An expert explains what it means to have misophonia | SELF IMPROVED
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Dr. Ali Mattu shares his personal story dealing with misophonia: a disorder where certain sounds can spur someone with a flood of discomfort.
Read more: Gum chewing enrages her - and she’s not alone. What’s misophonia?
#Misophonia #Doctor #Sound
Yep, this is me. Can't stand asmr, lip smacking or even a ticking clock. I'm not a violent person but certain noises make me want to hit someone. I never have, but it does make me angry.
Omg literally I don’t understand how people like asmr 😭
Oh, the clock trigger! You are the first person I meet who has this trigger besides myself.
I also hate it when people smack their lips I can’t stand it. Especially when a person does it while their talking I’ve had to step out of class lots of times for a solid amount of time because some of my professors smacked their lips while talking
I knew I wasnt the only one
Well, one of the things I can’t stand is the sound of brass instruments like that really triggers my Misophonia! Same thing with gas powered yard tools such as weed eaters!
I recall the time I first started experiencing this. I was around 10 years old and my family was all eating together. The collective mouth noises and smacking sent me into this overwhelming rage. The more I tried to ignore it, the more my mind fixated on it and ramped up my flight or fight response. I plugged my ears with my fingers and just cried silently until it stopped. Everybody thought was it just me being a brat and overreacting. My older brother would often smack his food right next to my ear, thinking it was funny and that I was just being dramatic. I remember digging my nails into my skin, sometimes to the point of bleeding, just to distract myself from the sounds and overwhelming emotions. When I got to high school, I would always eat in my car during lunch, because the sounds of dozens of people eating at once would just make me feel incredibly anxious. I would also avoid the breakrooms at every job I've had.
The types of thoughts I get when I experience misophonia scare me; it's this irrationally intense, almost homicidal anger that I have never felt in any other situation in my life. It's even caused problems in my past romantic relationships. It's difficult to explain misophonia to someone without instilling some degree of self-consciousness about their own sounds whenever they eat around me. It's not their fault at all (everybody needs to eat and making noises happens very often and involuntarily, especially when the food is enjoyable) and it's not my fault that my processing of certain sounds is more sensitive than most people's. I've since learned that mindfulness/breathing exercises and avoiding caffeine/alcohol really help with managing triggers, but I make sure to always carry earplugs or headphones with me just in case. It really helps to know that many other people suffer from this condition as well.
I'm with you all the way. It's seems unfair because, to your point, it's not their fault, but it's also not yours for having such a cruel condition. I try not to say anything to people when it bothers me because, naturally I feel like a jerk for complaining about their natural functions. It's an ugly little secret that makes me feel so alone and anxious. It's nice to know I'm not the only one.
Thank you.
I'm glad I seem to only have mild misophonia, but it's the classic kind, smacking and mouth noises. When someone chewing gum with open mouth, I can turn from upbeat to angry in a literal second.
As a teenager, my mother would eat like a freaking swine, with a lot of disgusting smacking and when finished, having her tongue travel around her mouth and teeth for what felt like hours. One time I told her I can't stand her way of eating, and in all her common ignorance, she said "in my house I eat like I want". Yeah, I never knew understanding and respectful parents. Went to my room and prevented ever being around her again when she was eating something. Gladly this is way behind me, now I am living hundreds of kilometers away from her.
I totally understand you.
The bass from loud music, its like hammering concrete. People who talk and laugh really loud. Its hard to ignore or block out. Sometimes it gets so bad I've started self-harming. 20 years here, we can't afford to move, I'm not confrontational, never been in a fight and I don't want to end up in jail for momentary lapse of judgement.
For me it started when I was taking my EOG test in 3rd grade. The sound of people sniffing enraged me and made it nearly impossible to concentrate.
It then expanded to chewing, repetitive sounds, etc before I was a teen. It has never changed.
Misophonia is the amplification of soft sound, and it is somewhat the ability of superhuman hearing because the sound of a clock ticking becomes strong, or any sound that the person suffering from misophonia has selected in his subconscious becomes annoying because he unconsciously focuses on the sound that he selected in the stages of development with their surroundings. With a little training and control over his hearing, he can To have superhuman hearing
My misophonia can happen with almost anything, but it mostly happens with breathing, eating, coughing, and sniffling. I have mild germophobia aswell, so I get absolutely pissed and distressed at the same time whenever someone’s sick.
