Misophonia Poll

[Mad Mac]

Other people eating makes my 13-year old grandson angry.
He has learned to tamp down the anger reaction
and retreats to a different room
if anyone looks like they might eat something.
At school, he does not go to the cafeteria
but plays Pokemon with some friends.
I'm 78 but never heard of this psychological disorder.

Misophonia also covers other unreasoning fears of sounds
such as finger tapping, ballpoint pen clicking, sniffling and so forth.
All of us have probably been irritated by these at times
but his affliction seems to me to be seriously life altering.

I'm curious how prevalent this is
and for the sake of God
is there a cure?

[Aladinsane]

People belching makes me want to puke. I have learned to deal with it, but I can’t be around anyone who does it. Also, my son does something with his toenail that makes me crawl out of my skin. I either have to make him stop or leave the room, barring that I would go stark, raving mad. Even thinking about these upsets me.

[vivi]

at my kids school some of the students wear ear protection like you'd wear at a range.

she says its because they get "overstimulated" by noisy environments.

when I went to school that wasn't a thing.

neither was asking elementary students if they're male, female or non-binary.

neither was being too socially anxious to order a pizza over the phone.

items marketed as fidget toys weren't a thing.

HAAS was unheard of.

3rd grade boys weren't allowed to wear dresses to school.

I haven't heard of anyone I know having misophonia.

I do think a lot of modern societies afflictions are 100% in the persons head.

absolutely not saying that's the case here...

....but it's definitely the case with other things in my eyes.

self control seems like a dying art.

[TkoK83Spy]

It's a very weird world these days. I'm glad I don't have any of my own children to bring into it and deal with it as they get older because it's clearly only getting worse! My stepdaughter is 13, been with her mother since she was 11 months old. She never shuts up at home, constantly talking! Get her into public or around other kids and she clams right up. Kids really don't know how to correctly interact with each other these days. It's so strange!! (going off vivi's comment about social anxiety)

On topic though...I don't mind other people eating, but what really aggravates me to the core is people who chew with their mouth open, or talk with a mouthful of food. Sends me every time. I've got up and left dinners or my work office when I used to share an office with others during lunch. I feel like I could get violent just thinking about it right now!

[TkoK83Spy]

People belching makes me want to puke. I have learned to deal with it, but I can’t be around anyone who does it. Also, my son does something with his toenail that makes me crawl out of my skin. I either have to make him stop or leave the room, barring that I would go stark, raving mad. Even thinking about these upsets me.

I hope he washes his hands after playing with his toes!!

[James Y]

I personally have an intense aversion to the sound of nails on a chalkboard, but that's not a normal, everyday sound, and I don't think that would qualify as misophonia.

Otherwise, I'd never heard of it until now.

Jim

[Mad Mac]

And you guys carry knives!
Which reminds me my son-in-law will not allow my grandson
to have a knife out of fear of his bursts of anger.

[Scandi Grind]

Anyone ever heard of Ben Carson? He's a famous brain surgeon who was beset by violent bursts of anger as a child/teen. At one point he almost attacked his mother with a hammer because he was mad about the hand-me-down clothes she had bought him for school. His older brother managed to hold him back for long enough that nobody was hurt that time. Once at school he had a knife he was carving with when his best friend changed the station the radio on the table was playing. Ben told him to turn it back, but his friend didn't listen, so he lashed out with his knife stabbing his friend in the gut. Miraculously the knife struck his friends belt buckle and snapped off harmlessly. Once again nobody was hurt, but Ben's friend never talked to him again and Ben was absolutely horrified with what he had tried to do. Ben Carson attributes his ability to overcome his anger issues to his faith in God.

He went on to become the most prestigious brain surgeon in history, accomplishing a number of firsts including the first doctor to successfully separate twins conjoined at the head. I watched an great movie on him that I believe was titled "Gifted Hands", but I'll have to double check the name. I highly suggest it, his story is fascinating.

[zhyla]

at my kids school some of the students wear ear protection like you'd wear at a range.

she says its because they get "overstimulated" by noisy environments.

when I went to school that wasn't a thing.

Of course it was. Some kids were just struggling and didn’t know why or what to do.

Conformity is not a virtue.

[horzuff]

One of my friends has it, don't recall exactly what sound it was, something pretty mundane though, and she said it caused her physical pain to hear it. The only thing I heard about treatment is some type of psychological therapy but I didn't look too deep into it.

Saying those are made up issues though, that's kinda shallow. People didn't speak about such things because they would have been stigmatized, they just suffered in quiet. And that only in recent times, dominated by church rules. Look a couple thousand years back for example when sexuality wasn't that big of a problem in ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt and probably many others I don't know about, and they didn't have all the knowledge modern society has. Stubbornly dismissing such things as make-believe sounds like willful ignorance to me.

