WHAT MISOPHONIA FEELS LIKE / MY STORY

If you don’t have misophonia, it feels like someone is teasing you on purpose although they might not be trying to. Whenever my brother sniffles, I get really upset and tell him to stop. When he doesn’t, I get really mad and one time I kicked him. I never knew why I was like this, but then I did my research and found out about misophonia. I felt extreme rage at the moment, but afterward I felt really guilty for kicking him, but it almost feels like I can’t control my body. 

That’s why I decided to make this article to explain how it’s normal and if you have it, you aren’t going insane, and it’s not just you.

WHAT IS MISOPHONIA

Misophonia is a strong reaction to certain sounds. Now, it might not be getting annoyed by little noises, but getting anger-filled, and feeling rage, or extreme discomfort. Some examples are : dripping water, snapping gums, chewing loudly, or pen / pencil tapping. It is also rare, around 200,000 cases a year.

SYMPTOMS

If you catch yourself becoming angry and mad at someone or something for making a certain sound, or lashing out at them, you probably have a certain degree of misophonia. It is usually self-diagnosable. Information taken from : Medicine Net suggests that, “Many health-care professionals, including psychiatrists, primary-care providers, audiologists, speech and language therapists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, physicians’ assistants, and social workers may help make the diagnosis of misophonia.”

HOW IS IT CAUSED / HOW LONG CAN IT LAST

There isn’t an actual cause for it, but usually the cause is genetics. If you aren’t born with it, it can also develop over time. Anyone can really get it. It can last for a couple of years, or even be lifelong.

HOW TO TREAT IT

There is no way to fully treat misophonia, but there is therapy to go to which helps a lot for some people. Although, you can’t fully treat it forever. “GOOD THERAPY” says :  “There is currently no cure or pharmaceutical treatment for misophonia. Some people might be prescribed an antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication to help reduce symptoms or address co-occurring mental health issues. There are also various therapeutic approaches to help manage symptoms.” This implies that you can also take antidepressants or anti – anxiety pills to reduce the symptoms. 

Another way to treat it, is white noise, earplugs, music therapy, headsets, explain it to them, breathe in and out, and imagine yourself in their shoes. This basically means to relax and think to yourself : They probably don’t know that they are annoying you, so just calm down and ask them politely to stop. 

CONCLUSION

Although some people haven’t known about misophonia, I hope I educated you enough, and you use some of these tips for yourself and others around you who may suffer from this. I have tried some of these tips like earplugs, music therapy including ASMR ( autonomous sensory meridian response ) which can soothe you and help you fall asleep. I have also tried to explain it to my family and friends which helps a lot.