this is too difficult to accommodate since they have other students that must eat during testing for their medical accommodations and they want to test all of the accommodated students in the same room. They do not feel these are reasonable accommodations to request. Any suggestions for helping this student?
I think you should help your patient appeal the university decision. Trigger free testing is a must.
Hi Tom, My 10 year old son has misophonia, he is particularly triggered by chewing noises which cause rage and upset. It began with his sister´s and father´s chewing noises but now it appears he cannot tolerate any noisy eaters. We watched a film the other day with a giant that ate noisily and he found this very hard and had to block his ears and look away. He did not leave the cinema though and did manage it better than he would have done hearing eating noises at home. He also manages to sit through lunch in the school canteen without incident, he claims he doesn´t sit next to noisy eaters there. I think he is now becoming triggered visually as well. I am wondering if we should purchase the Trigger Tamer App or whether you think his trigger is too general and the app would therefore not work. He was so delighted when I said there was an app that might help him but having read more I´m worried that it wouldn´t have any effect. Would it be worth a try? Can you please advise me?
I think his triggers are too general for the Trigger Tamer app. There are other treatments, such as Sequent Repatterning or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. But you need to work with someone who has experience and is willing to share their success rate with their method of treatment.
Hi! I’m pretty sure I have Misophonia, but I am not 100% positive. I go to a place called Theraplay to help with my sound sensitivities (I think I’m a type 2 but my daddy says I’m a type three). Many sounds bother me, including typing, chewing, peeling vegetables, chopping, people doing the dishes, cats licking, showering and many other sounds. At my theraplay, my therapist has me work on core strength, but sometimes she has me listen to the sounds that I don’t like (my parents will record sounds of them chewing, doing the dishes ect.). I briefly read through the comments, and I noticed that you said a couple of times that if the person listen to the sounds they don’t like, the Misophonia will get worse. I already have one visual trigger, cats licking. I’m wondering if this is because my Therapist made me listen to a lot of cat licking sounds? She says, that if I listen to the sounds while doing a cognitive task that I like, my brain will retrain itself to not flip when I hear those sounds. Is she wrong? Even though I think I have Misophonia, why I’m hesitating to full out say that I have Misophonia, is because I can contain myself when I’m not with my parents. I’ll be at my friends how, and we’ll have dinner, and I’ll still not like the sounds, but I don’t yell and scoot my chair farther away from them. When I’m just with my friend somewhere I’ll tell them to stop smacking their gum, but that’s about it. My point is that I only react at home, but the sounds still bug me. It’s really hard to be a twelve-year-old with Misophonia. I’ve had it for a couple of years, and it’s made me very miserable. I have a teacher who types during silent reading, and it sounds just like my moms (I hate the sound of my mom typing). It makes me cover my ears during reading, and even if I cover them, my hands get tired and I can’t focus. Do you have any suggestions on how to cope with her typing during reading? Should my therapist keep making me listen to those sounds, or is she making it worse?
I cannot tell you if your what you are doing with your therapist is making misophonia worse. She is a licensed therapist. You could suggest that she contact Misophonia Institute for a consultation for her. I suggest you consider the following pages where I express some opinions.
http://misophoniainstitute.org/talking-about-misophonia/
http://misophoniainstitute.org/treatments-to-avoid/
http://misophoniainstitute.org/what-is-misophonia/
http://misophoniainstitute.org/how-triggers-spread/
I wish you well. Stay calm, relax. It is hard having misophonia at 12. Generally, it is easier at 24.
hello!! im fifteen years old and have suffered with misophonia for many years now. it’s become such a problem for me. i’ve grown a hatred towards school because of all of the gum chewing going on. i need help, but i dont know where to start.
I suggest you talk to your parents and together watch the video, Misophonia, What Is It? You are entitled to a 504 plan. You can use headphones in school and a number of other things to make school bearable.
