Many people with misophonia are encouraged, at some point, to “be tough” and tolerate trigger sounds. Children and adults alike often want to remain part of social situations and avoid isolation, even when those situations involve triggering sounds. Parents, teachers, or loved ones may suggest ignoring the trigger in the hope that the individual will eventually get used to it. As a result, many people with misophonia initially respond to triggers by attempting to tolerate them rather than leaving the situation.
This approach is often based on the assumption that repeated exposure will lead to habituation, as it does with many other sensory experiences. However, misophonia does not work this way. People do not acclimate to trigger sounds over time. Instead, repeated exposure commonly leads to increased distress rather than decreased distress. Many individuals report that they first try to tolerate the sound and only leave the situation after the reaction becomes overwhelming, rather than leaving immediately when the trigger begins.
The overall severity of a person’s misophonia is influenced both by the intensity of individual trigger experiences and by how frequently triggers occur throughout the day. Outside of trigger situations, individuals with misophonia typically do not experience unpleasant reactions to everyday sounds or sights. If trigger stimuli were completely absent, the condition itself would no longer be noticeable. For this reason, an important principle of misophonia management is reducing the number of trigger exposures a person experiences each day.
Being triggered tends to make misophonia worse rather than better. This occurs in two ways. First, repeated exposure can strengthen the reflexive physical response associated with the trigger. Second, when a person is already triggered, other repetitive sounds or sights in the environment may begin to take on triggering qualities. Over time, this can lead to stronger reactions and the development of additional triggers.
For these reasons, avoiding full-strength trigger exposure is generally recommended. When possible, leaving the room, creating distance from the sound, using sound-masking strategies, or requesting a change in the environment can help limit exposure. While it is not always possible to avoid triggers entirely, minimizing their frequency and intensity can play an important role in managing misophonia and preventing symptom escalation.