Anyone else have misophonia?

Is this like that thing I have where when people eat apples in my vicinity I want to punch them in the throat?

R1 Yes!

Yes. And not just noise. Repetitive movements such as jiggling a foot or flipping a pen in one’s fingers. Scraping cutlery off of plates. It all fills me with unspeakable rage.

To be fair, no one coughing like that is doing it on purpose. My dad had a terrible smoker’s cough that drove me crazy.

Also, there’s something in our apartment that makes my throat dry and itchy once in awhile, I’m very aware it really annoys my husband.

Once or twice a week, open all the windows in the apartment and air it out. Clean or avoid heavy nubby fabrics for comforters or draperies that will attract allergens and mold. Make sure to leave the bathroom door open and well ventilated and never let the apartment get hotter than 78 to avoid spores/mold/bacterial growth. Use a blowdryer set on cool to blow dust off plants or take all of them outside and rinse them off well.

Plant mold or allergens could be triggering your roommates cough.

I've always felt I was strange about certain noises, but it actually has a name? That is so cool! Well, having it is not cool, I get really weird reactions to the way certain people eat, which is really annoying, but cool to know it's a real thing.

OP I just reread your post and realized it’s becuase he smokes, sorry, I feel for you.

Yes, pens clicking, people constantly clearing their throats, popping their knuckles. I just putting in down to transitioning into a grumpy old man.

Isn’t there some sort of medicine your roommate could take to make the coughing less frequent?

R8 a 9mm dosage of lead (?)

Mostly the sound of someone eating will drive me nuts, but any repetitive noise that someone makes unconsciously is bothersome. I think it's the fact that they don't realize they're doing it is what makes it so bad. You just know they won't stop because they're clueless that they're being annoying

The coughing could also be from acid reflux. See if he will take an omeprazole or something. That stopped my persistent coughing. My misophonia is triggered mostly by gum chewing. It started when I moved to Chicago and started taking public transportation.

Power washers in spring, in my neighborhood, make me flee my home.

When someone makes a repetitive, small whimper followed by a lip smack, it upsets my stomach and gives me the creeps. It’s how Pepe Le Pew would make me feel if he were after me. Crazy I know.

People who smack chewing should be lined up against a wall and shot.

SO GLAD we are working from home. the sound of anyone eating yogurt from a cup is the most disgusting thing ever. i have to walk away.

Gum smacking, slurping while drinking both drive me crazy.

"I can't help but think the cough is a tic, and that he gets satisfaction from doing it, which makes me even angrier."

Yes, OP, and that sentence is key. Part of the aggravation of misophonia is the lack of consideration. They don't have to do it, but do it anyway.

I have misophonia. The causes are many and most involve neighbor noise. I wear headphones where possible - especially on public transport - and use earplugs. If I don't, I find myself getting anxious and aggressive. It makes me hate other people. I try and leave the noise zone immediately, but this is not always an option.

My hates:

Dogs barking;

Hearing people talking from inside my house with the exception of the elderly neighbours who sit and on their back balcony most afternoons for about an hour - they don't bother me at all ;

Music playing outside that I can hear inside my house with the exception of the one of the elderly neighbours next store who likes to play piano - that doesn't bother me but music from anywhere else I can't stand;

Dripping water if I'm in bed trying to sleep;

Anybody with a runny nose that doesn't blow it but just continues to breath in. Urgh - sounds terrible and is revolting.

On the other hand I don't mind the dishwasher making all the noise it does even when I'm trying to get to sleep - for some reason that doesn't bother me.

r17 that's all a BIT but what i wouldn't kill for 1) a dishwasher, 2) that sound to drown out all the other upstairs shit i hear all the time.

Interesting, R17, a lot of your hates are mine too.

I'd add television volume so loud you can clearly hear what your neighbor is watching. (I felt angry just typing that sentence.) And crying/whinging babies, of course.

I suggest that the neighbors on the balcony, the piano player and the dishwasher don't bother you because you know there is an end point to the noise and your mind adjusts accordingly.

I think dishwashers are soothing.

The sound of utensils scraping against ceramic bowls (DRIVES ME FUCKING INSANE!)

