Whether it’s the tapping of computer keys or the sound of someone chewing, we’ve all been irritated by certain noises at some point in our life. For individuals suffering with misophonia, these normal everyday sounds may ignite a rage from within that’s hard to explain. It is my intention to discuss the diagnosis and treatment of Misophonia. Although there is increasing awareness of Misophonia in both the medical community and in the public, it is yet to be classified as its own disorder. Drs. Pawel and Margaret Jastreboff first coined the term misophonia or “hatred of sound” in 2001. (Neal) People who have misophonia are most commonly angered by specific sounds, such as slurping, throat-clearing, nail-clipping, chewing, tooth-brushing, sniffing, laughing, typing, coughing, humming, whistling, and singing. (Cohen) Each person suffering from Misophonia will have his or her own symptoms and triggers, which can be referred to as their trigger set. While experiencing a trigger event, symptoms such as sweating, muscle tension, and quickened heartbeat, quickly consume the sufferer. These reactions often result in distancing oneself from the trigger or possibly lash out and express anger at the source of the antagonizing sound. The anxiety, panic, and rage misophonics feel when exposed to trigger sounds compromise their ability to complete everyday tasks and disable them from normal social interactions. A person suffering from misophonia recognizes that the anger or disgust is excessive, unreasonable, or out of proportion to the circumstances yet it is uncontrollable. Just like every other disorder, misophonia exists on a scale ranging from mild to severe. Diagnosing Misophonia is made through evaluating the feelings of an individual when they are exposed to certain sounds. Since the disorder affects personal feelings brought on by these noises, a diagnosis is hard to determine. Although Psychiatrists argue it’s a primary disorder with no obvious comorbidity with other known psychological or neurological conditions. The illness is yet to be classified in the International Classification of Disease (ICD). The ICD is designed as a health care classification system, providing a system of diagnostic codes for classifying diseases including meticulous classifications of a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or disease. Without classification, doctors have no code to diagnose the disorder. The best treatment approach involves one performed by a psychiatrist and an audiologist. The audiologist treats the person with a type of therapy that uses sound generators to desensitize the person to the particular sounds that irritate them. An audiologist also works to reprogram the auditory processing center of the person’s brain by teaching them to associate their trigger sound with a more pleasant feeling. A psychiatrist treats any underlying psychological conditions such as anxiety or OCD while helping the person develop coping methods when they become bothered by a particular sound.

However, the illness is yet to be classified in the International Classification of Disease (ICD). The ICD is designed as a health care classification system, providing a system of diagnostic codes for classifying diseases including meticulous classifications of a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or disease. The World Health Organization maintains this diagnostic manual. Most people around you that would complain about you eating too close to their ear or hide in their headphones when someone pulls out a bag of chips, are probably not tormented to the point that they need therapy. For the severe Misophonic, professional treatment is recommended, but those who fall on the lighter end of the spectrum, it’s nice to know you’re not crazy or alone with your feelings of rage due to chewing sounds.

Works Cited
American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) Washington, DC: Author.
Jastreboff PJ (2000) Tinnitus Habituation Therapy (THT) and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). In: Tyler RS, editor. Tinnitus Handbook. San Diego: Singular, Thomson Learning. 357–376.
Neal, M.; Cavanna, A. E. (2012). "P3 Selective sound sensitivity syndrome (misophonia) and Tourette syndrome". Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 83 (10): e1. doi:10.1136/jnnp- 2012-303538.
Schröder A, Vulink N, Denys D (2013) Misophonia: Diagnostic Criteria for a New Psychiatric Disorder. PLoS ONE 8(1): e54706. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054706 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054706.
Tauber, Alejandro http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-horrible-anger-you-feel-at-hearing- someone-chewing-is-called-misophonia