[Ankerson]

I can't stand the sound of people chewing loud, sounding like a cow etc.

[Manixguy@1994]

I have never heard of this disorder . Has he ever gone to be evaluated ? It almost seems like a mild form of Autism but I’m not a professional but have a grandson who has it and he has quirks such as fear of bugs . Dan

[Ankerson]

It's a very weird world these days. I'm glad I don't have any of my own children to bring into it and deal with it as they get older because it's clearly only getting worse! My stepdaughter is 13, been with her mother since she was 11 months old. She never shuts up at home, constantly talking! Get her into public or around other kids and she clams right up. Kids really don't know how to correctly interact with each other these days. It's so strange!! (going off vivi's comment about social anxiety)

On topic though...I don't mind other people eating, but what really aggravates me to the core is people who chew with their mouth open, or talk with a mouthful of food. Sends me every time. I've got up and left dinners or my work office when I used to share an office with others during lunch. I feel like I could get violent just thinking about it right now!

I know exactly what you mean.

[James Y]

Ever since I was very little, I have associated some numbers, letters, or words with certain colors, tastes, or temperatures. Or, even weirder, with specific genders. For example, number 1 as black, number 2 as yellow, number 3 as like a burgundy red, number 4 as blue, etc.

I associated the numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10 as male, and 2, 6, and 9 as female.

I associated the number 3 with the taste and texture of licorice.

I could go on and on; these are only a few examples.

Only in recent years did I learn there is a word for it: Synesthesia.

There are conditions, thought processes, etc., that wouldn't make sense to most people, or would be considered weird to them. That doesn't make them not real.

Also, at around age 6 or 7, I began to experience anxiety around feeling compelled to do certain actions that I didn't understand, and didn't know how to explain. Only much later did I come to realize it was a form of OCD. I still have it to a degree around certain things, but now it is extremely mild.

I have a great-niece (my niece's daughter) who is very talkative around the people closest to her (her immediate family and her grandparents, including my sister and her husband). She completely closes off around anybody else. To be fair, both she and her brother have been home schooled (my niece used to be a schoolteacher). Maybe that has something to do with it. But her brother isn't that way at all.

Jim

[Scandi Grind]

I have a great-niece (my niece's daughter) who is very talkative around the people closest to her (her immediate family and her grandparents, including my sister and her husband). She completely closes off around anybody else. To be fair, both she and her brother have been home schooled (my niece used to be a schoolteacher). Maybe that has something to do with it. But her brother isn't that way at all.

Jim

I was homeschooled and although some people argue that you don't learn to scocialize properly as a homeschooler, it was something that I was complimented on often as a kid by adults. I could feel a natural ammount of nervousness when dealing with new social situations, but apparently I always came off as a natural and a capable communicator. I had no real problem talking to any age range from kids younger than myself, to seniors. It was only later in my teens that I noticed a pattern of many young people having difficulty talking to others. Now as an adult I don't seem to get along with people my age as well as I do with those who are one or two generations older than me. There has been a peculiar social shift over the last 20 years or so.

[Michal O]

I have it. Especially hate when someone is speaking while eating. When in tv show is scene where actors are eating I must turn volume down. Also any compulsive actions, tapping fingers on a glass table, shaking keys. In the past I wanted to smash people doing it, now I'm more patient, or just leave/use headphones etc. to mute their sounds. However, the sound of chalk on the blackboard doesn't bother me. All that asmr nonsense on internet, girls whispering into the microphone and tapping the microphone with fingernails is not for me.

at my kids school some of the students wear ear protection like you'd wear at a range.

she says its because they get "overstimulated" by noisy environments.

when I went to school that wasn't a thing.

neither was asking elementary students if they're male, female or non-binary.

neither was being too socially anxious to order a pizza over the phone.

items marketed as fidget toys weren't a thing.

HAAS was unheard of.

3rd grade boys weren't allowed to wear dresses to school.

I haven't heard of anyone I know having misophonia.

I do think a lot of modern societies afflictions are 100% in the persons head.

absolutely not saying that's the case here...

....but it's definitely the case with other things in my eyes.

self control seems like a dying art.

Classic. "When I was in school 50 years ago it wasn't a thing". When I was, it wasn't either, but here we are. It's annoying to me since childhood. I couldn't stand to watch a movie with my dad after meal, when for half hour he was doing sounds trying to remove leftover food between teeth with his tongue.

It was probably a thing for a lot of people 30/50/100 years ago but nobody cared to name it. Same with rest of things we know now.