I could have headphones on and thunder and all I hear is the triggered sound. I first remember when I was a teenager and the visual of someone biting their nails. It wasn't just the mouth noise it was the visual of the hand motion of the nail biting.
It’s lip smacking for me. If I hear it or see it too it sets me off I don’t even eat dinner with my family
YES!!!
for me it's drinking and swallowing sounds, I haven't been able to eat at the table my ENTIRE LIFE. My parents accused me and still do to this very day of being crazy and making this up... I see RED every single time I even SEE my mother pick up her damn cup... She traps me in small spaces to drink something so she can watch me squirm and try my best to act like nothing happened until I finally CAN'T take it and remove myself... THEN she gets to say something about how mean and crazy I am that I can't even let her drink in peace....
I literally want to pull my hair out...
I'm sorry you struggle with the visual part too, it makes this 10x more difficult to manage.
I bought those earplugs designed specifically for misophonia or people sensitive to sounds, supposed to filter sound thru something so we can hear it still but it won't be so bad somehow, wasted $40 they don't work worth a damn lol like sticking cotton balls in your ears and expecting no sound to be heard it felt like.. idk maybe that's not the right way to explain but I had such high hopes! Ugh.
Anyways, I hope you're having a great day! 🥰✌️
I have misophonia towards coughing. It's definitely a living hell. I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy.
Ugh yes! It makes me feel like a cat when they fold their ears back
This is me. My triggers are my wife's breathing at night. She often makes a pop sound due to rapid breaching of her lips upon exhale and it creates stress to the point where my anxiety won't let me sleep. I try to mask it with foam earplugs. And yes, the flossing thing too but at least I can usually go to another part of the house. Another is eating sounds. My coworker triggers me the most and I feel enraged and disgusted. In my mind I compare him to eating a cow's butt. I know that sounds graphic and rude but it's how I feel. When he eats I need to immediately leave the staffroom.
first happened to me when i was like 9 on a road trip to the grand canyon! my dads eating was the worst( made conscious effort to make it better for me and my condition, yes very good/cool dad) and out of nowhere i just found myself obsessed and could not hear anything else but the eating. the rage i felt hearing it was absurd. Just happened like that, never cared for smacking or biting, tapping noises, you name it. Non of it bothered me then boom out of nowhere one day i cant stand it all! Its a nightmare and has ruined social interactions for me! wish i could easily get rid of it! im 26 now still trying to deal with it !
Yes, amplified sensitive microphones that people speak into that you can hear saliva production, gross mouth movements, nose booger whistles, etc, turning the page in a book over-enthusiastically, eating and breathing loudly, food wrappers rustling, hunting and fishing shows when people whisper into a microphone, Ive had this my entire life
I was that kid who would run my fingers down the chalk board. That never bothered me. But all those sounds that are supposed to calm people and relieve anxiety makes me want to throw things. Like "green sounds" or "brown sounds". It's like needles piercing my soul. I knew I had an issue since I was a kid but my parents thought I was being dramatic. Now I know what it's called. I do carry ear plugs but it's always an option.
This is me. Loud eating sound, heavy breathing, snoring, and even certain talking voices of other people really annoys me
I just discovered this is my problem. My husband has chewing tic that he does all the time. The first 4 years together i didn't notice. But when we started having some issues i began to notice it and it drove me crazy to sit next to him. To me it's so silly and i often haven enjoyed ASMR with cats or dogs licking their paws. But when it's a human chewing or tapping, or clicking a pen, it drives me insane.
I do think it's tied to my mental state. If i'm annoyed by the person and they start doing these things, my mind shines a light on that sound. It's as if it angers me because i think all they have to do is stop or be quiet, but they don't. In the case of my husband, who i love very much, his chewing is a tic. I find that if i don't see him doing it i can forget about it. If we are watching tv together and it starts, which it always does, and i say something, i make him do it more as tics can't be controlled like that. So what i did was suggest we switch seats so i don't see it and it helps me forget it's happening and focus on the tv show. It's weird because if he's to the right of me, i notice it, if he's to my left, he's more out of my sight and i don't notice it. I feel so ridiculous letting something like this get to me!
I have so many instances in my past with dogs barking, or someone at work tapping and or clicking their pen that drives me crazy but i never knew it was an actual condition. Thanks for this video!
