WHAT IS MISOPHONIA?
SOUND TRIGGERS
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Raspy voices
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Muffled talking or music
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Repeated words ("like," "um,")
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Chewing and fork scraping teeth
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Plastic bags crinkling
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Yawning
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Clicking (pens, nails, typing)
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Knuckle or joint cracking
VIDEOS
These medical-oriented and personal experience videos can help you understand misophonia more fully.
*WARNING* Videos may contain sounds/visuals that can trigger those with misophonia.
VISUAL TRIGGERS
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Swinging or twirling things (keys, hair)
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Placing hands near or on mouth
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Figeting/repetitive body movements
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Blinking lights
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Automatic website animations
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Movement out of corner of eye
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Rubbing hands together
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Open-mouth breathing
TACTILE TRIGGERS
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Being tapped (to get attention)
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Vibrations (like from chair kicking)
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Hair falling into face
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Certain fabrics or materials
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Grazing skin (someone passing by)
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Being touched by adjacent objects
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Strands of hair landing on arm/leg
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Reading over shoulder
GENERAL INFORMATION
Misophonia—a term coined by American scientists Pawel and Margaret Jastreboff in 2001—is defined as the “hatred of sound.” It’s a disorder that produces negative reactions, both psychologically and even physically, which can sometimes be very extreme. Anything from slight discomfort and annoyance to a full-force period of rage or panic can occur, depending on the significance of the trigger noise to that specific sufferer.
The sounds that cause misos (people with misophonia) to experience these reactions can range from the crinkling of a chip bag to the clicking of a pen to sniffling, and these are just a few of many possible
triggers. You'll find more examples below. Sometimes, even the sight of an associated object, like a bag of
chips, can trigger misos. These triggers evoke a “fight or flight” response that often creates an overwhelming desire to escape the situation at all costs, or else bring harm to the trigger person.
For some context on the disorder, the age of onset is typically between 10 and 12 years old. It’s not caused by a hearing impairment, nor is it the same as hyperacusis, which is an over-sensitivity to the volume of sounds. And, while misos may eventually learn to cope with the disorder as best as they can, there is no current cure for misophonia.
But we're here to do everything we can to help by aggregating top-quality resources for you to utilize.