You are not alone. If your parents do not listen, talk to the counselor at school. Keep talking until you get the help you need.
Hello,
My 10 year old daughter has been suffering from Misophonia and OCD. For the past 2 years we have gone from therapist to therapist for help, but she only got worse. We finally found a child psychiatrist that put her on lexapro, that and seeing a therapist has helped her OCD based thoughts very much. Although she still struggles at times. Her current therapist has been great teaching her OCD coping skills, but now she is trying to address the Misophonia and wants us to have her eat with her sister- the biggest trigger. She can’t even look at her sister eating even if she can’t hear it. It has spread to the rest of the family and now her friends in school. My question is this, is forcing her to eat with people the right thing to do? Her reaction is much more than discomfort, she writhes around in her seat, screams, cries, and presses on her ears very hard. When we try this, she just cannot function the rest of the day and I feel it is me simply torturing her. I also don’t want her to develop bad feelings that may harm family relationships. I just cannot force her to sit through triggers any longer. It really debilitates her functioning. Also, how can I politely tell her therapist that I disagree with this type of exposure therapy for her Misophonia? Any insight you have is greatly appreciated!
You should not force your daughter. It is highly likely to make her misophonia worse. I feel your therapist needs training on misophonia and does not understand it sufficiently to provide ethical treatment.
Carefully controlled exposure to triggers along with very positive circumstances can make her misophonia better. See the page on treatment for children at misophoniatreatment.com. She is also old enough for Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy, which is generally effective.
We have training for professionals like your daughter’s therapist.
How is it that people with misophonia can stand the sound of their own chewing when they eat, yet can’t sit at a dinner table for fear they might hear normal chewing noises during a meal?
Misophonia is a reflex response. Some things others do trigger us, but it is different when we do it. For example, most people can not tickle their self. From a reflex standpoint, it would be expected that the sound of one’s own chewing would not be a trigger.
Are there any research facilities where can volunteer myself as a research subject?
There are various research studies, but you usually need to replay to an announcement of the study to be admitted. You could try contacting individuals who have published journal articles on misophonia and see if they have any open studies. We have one which is in the IRB approval process at this time. We will post the announcement and request for participants on this website, and on the Facebook groups such as Misophonia Treatment and Management.
On the ‘What is Misophonia’ page the following is mentioned: “There are reports of individuals with stomach, intestine, or esophagus constriction, urge to urinate, or a sexual sensation.” But I could not find any further information regarding that last physical reflex issue of ‘a sexual sensation’. For many years I have experienced a sensation similar to insects crawling over my genitals when I felt threatened by the presence of people who I felt exhibited predatory sexual behaviors (intentionally or not) toward myself or others. The only explanation I have had for this is that a perhaps it is a strong emotion manifesting itself as a physical sensation. Could this actually be linked to misophonia? The audio or visual cue of seeing/hearing such persons has been linked by my lizard brain to a need for a freeze, fight, or flight response. Please let me know where I can find more information about this, if it’s available, and thank you for your time.
I cannot point you to any research on this, but it seems very similar to a visual misophonia trigger. My research indicates misophonia is a conditioned physical reflex – a Pavlovian reflex response to a common stimulus. In your case, you probably have some history with sexual predators. The sensation is likely a natural response which occurred at one of those times. It isn’t related to freeze, fight, or flight, because these are unlearned (innate) responses. This is likely a learned response that will not extinguish.
Do you have strong emotions from these experiences (anger or disgust)? If so, it meets my definition for misophonia — a common stimulus causes a physical reflex response which causes anger/disgust emotions.
Hi Tom, in doing research I think I have Miso and Hyperacusus. Dr’s have never heard of my triggers before. When I am around loud music for extended period of time I end up with what the Urgent care Dr called Seizure TYPE symptoms. I’m not having seizures had MRI, MRA …. 2 yr of tests. I lose concentration, walk like I’m drunk, get very aggregated, I have to leave or it gets worse. Bass from cars, Kids screaming, a bunch of people talking at the same time, plus some of the common triggers. Do you think I am right in my diagnosis and have you found any foods to be triggers?