People who chew with their mouths open

Women with a nasally accent, or vocal fry

R19 R17 I think you are correct. Knowing certain noises will end within a certain time does make them not an issue.

I hate being able to hear the TV from next store as well (not the elderly couple because I can only hear their TV if I go into the bathroom).

I hate the sound of vacuum cleaners. Anyone else ?

My bf is eating potato chips right now and I just want to stab him in the face. Those fucking noises...

Does anyone else have that thing where background noises can be louder and really annoying? Like, if I'm watching TV, and the TV is right in front of me, and yet someone is stacking dishes at the other end of the house, my ears focus totally on that and I can't hear the TV and get really frustrated.

I had my ears checked a couple of years ago and they are the equivalent of 20/20 vision, but in aural form, so it's not that I'm deaf or anything. It's just frustrating.

Vocal fry.

Glottal stops.

No, because I am not a toddler.

Yes, I have it badly, and I regrettably snapped at my wonderful and lovely partner who was chewing nuts and drumming his fingers right next to me. But I explained myself and he forgave me.

Slurping while eating soup makes me crazy. I know there's not a lot that can be done, but at least do it quietly.

I think that's what gets me about a lot of eating, R29, mostly it can be done a lot more quietly than some people do it, and it comes across like they are deliberately being inconsiderate.

Loud sneezing, when someone pauses and then makes an explosive sound sneezing. I think it bothers me so much because it sounds like they’re damaging their hearing. A loud yawn can be irritating, too. Also, whistling loudly indoors, like over the shoulder of a shorter person while on line at a deli. I think it shows a lack of awareness of others.

The one noise I really cannot stand is children shrieking. I don’t hate kids but I cannot tolerate the noise very young children make before they learn how to modulate their voices. I don’t have kids so it’s never been much of a problem apart from being on long-haul flights. Unfortunately the people across the street from me had a pool installed this summer. They have small children. All day every day I heard high-pitched screaming.

Very relieved that it’s cooled down a bit here now.

Brit here. In former times I'd take a longish train trip to London. The entire route was re-announced after moving off from every new stop. Pointlessly: people tend to know why they're on a train and where they're going. It was like being nagged by someone almost well-meaning with Alzheimer's.

Trashy music in shops where one needs to remain for a while - usually female 'singers' who can't sing, and make me despise everyone involved in creating such drivel. What makes it worse is that there's so much great music out there, which when by contrast played improves the moment a lot.

Seconding the above on endlessly barking dogs, specially when fondly indulged by their don't-hear-it-any-more owners. Also I loathe motorbikes specially fixed to make the most searing anti-social noise possible. But I realise the riders are members of the small penis club.

[QUOTE] Music playing outside that I can hear inside my house

This drives me insane too. It’s so fucking rude when neighbors play music outside

Barking dogs don’t bother me unless it lasts longer than a few minutes.

Dishwasher doesn’t bother me, it’s mostly white noise.

Shrieking kids are the absolute worst.

How about the percussion of base coming from cars with boom boxes? "Bomm-tada-boom" all the way down the street. Yikes! It's not the sound, it's the pressure

The sound of BBC's Lyse Doucet. Instantly turned off.

Violin(s) in their upper register. Instantly turned off.

Every woman on NPR (and local affiliates) under the age of 45. Instantly turned off.

[quote] Slurping while eating soup makes me crazy. I know there's not a lot that can be done, but at least do it quietly.

People don’t need to slurp soup. They need to learn how to eat properly.

[quote] Trashy music in shops where one needs to remain for a while - usually female 'singers' who can't sing, and make me despise everyone involved in creating such drivel.

Several years ago, I ended my membership at New York Sports Club for this reason. They played the worst music at top volume.

@r36, Piers Morgan's shrieking is worse. How you Brits don't murder him walking down the street I'll never know

I have an exaggerated startle response. So sudden noises (sneezes, for instance) make me jump. But so do "quiet" but unexpected things, like the driver hitting the brakes when I wasn't expecting it when I'm a passenger in a car.

It is embarrassing and makes life more difficult. It is rooted in my PTSD. I am fairly sure I would be a happy monk.

