Chewing gum, coughing, eating… These and others are actions that make some noise, a little annoying but bearable. We would prefer them not to be there, but they are not excessively irritable either, or at least that is what most of us feel.
Some people, on the other hand, may perceive these sounds as extremely irritating, causing them such great psychological discomfort that they are capable of reacting with typical fight or flight behaviors. They cause a lot of discomfort, so much so that they can even become extremely upset.
When this reaches pathological levels, it is said that one suffers from misophonia. Reading up to this point you may have felt identified and are wondering how to know if you have misophonia. This is what we are going to respond to below.
The term “misophonia” literally means “hatred of sound” and was first used in 2001 by Pawel and Margaret Jastreboff, although it was not recognized as an actual disorder until 2010. Misophonia is described as a hearing disorder in which the sufferer feels great discomfort when faced with low-volume and repetitive sounds. It is believed to be a fairly common condition, affecting almost 17% of the world’s population and can generate negative reactions in the nervous system.
Misophonia sufferers experience strong emotional reactions to specific sounds, such as mouth sounds such as chewing, throat clearing, gum chewing, lip smacking, or even the sound of certain consonants such as /s/. They are sounds that, despite being harmless, people who suffer from misophonia can experience them in such an extremely annoying way that they trigger feelings of panic, anxiety or anger.
Misophonia is believed to be a neurological disorder that causes an exaggeratedly intense response in the central nervous system, specifically in the limbic, due to abnormal hyperactivation of the auditory system to sounds of relatively low intensity. The sounds that trigger this annoyance can be lower than those of a normal conversation, between 40 and 50 dB.
It can occur at any age, although it usually appears in late childhood or early adolescence. At first the reaction is triggered by a specific sound, but as time goes by, more sounds that trigger it are added to the repertoire of annoying acoustic stimuli, making the individual’s life increasingly limited by this annoyance.
To know if we have misophonia we must know what the levels of this discomfort are. As with other medical and psychological conditions, symptoms can vary from person to person, and in this case the sounds that trigger them may also be different. Below we have an exhaustive scale of what the levels of misophonia are and what symptoms accompany them.
Level 0
You perceive an unwanted noise, but it does not subjectively feel like a nuisance.
Level 1
You are aware of the presence of someone who causes a certain noise, but no anxiety is felt or discomfort is manifested at minimal levels.
Level 2
Noise causes psychological discomfort in the form of irritation or minor annoyance. There are no symptoms of panic or fight or flight response.
Level 3
Increasing levels of psychological discomfort are felt, but no corresponding physical response is carried out. However, the person suffering from misophonia may be hypervigilant to audiovisual stimuli.
Level 4
A minimal physical response is carried out, although without confrontation. At most there will be some complaint to the person making the noise, such as asking them to stop making it or discreetly covering one ear or quietly walking away from the noise. There are no clear symptoms of panic or flight.
Level 5
The individual carries out more controversial and noticeable response mechanisms, such as openly covering the ears. Obvious irritation begins to show.
Level 6
The individual experiences considerable psychological discomfort. Symptoms of panic begin to manifest and more noticeable fight-or-flight behaviors occur.
Level 7
The psychological discomfort is more than considerable. The person has been making increasing, stronger and more frequent use of survival mechanisms as a confrontation with that sound. In some cases, there is unwanted sexual arousal. The patient feels such discomfort at the sound that he or she may remember it in a somewhat traumatic way for weeks, months, or even years after its occurrence.
Level 8
The psychological discomfort caused by the annoying sound is so high that some ideas of violence may arise.
There are panic behaviors and reactions in the form of rage. The individual is at the crossroads of deciding whether or not to resort to violence with the person causing the annoying sound. He will most likely try to get away from the noise and avoid using physical violence towards an inanimate object. The patient feels irritation, panic and anger.
Level 10
Physical violence is used against the person or animal that emits the annoying noise. They may also engage in self-harm to avoid harming others.
Differences from other hearing disorders
To know if we have misophonia, it is necessary to see what symptoms differentiate this hearing disorder from others such as hyperacusis and phonophobia.
Hyperacusis
Hyperacusis is a syndrome in which there is a lower tolerance for normal and natural sounds in the environment.. It is considered a loss of the dynamic range of hearing, that is, the ability of the auditory system to handle rapid increases in sound volume is affected. People with hyperacusis may use hearing protection (e.g., earplugs) to help them perform normal activities.
Phonophobia
Phonophobia is irrational fear of loud noises. It is a particularly strange phobia, characterized by the fear of listening to a sound at any volume and thinking that at any moment it could suddenly increase in intensity, causing a great scare. People with phonophobia live with the anxiety that sooner or later they will have to face deafening noise.
You may be interested: “Types of phobias: exploring fear disorders”
Sharing
Putting the three hearing disorders in common, we can give the following examples. A person with hyperacusis may feel pain or frustration when listening to the radio at a normal volume, to the point that he or she must leave the room or use earplugs. A person with phonophobia may be afraid that, when listening to that same radio, the station will be received altered and suddenly the volume will increase without warning, causing a great scare. On the other hand, the person with misophonia may be very irritated by the sound of interference, to the point that he picks up the radio and smashes it against the wall.
Is there treatment for misophonia?
There is no specific treatment to completely eliminate misophonia, but there are certain therapeutic options that can improve the quality of life of those who suffer from this hearing disorder. Psychotherapy and relaxation techniques help minimize the effect of stress and anxiety caused by perceiving everyday sounds as very annoying, in addition to providing the patient with tools to assertively manage the situations in which they occur.
Cognitive-behavioral therapies help improve tolerance towards annoying noises, in addition to providing the patient with tools to control the associated emotional reactions. These, combined with meditation or even practices such as yoga, help combat the irritability associated with annoying sounds.
In situations where it is not possible to escape from the unpleasant sound or control its volume, one of the best options for patients suffering from misophonia is to use simple earplugs. Be that as it may, regardless of how controllable the sound is, it is not recommended to consume alcohol, caffeine or any other exciting substance since it can increase the likelihood of responding aggressively to the sound source.
You may be interested: “The 13 benefits of Psychology (and why it is a good idea to go to the psychologist)”
Are you looking for psychological assistance for misophonia?
At this point, we can know if we have misophonia based on how we behave when we are near a source of sounds that cause us discomfort. This source of annoying sounds can be a person chewing gum or simply breathing and, although they are harmless sounds, we perceive them as emotionally disturbing. This can make us respond with a lot of irritation, rage and anger, to the point of confronting the person making the noise and even having an argument.
We can conclude that misophonia is a hearing disorder that causes negative reactions such as anxiety or anger to specific sounds, which may vary from person to person. The person becomes irritated by her presence and may even become physically and verbally violent. Whatever the response you give to the annoying sound stimulus, these will be included in the fight and flight behaviors typical of stress and anxiety, either fleeing from the source of the annoying sound or facing it.
If you search psychological support for misophonia, I invite you to contact me. I offer face-to-face sessions in my office in Almería and also online sessions by video call.
