You probably have never heard of misophonia. That said, you would know if you had it. The condition makes eating nearly torture as merely hearing the sounds of other people eating can send patients into a fierce rage instantly.
The condition usually presents itself in late childhood or early adolescence and has been studied very little until now. There is no known cure or way to reduce symptoms.
“This is not voluntary,” Marsha Johnson, an audiologist, told the New York Times. “Usually they cry a lot because they’ve been told they can control this if they want to. This is not their fault. They didn’t ask for it and they didn’t make it up. They structure their lives around it.”
Johnson says she has seen around 1,700 people with the condition, but the prevalence is also little understood.
Do you know anyone who suffers from this condition?
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Comments
September 6, 2011
Oh my - I'm pretty sure I have this. In fact, really sure. I've spent most of my life thinking I was nuts or just weird. Thanks for at least giving me a name for it :)
September 6, 2011
I never thought this was an actual condition. Actually, I just thought I was extremely intolerant of others, but only with this issue. And although, never to the point of flying into a rage, hearing people chew with their mouth open, or the noise those people whose chewing actually echoes into their heads, or even the loud gulp gulp when they drink, makes me extremely tense. At work, I have to walk away, or put my headphones on, when my colleagues make these noises. I can't stand it!!!
September 6, 2011
I thought this was just me being extremely intolerant. As I get older it is getting worse. SOmetimes I have to leave the table when my husband or the children are eating because they make me nuts. It is very frustrating because I keep telling myself to lighten up but it makes me crazy.
It is worse when it is just one other person. Turning on the radio helps a lot.