I do not know any cases where foods are misophonic triggers. But I have seen all sorts of physical reflexes from misophonia. I met one person who had a burning sensation as his physical reflex. It may be possible that your body is producing a little bit of some hormone each time you are triggered, and the accumulation of the hormone cause the “drunk” behavior. How long does the effect last once you leave the trigger situation? Who long are you agitated after you leave? If you have misophonia, it is a unique manifestation of the condition. I cannot say if you do or do not have misophonia. Hyperacusis causes pain in the ears when exposed to loud noises, and it can be accurately diagnosed by an audiologist.
Thank you Tom for responding. It can take a day or two for the “drunk” behavior to stop. If I can’t get out of the situation and I go into a full blown episode it takes 3 days.
Tom,
My 13 year old son has so many triggers, it is stressful to be around him and he often chooses to stay home alone instead of joining in family outings. His triggers sound typical (smacking, all eating noises, the “s” leftover when singing or whispering, any singing (except his favorite bands), whistling, and oddly, when I twirl my hair around my finger as I drive in the car, he’ll quickly bring to my attention that I need to stop, or, I’ll hear stomping noises from him in the back seat taking his frustrations out on the car floor. THE QUESTIONS IS: how much should his triggers be avoided and accommodated? When anyone oppresses his company with extreme requests to NOT do many of the simple joys in life, it does feel like I am setting a bad precedence of intolerance for anyone in his future, let alone his issues in classrooms and other public places. Those in his ear shot (or even visual field) are on edge trying not to set him off. My side of the family has a few members (myself included) who show signs of misophonia, but none as pronounced as his). He is a witty, intelligent and sensitive young man, but is calling all the rules with social situations, forcing me to warn people of his many triggers, making tense situations of simple gatherings.
In general, forcing a person to endure triggers strengthens the emotional and initial physical reflex, so in the future, his response will be worse. Secondly, forcing a person to endure triggers can cause other sounds and sights present to become new triggers. So forcing him to endure triggers will make his miso-response worse and increase the number of triggers. I suggest you provide a way for him to not experience triggers, such as noise cancelling or noise isolating headphones. Visual triggers are harder to manage.
Tom Dozier thank you for studying this. I’m an extreme sufferer of misophonia. My sister has been helping me research the issue. She thinks that I underwent some type of extreme trauma in my childhood and that I have suppressed memories. She thinks that hypnotherapy would really help me. Is misophonia acquired through trauma? Does hypnotherapy help? How often do you encounter suppressed memories with your patients? I have so many blanks in my past that I think this is possible for me.
Misophonia is acquired through pairing of sounds (which become triggers) and stress. Usually there is no trauma. Regular hypnotherapy usually provides short term improvement, but only very short term. There is a treatment developed specifically for misophonia called Sequent Repatterning Hypnotherapy. It is an 8-week sequential treatment. It reduces misophonia approximately by 50% (on average) and the reduction in misophonia is about the same 6 months later. See http://misophoniainstitute.org/hypnotherapy-srt/
Dear Doctor Dozier
I needed help with this one. I suffer from Misophonia symptoms all day everyday such as tapping, chewing, eating, people breathing, computer keys and lots more and this keeps making my toes cringe in a way and my neck jerks without me wanting it to and I my question is do I have Misophonia or the symptoms or is that just normal in a sense. I’ve asked for help with it with NHS but they said to me it’s a phase but it doesn’t feel like that, it makes me think hateful things about friends, family and just others, lash out, throw things and cry sometimes. But what I wanted to ask you was what do you think, is it a phase or something else
George S
First… I am not a doctor. I am an applied behavior scientist. What you describe is misophonia. Misophonic triggers cause a physical reflex. In your case, you are perceptive and recognize the physical reflex to triggers. Your lizard brain hears a trigger and contracts the muscles (toes, neck, or both). It is like you are getting zapped with a mini taser, but it is your Lizard Brain that is doing it. This is explained in more detail on page http://misophoniainstitute.org/hidden-truth-misophonia/
Progressive muscle relaxation (see misophoniatreatment.com/pmr) can be helpful if you do it every day. You need to learn to relax your muscles. It takes lots of work, but is worth it. Do PMR every day for a month and see how it helps you. It is the best free treatment for misophonia.