It's situation for me. Eating and drinking sounds don't usually bother me at a dinner table or in a restaurant. However, I can longer go to the cinema because all the snackjng sounds distract me too much.

Interestingly, the two people I know who have this are also Cluster Bs. They like to keep people close to them walking on eggshells. And if it’s someone they’re happy with, at the moment, they can chew as loudly as they want and the nutso doesn’t hear it.

Loud keyboards.

Phones ringing

[bold]Microwaves beeping[/bold] (indicating cooking is complete) - I stop the microwave before it’s done but I need to get a microwave that lets you disable the beep.

Motorcycles & cars/hotrods that rev their engines

[bold]People walking around the grocery store while talking on the phone.[/bold] - Grocery stores are usually pretty quiet and talking is limited to staff, mothers with kids and older couples whispering to each other, none of which are bothersome. The sound of someone’s private phone conversation that couldn’t wait until they finished shopping is incredibly annoying to me, probably because it's so rude.

[bold]Small dogs barking[/bold] - a woman in my building has/had 3 Maltese dogs (two died last year) that were never trained not to bark so they bark at everything they hear and bark non-stop when she isn’t home. As a result of this the high pitched sound of any small dog barking drives me insane. Also of note, the woman is incredibly loud and has a voice like a Muppet, I can't stand to hear her talk.

[quote]The one noise I really cannot stand is children shrieking.

Kids laugh, scream and cry, that’s what they do, my ears only perk up when their parents [italic]allow them[/italic] to do this incessantly in indoor public spaces and outdoor places where people typically use their indoor voices.

[quote]Does anyone else have that thing where background noises can be louder and really annoying? Like, if I'm watching TV, and the TV is right in front of me, and yet someone is stacking dishes at the other end of the house, my ears focus totally on that and I can't hear the TV and get really frustrated.

Yes. When my mother visited a few years ago the sound of her typing on her laptop was surprisingly irritating. It’s not a loud sound but I was working on something and couldn’t think. In my case I think it’s nerves because this only happens when I’m anxious about something.

When I’m reading or watching TV I’m sensitive to outdoor sounds like the sound of the wheelchair lift being raised and lowered on busses, the bus safety alert that says “bus is turning” and helicopters (I live near two hospitals), otherwise I easily tune it out.

With the exception of my mom typing, my sound sensitivity started when the obnoxious tenant with the dogs moved in.

This thread is all over the place.

OP, you don't have misophonia, you have a roommate who's driving you crazy with noises and rude behavior. Others here seem to have no awareness that the disorder is THEIRS, not the keyboard-clacking, chip-crunching people around them. I get it, though. I work with someone who annoys me in so many ways that I've been sensitized to certain repetitive utterances of hers, but that's not generalized to other people.

The classic trigger is hearing people eating, smacking, chewing. I knew someone who couldn't stand hearing the sound of (other) people's using nail clippers. After he said that, I started to notice it and now it bothers me. Thankfully, it's rare to be around someone trimming their nails.

Kelly Ripa has this (of course).

[quote]Others here seem to have no awareness that the disorder is THEIRS

My sensitivity to small dogs barking started with listening to 3 dogs bark for hours at a time on a daily basis, I'm hopeful that I'll get over it once I move away from the tenant in question. The other ongoing noise coming from this same tenant has made me sensitive to other sounds, I have talked to my therapist about it and hope/assume this isn't permanent.

[quote] I often fantasize about him slipping in the shower or falling down the stairs and breaking a few ribs, which I imagine would take some of the fun out of coughing.

[quote] Is this like that thing I have where when people eat apples in my vicinity I want to punch them in the throat?

[quote] [R8] a 9mm dosage of lead (?)

[quote] People who smack chewing should be lined up against a wall and shot.

[quote] My bf is eating potato chips right now and I just want to stab him in the face.

[quote] How you Brits don't murder him walking down the street I'll never know

You people have much worse problems going on inside you than misophonia. Holy fuck. Seek psychiatric help.

^ Are you new here? If that bothers you you're in the wrong place

I suspect OP is seeking to establish an insanity defense for killing his fatty roommate.

[quote] The entire route was re-announced after moving off from every new stop. Pointlessly: people tend to know why they're on a train and where they're going.