I have it since I was about 9, maybe earlier. I also have OCD, which is now under control, but misophonia - can't do anything about it. I can not eat with my family members. They understand. I tried my best to sit still and be normal, but it's beyond my self control.
I am realizing that I have this. Sniffling, clearing throat, coughing, sneezing anything loud really bothers me now.
I absolutely hate the sound of coughing oh my God
I am suffering from Misophonia, ah!
Every day, during work.
I feel like i am gonna fight someone.
Severe headache, which makes me feel like i am standing in a fighting ring and gotta smash those whose sound triggers me.
I don't know what to do.
Sorry man, I'm going through it too. But for me it's not too severe. It helps me to think of positive thoughts toward the person making the sound. Then instead of hating the sound, i try to imagine it's a sound that doesn't annoy more. Easier said than done i know but it does seem to help me somewhat. Good luck and don't punch anyone lol
after a dinner party in a restaurant the level of dounds from every one was so lound that i got the most violent migraine , my vision became blurry i couldnt hear anything my friends were saying, i started to sweat... i started to feel nausea... when i reached home... i lost the vision of my left eye and got blind for 2 days ... i was always sensible to certain noise... i brings my panic level to the roof... i always have ear plugs with me every where i go... i am afraid of loud noise since that day
I just can't stand the different kind of mouth sounds and whispering, and asmr at all is just hell. It makes me extremely uncomfortable and I want to put a stop to it in any way I can. One time i almost started to scratch the inside of my ears because of the strong dislike.
Every time I hear someone speaking and deliberately taking longer to finish a sentence with long pauses between words (for example in videos), Being soft on certain letters at the same time, and when piano music has too many soft notes. It stresses me out to no end and I just want to hurry it up or listen to something fast paced and/or loud.
Something I like to do is listen to audiobooks.
But it is very difficult to find a video where the story voice isn't some person that is too close to the microphone with either wet mouth sounds, too loud breathing between most sentences, lip smacking and having too loud of a voice where it feels like they're trying to talk inside your head (too close for comfort).
Don't even get me started on chewing sounds, chewing with mouth open, lip smacking and swallowing sounds when food and drinking is involved.
I just found this video tonight. My boyfriend’s loud and open-mouthed crewing and smacking just made me literally leave and go and the building rooftop. Whenever we eat together, I have to put in headphones, or just let him eat before me. I think I have a problem. Luckily, I have never said a word to him about it, but I am concerned at the level at which it frustrates me.
Me watching this as my roomate chews gum
Thoughts and prayers🙄
Ok i have this for crying babies. I feel like I'm going insane by my reaction whenever my kids cry
I wear earplugs and earbuds all the time. Sometimes I wish I was deaf...
Me too…
I have this. I have stopped going out. Only to work and buy groceries.
The release of sound, on machines i work on. it drives me mental, and it started a 14 months after start the job and it has only really gotten worse. almost and ticking sound or sounds in the walls at home or t.v expanding sounds drive me wild. it all started when i was extremely tired as well and fed up cause i was being off shifted with less then 12 hours to adjust. (going from nights to afternoons) i pray one day we can find a solution. some days are ok others i can barely tolerate it. I'll scream, grind my teeth and cover my ears. it's wild hopefully this helps someone else not feel alone. praise the lord jesus.
Maybe you just need to quit that job and get a normal day time job 😁
It's the sound of Ether that enrages me, particularly the part of it (admittedly after a drug induced hypnosis) that seems to have latched on to me and made itself a permanent fixture of my biological system, causing me to hear, ever so lightly the narrations of my body activity and the environment as it pertains to me. Imagine if the water in your body became conscious? Ambient sounds turn into actual words. Running water and churning of train cars "talk'. I also have a problem where electronic devices such as tv, radios and cell phones interfere with my own brain's electric system, causing weird audio glitches, Wi-Fi disturbances, paranoia, suspicion, the perception of being monitored, thought insertion and other eerie shit. It truly makes me loathe the body and especially the mysterious origin of thought itself..I guess I shouldn't be surprised that natural elements like Ether, fire water or any aspect of nature can be awakened. We're alive afterall and part of nature..
It's a nightware nonetheless. Sorry fire, I'm not in the mood to chat.
The worst of it all is the perpetual sense that I'm being communicated to, but it's so vague (dependent on a pre-existing sound) and convoluted that the line between advice, mere observation and pointless criticism/antagonism blur.
So it's often a case of what I heard that bothered me. It's the not knowing if I heard that right, the sense that probably did because what are the odds, but being unable to prove it.