Dear Doctor Dozier, My Grandson, Tyler, is now 23years old and has HF Autism, He did well in school and wanted to go to County College and continue his studies. His exposure to another disabled student
that screamed at Tyler and others caused his sound sensitivity to become worse. He cannot tolerate screaming children and babies. He had been doing well at county college but when encountering crying and screaming child he would run away blindly “fright and flight”. He becomes very aggressive. and has to be restrained He has been housebound for over a year and is very depressed. He has other noises he cannot tolerate. His Mother tells him, he has to control the noise. I have taken care of Tyler for three years and he lived with me most of the time. He misses school and I don’t know how to help him. Mom is a single Mom and has another son, Jordan, he has ADHD. I am hoping you can help Tyler, his young life is passing him by. Best Regards, Monica Hoffmann
First… I am not a doctor. I am an applied behavior scientist who has worked on misophonia for 4 years.
I think you should consider Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy for misophonia. It is discussed under the “Treatment” tab. Sequent Repatterning hypnotherapy can be provided by internet video chat. This is similar to another case where the individual with ASD had a very strong response to triggers.
Hi Tom
I know I’ve had misophonia for about 18 years now. I can almost pinpoint the series of events that made me painfully aware.
I have two major triggers, sniffling and repeated (over loud) throat clearing.
I’ve actually requested to be moved at work because a hearing impaired co-worker does this open mouth throat clearing thing I can’t even describe (haaaa….ahhhhhhhkkkkkk)…andhe has no idea how loud it is. His allergies has me considering other jobs.
On a somewhat contrary note, do suffers ever report triggers that are exceedingly pleasurable?
For instance the sound someone turning pages of a newspaper (or book with crispy pages) makes me almost euphoric.
Likewise a man’s low melodic whistling of a tune is entrancing to me. It’s in complete opposition to the negative triggers.
The positive responses to triggers that you describe are called autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR). I don’t think it is related to misophonia.
My daughter has misophonia and is working very hard to keep it under control but at 15, it is tough. She uses her headphones while we eat and it seems to help. I’m looking into getting her to see an audiologist and hope it provides relief for her. My question is this, at what age can misophonia start? She never slept well as a baby and cried often, driving her mother and I crazy during the nights because, obviously, we didn’t get a lot of sleep either. She eventually stopped crying so much and started sleeping better but maybe she learned to sooth herself. I wonder if she had it as a baby and that was what was causing the lack of sleep and sheer anger in her?
From my research and working with patients, misophonia is a conditioned response to specific sounds. That means that it develops through experience. A new sound would not be a trigger, but if the person hears the sound under the right conditions (and these conditions include what is happening in the person’s body) then that sound can become a trigger.
It seems highly unlikely to me that the problem of sleeping through the night was related to misophonia in any way. In her room, she was not being exposed to trigger sounds, so even if she did develop misophonia at an early age (say 3-6 months), it is very likely that she was not being triggered in her room. But her natural sensitivities, distress, lack of self-soothing could have let to the development of misophonia at a later age.
I get irate when I hear anything having to do with the mouth type noise… I can’t even eat in the same room as most people because of this… I even get angry at my dog when he drinks water out of his bowl. I hate it. I yell at the animals for grooming themselves. What is wrong with me??
What you are describing is typical misophonia symptoms. I suggest you seek treatment. See misophoniatreatment.com for providers, or trained professionals on this website.