It’s for the benefit of people who may have just boarded the wrong train.

The sound of Styrofoam squeaking makes me physically uncomfortable. Like at best I get goosebumps but usually I cringe and get stiff.

I lived beside a beautiful lake for four years and after moving inland have not for one single second missed the people riding jet skis from February through October. I wanted to murder them all.

Shane Dawson has this. He can't stand the noises people make when they're eating.

[quote] ^ Are you new here? If that bothers you you're in the wrong place

No, I've been here twenty years.

Stop trying to normalize your murderous rage.

The sound of loud voices, loud fans, the radio (especially the scratchy sounding ones), gum-snapping, people talking on cellphones (and having to hear the other person on the other end) are all triggers for me.

I have to move around on subways to get away from loud talkers or people barking into their phones.

The body movements also upset me, especially people who sit cross-legged and the top leg bouncing up and down, or when people sit on subways and shake their legs. It's very disturbing to me.

"Stop trying to normalize your murderous rage. "

And stop trying to be a prissy Nancy pants. If you don't understand figurative speech, then you're stunted and I'm going to tell your mother

Nonstop barking dogs. Crying babies whose parents make no effort to take them outside, or smother them.

Throat-clearing (I think people have acid reflux).

Loud sneezing.

Snorting (rather than just blowing your nose). Crazy to ingest that stuff when you can just blow it out.

Smacking sounds when eating. I like watching cooking shows on YouTube and, at the end, they'll taste the food. Mostly men make these sounds.

" Mostly men make these sounds. "

Men are such pigs... and I'm here for it

Noisy HVACs drive me nuts.

Certain ring and alert tones really bother me. Especially that gawdawful bird one. Real birds chirping are fine. But whenever I hear that alert tone, it's like I cringe and then my whole chest tightens up. Really weird.

I don't like the phone ring (cell phone) that sounds like an old-fashioned phone. Why would you select that. It also reminds me of school bells (class starts, class over, etc.).

[quote] And stop trying to be a prissy Nancy pants. If you don't understand figurative speech, then you're stunted and I'm going to tell your mother

Oh Mary Lou, I am just NOT impressed.

Deal with the fact that you're a nutjob.

That's interesting R41. I was ready to dismiss your post as provocation but then I realised the one person I know with misophonia is actually a diagnosed Cluster B (BPD). She's always loathed the sound of people eating, as a child (we're cousins) she would sometimes freak out and start crying/raging at people at the dinner table. To this day I am actually super careful about not being physically close to her if I'm eating. Even on the phone I'll mute my end if sipping a drink etc.

(and yes, I realise this is probably coincidence and there is no link - just responding to a post)

One of the causes of misophonia is Quadrophenia.

@r62, Ooh, you make me so mad, Nancy, I hope you get your head caught in the trash compactor again

That's FIGURATIVELY, of course

R63, I just realized it, myself, when I thought about the people I know who have misophonia. And someone else posted that Shane Dawson has it? I think it’s more than a mere coincidence.

I do, and it's almost always Yoko Ono that triggers me.

^ Yoko doesn't bother me, but her voice sure does a number on my mirrors

Annie Sullivan’s fingers slapping the palm of my hand drove me fucking nuts. The first time I said “Wah-Wah” I wasn’t trying to say “Water” I was trying to say, “What the fuck, Annie?”

*Crunch* Ugh! *Crunch* You other people... *Crunch* make so much *Crunch* sound when you... *Crunch* chew!

I always thought I had misophonia, but lately have been wondering it's tinnitus. Sneezing and coughing have always set me off, mostly because I realize that sneezes and coughs can often be stifled but people enjoy sneezing and coughing -- even thought they're dispersing millions of germs into the air. That's the key, as others have mentioned: It's noise caused because other people are being inconsiderate that bothers me the most. But it's not all noise. I like white noise like fans, washing machines and dishwashers. In fact I need a fan on in the room so that I can sleep at night, just for the white noise.

CLUSTER B’s.

Misophonia is nothing. You people just need to buck up.

Trypophobia makes me run out of the roomvwhen triggered. OMG.

R73 How about this?