Misphonia is kind of like the bridge of where my depression and anxiety connect.
Nah, I think there is something more going on with you than misophonia. I would get it checked out. Could be schizophrenia or the like.
Im 16, i hate when people chew, do weird sounds for a long time, like tapping or clicking a pen, or i cant withstand some people cuz of their voice. Didnt know there is a thing like misophonia haha
I could not eat at the dinner table with my husband. He would warn me before he ate cereal so I can go into another room with my headphones on. My other big big miso moment? Eating chips out of a bag! Hand in hand out! Wrinkling the whole time!!! Put them in a bowl! I used to cut the top of the bag off so it wasn’t too long to reach his hand in! Silly things you had to think of not to be mad all the time
I hate when u slide a foam cup through the table horrible noise😭
Oh maybe I have this mildly. Ive noticed recently when my husband chews on a vitamin tablet it annoys me intensely. But also when he chews on his nails habitually I have to stop him. He in turn gets annoyed with me because a) he can’t stop the habit and b) he should be able to do what he wants as it’s his body. I also get irritated (sometimes) by ticking clocks and there are also some sounds that I never want to hear again (I cant watch the movie ‘Contact’ for this very reason - like my comment if you know what I’m talking about).
"Honey, could you floss your teeth a little quieter, please?"
"Babe, what?! My flossing makes noise?"
"It does, and it's driving me crazy!"
"Huh. I mean, I could try..."
I have "Me so phonia" everything sounds like Jar Jar Binks
My worst trigger is yawning 😢
I know I have this!!!!😮
MINE IS VOCAL FRY? I CANNOT STAND VOCAL FRY!
Loud music and loud stomping makes me go INSANE...especially if its coming out of a car or apartment 😮😢
Is Hearing thrilling music, or intense scenes like violence or dialogue on tv can trigger misophonia? Because I'm hearing those intense scenes.
Maalesef böyle bir hastalığın olduğunu kısa zaman önce fark ettim nefes sesi ve yemek yerken kaşığın dişe değme sesi çok kötü hissettiriyor herkes bunu çok saçma buluyor anlaşılmamak hastalığı daha da tetikliyor bence 24 saat neredeyse kulak tıpası kullanıyorum sürekli evde olduğumda kulak tıpası BAŞ AĞRISI ve kulak ağrısı yapıyor çok mutsuzum😢
If I get annoyed that a family member smacks their lips every few seconds for multiple hours at a time, do I have misophonia?
Or you’re just very, very uptight.
@Mark_R_Tho lol u clown
I wonder how this was beneficial back when we were hunter gathering.
Trying to reframe these more recently recognized and troublesome issues.
The world is changing fast. And I can see that this might have been quite a sought after ability for our nervous systems back when we needed to hear and worry about these sounds for our safety.
I get literally physically vomit ill when I hear a Australian accent . I literally feel nauseous and angry all at the same time,and if I hear it more I ultimately vomit
The Australian accent makes my head want to explode,which really sucks because when I watch good austrailian movies I have to turn the volume off and use CC . I feel bad because it is just accent ,and I have been called racist because of it. But it is not my fault that it freaks me out and makes me nauseous
Anyone who has this .. do your trigger sounds startle u ?
When it comes out of nowhere, yes. My classmate randomly cracks her knuckles and it genuinely sends me into a spiral. Like i think about it for ages after it happens and even just the visual of people touching their hands makes me imagine the sound and causes me to become REALLY anxious and angry
Add in really loud tinnitus to that equation and let me know how nuts you go in a Movie Theatre.......welcome to my world. I have eaten alone since I was a little kid.
Listening to a glass bottle being filled in a show made my ears hyper sensitive, and made me feel physically uncomfortable.
Like nails on chalkboard.
Does that have something to do with Autism
1:10 god just imagining it is like nails on a chalkboard. Nope, agh
Asmr, chewing noises, clock ticking, whistling etc. I hate all of these
Whistling! Ugh especially when they can’t whistle! And it’s no even a song!!!
Yeah, theres lots if triggers too
Can you have misophonia from the sound of someone consistently nagging you relentlessly?
Styrofoam 🤮🤢
I totally get that, my friend's nephew was smudging glass beads on styrofoam box playing with it in her room while we're chatting, it triggered me so much and my friend being so desensitized to the situation was so bizarre 😭