18 percent of the population has misophonia, and I’m part of that. Let me talk about having misophonia and how cruddy it is. No, misophonia is not someone that misses their phone when they don’t have it, or a fear of losing your phone. It directly translates into “hatred of sound”. That doesn’t mean I hate all sound, I actually like most sounds, like music. Misophonia is about the hatred of certain sounds. And no, we’re not overreacting or attention getters even though loud slurping is universally hated. It doesn’t mean you’re a little annoyed or grossed out, it means you physically cannot handle it. There is no way to “just suck it up and stop whining”. It is literal TORTURE. Triggers and reactions Misophonia is caused by sounds that cause a flight or flight reaction due to the brain misinterpreting auditory and/or visual stimuli as dangerous. The sounds that generate a flight or flight reaction in a misophonic are called triggers. Sounds that are triggers are typically seen as repulsive or terrifying. It sucks a lot. Examples Of Triggers • Smacking Lips or Slobbering • Canned Laughter • Sneezing or Coughing • Loud Breathing • Snoring • Snorting • Metal Clanging • Certain Voices • The “Music” Of Those Plastic Rainbow Pipes From Third Grade Music Class ________________________________________ For me, a couple of my triggers are certain people’s voices and coughing. Since I’m in middle school, I’m clearly not gonna have a good time. There is no cure for misophonia, and it’s lifelong. Trigger Reactions Trigger reactions can range from being really upset/grossed out but you’re a polite person, so you do nothing or timidly ask the person to stop making the noise, to flying into a rage and/or wanting to stop/kill the source of the sound. Misophonia is kind of like OCD’s twin, since they’re both closely linked (lucky me, I get a buy one get one free deal). It’s being considered counting misophonia as an neurodivergency and classifying it as a form of OCD. Misophonia Can Be Linked To Sight According to the IMRN (International Misophonia Research), “Some individuals also describe visual triggers” along with their audio triggers. Similarly to the audio triggers, these cause a fight or flight reaction in the person, and can cause severe discomfort, anxiety and rage. As a misophonic that does not have visual triggers, I should not and will not represent the ones that do. FAQ ________________________________________ (These are real questions I have seen people ask, I swear to god I’m not making this up) Q: “Are misophonic people autistic? A: Some are and some aren’t, like with any other group of people. Q: “Do misophonic people have a high IQ?” A: Again, some do and some don’t. There are probably some misophonic people with below average IQ. Q: “Are misophonic people faking it for attention?” A: No? Q: “Is misophonia a mental illness?” A: No. Q: “Does misophonia get worse with age?” A: It’s lifelong, and can potentially get worse if left unchecked. If you have any questions, please comment them.
This is probably bad, because it was written by a middle schooler and it’s a rough draft that is incredibly short since I made it in a hour (counting research and brainstorm time) Wow this was long Sources: Google Psych2go’s website My own experiences www.frontiersin.org Harvard Health And other miscellaneous websites for some facts!