[The Mastiff]

It was probably a thing for a lot of people 30/50/100 years ago but nobody cared to name it. Same with rest of things we know now.

If someone had something like that it didn't matter. They were expected to behave themselves and if they couldn't they were removed from class or school. It was the same thing with any mental illness. Be in control and follow the rules or get out. People were there to learn and no one has/had the right to distract others from learning or teaching.

If you told a teacher or doctor you wanted to commit suicide if you couldn't become a different sex they would involuntarily commit you to a mental hospital. People learned to not disturb others one way or another because of very real consequences. People played that game once and decided it was better to stay in control of their lives by following the rules. If they were so mentally ill they didn't know or care they didn't come back.

Teachers would have taken their lives into their hands by encouraging kids to do such as is regularly done today. Interfering with someones kids or family down in little Italy or the Puerto Rican section of town risked the teacher or whomever ending up as "Trunk music" or weighted down at the bottom of a river somewhere.

[Ankerson]

It was probably a thing for a lot of people 30/50/100 years ago but nobody cared to name it. Same with rest of things we know now.

If someone had something like that it didn't matter. They were expected to behave themselves and if they couldn't they were removed from class or school. It was the same thing with any mental illness. Be in control and follow the rules or get out. People were there to learn and no one has/had the right to distract others from learning or teaching.

If you told a teacher or doctor you wanted to commit suicide if you couldn't become a different sex they would involuntarily commit you to a mental hospital. People learned to not disturb others one way or another because of very real consequences. People played that game once and decided it was better to stay in control of their lives by following the rules. If they were so mentally ill they didn't know or care they didn't come back.

Teachers would have taken their lives into their hands by encouraging kids to do such as is regularly done today. Interfering with someones kids or family down in little Italy or the Puerto Rican section of town risked the teacher or whomever ending up as "Trunk music" or weighted down at the bottom of a river somewhere.

They didn't come back because back then there was still active mental health programs in the US and those people did get real help.

However those programs have been completely dismantled, millions of "sick" people thrown back on the streets Country wide.

Today none of those things are still around because all funding was cut on the Federal Level.

(I remember when all the Asylums were closed nation wide)

Mental illness is a real problem and it still does need to be addressed.

[James Y]

Decades ago, people didn't talk about everything like they do now. TBH, I don't know if that was really the best thing or not.

I started having what I now know was depression from age 14. One day I tried to describe what I was feeling to my mom; and while she was a great mom, what I was saying clearly upset her. So I clammed up about it and never brought it up to anybody ever again. That depression was with me until sometime in my 40s. I got over it on my own. Would I recommend that path for everyone? Heck no. Luckily, I made it through to the other side.

I never told anyone about my obsessive-compulsive disorder, which started around age 7. I didn't understand it, so I didn't know it even had a name. It was bad for about a year or two, especially at night. But it eventually became mild. I still have it mildly today, but it doesn't affect me negatively.

And I've never told anyone about my synesthesia before posting about it in this thread. I just thought that everyone perceived things the same way I did. I only learned there was a name for it within the past 15 years or so.

In decades past, like 50, 60, 70 and more years ago, many people were put into asylums who didn't belong in them. Many were treated very poorly, and were not helped at all. Just being different from the norm (in some cases, even being an unwed mother) was often grounds to be thrown into an asylum.

There has to be a balance.

Jim

[Ankerson]

Decades ago, people didn't talk about everything like they do now. TBH, I don't know if that was really the best thing or not.

I started having what I now know was depression from age 14. One day I tried to describe what I was feeling to my mom; and while she was a great mom, what I was saying clearly upset her. So I clammed up about it and never brought it up to anybody ever again. That depression was with me until sometime in my 40s. I got over it on my own. Would I recommend that path for everyone? Heck no. Luckily, I made it through to the other side.

I never told anyone about my obsessive-compulsive disorder, which started around age 7. I didn't understand it, so I didn't know it even had a name. It was bad for about a year or two, especially at night. But it eventually became mild. I still have it mildly today, but it doesn't affect me negatively.

And I've never told anyone about my synesthesia before posting about it in this thread. I just thought that everyone perceived things the same way I did. I only learned there was a name for it within the past 15 years or so.

In decades past, like 50, 60, 70 and more years ago, many people were put into asylums who didn't belong in them. Many were treated very poorly, and were not helped at all. Just being different from the norm (in some cases, even being an unwed mother) was often grounds to be thrown into an asylum.

There has to be a balance.

Jim

Jim,

A balance would be good, but then anything would be better than doing NOTHING like they are these days.

Like totally ignoring the issue.

Metal heath is a serious issue here in the US and it's only going to get worse.


Jim