How do I know if I have misophonia?

Chewing gum, coughing, eating... These and others are actions that make some noise, a bit annoying but bearable. We'd rather they weren't there, but they're not overly irritable either, or at least that's what most of us feel.

Some people, on the other hand, may perceive these sounds as extremely irritating, causing them a psychological distress so great that they are able to react with typical fight or flight behaviors. They cause a lot of discomfort, so much so that they can even be greatly altered.

When this reaches pathological levels, it is said that one suffers from misophonia. Reading up to here, you may have felt identified and wonder how to know if you have misophonia. This is what we are going to answer next.

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How do I know if I suffer from misophonia?

The term "misophonia" literally means "hatred of sound" and was first used in 2001 by Pawel and Margaret Jastreboff, although it was not recognized as a real disorder until 2010. Misophonia is described as

a hearing disorder in which the sufferer feels great discomfort when faced with low-volume and repetitive sounds. It is believed to be a fairly common condition, affecting almost 17% of the world's population, and can cause negative reactions in the nervous system.

Those with misophonia experience strong emotional reactions to specific sounds, such as mouth sounds such as chewing, throat clearing, gum chewing, lip smacking, or even the sound of certain consonants such as /s/. They are sounds that, despite being harmless, people with misophonia can hear. live them in such an extremely annoying way that it triggers in them feelings of panic, anxiety or anger

Misophonia is believed to be a neurological disorder that provokes an exaggeratedly intense response in the central nervous system, specifically in the limbic, due to an abnormal hyperactivation of the auditory system to sounds of relatively low intensity. The sounds that trigger this discomfort can be lower than those of a normal conversation, between 40 and 50 dB.

It can occur at any age, although it usually appears in late childhood or early adolescence. At first the reaction is triggered by a specific sound, but over time they are added to the repertoire of annoying acoustic stimuli plus sounds that trigger it, making the individual's life increasingly limited by this annoyance.

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misophonia levels

To know if we have misophonia we must know what the levels of this discomfort are. As with other medical and psychological conditions, the symptoms can vary from person to person, and in this case the sounds that trigger them can also be different. Below we have an exhaustive scale of what the levels of misophonia are and what symptoms accompany them.

level 0

You perceive unwanted noise, but it doesn't feel like a nuisance subjectively.

Level 1

You are aware of the presence of someone causing a certain noise, but no anxiety is felt or discomfort is manifested at minimal levels.

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Level 2

Noise causes psychological discomfort in the form of irritation or minor annoyance. There are no symptoms of panic or fight or flight response.

Level 3

Increasing levels of psychological discomfort are felt, but no commensurate physical response is enacted. However, the person with misophonia may be hypervigilant to audiovisual stimuli.

Level 4

Minimal physical response is made, but no confrontation. At most there will be some complaint to the person making the noise, such as asking them to stop or discreetly cover one ear or quietly move away from the noise. There are no clear panic or flight symptoms.

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level 5

The individual carries out more controversial and notorious response mechanisms, such as openly covering their ears. You start to show obvious irritation.

level 6

The individual experiences considerable psychic discomfort. Panic symptoms begin to manifest and more noticeable fight-or-flight behaviors are performed.

level 7

The psychological discomfort is more than considerable. The person has been making a growing, stronger and more frequent use of survival mechanisms such as confrontation with that sound. In some cases, there is unwanted sexual arousal. The patient feels such annoyance at the sound that it can be remembered in a somewhat traumatic way for weeks, months or even years after its occurrence.

level 8

The psychological discomfort caused by the disturbing sound is so high that some ideas of violence may arise.

level 9

There are panic behaviors and you react in the form of rage. The individual is at the crossroads of deciding whether or not to resort to violence with the person causing the annoying sound. You will most likely try to get away from the noise and avoid using physical violence towards an inanimate object. The patient feels irritation, panic and anger.

level 10

Physical violence is used against the person or animal that emits the annoying noise. They may also self-harm to avoid harming others.

Differences with other hearing disorders

To know if we have misophonia, it is necessary to see what symptoms differentiate this hearing disorder from others such as hyperacusis and phonophobia.

hyperacusis

Hyperacusis is a syndrome in which there is a lower tolerance for normal and natural sounds in the environment.. It is considered as a loss of dynamic range of hearing, that is, the ability of the auditory system to handle rapid increases in sound volume is affected. People with hyperacusis may resort to wearing hearing protection (eg. g., earplugs) to be able to do normal activities.

• Related article: "Hyperacusis: definition, causes, symptoms and treatments"

phonophobia

phonophobia is irrational fear of loud noises. It is a particularly strange phobia, characterized by the fear of listening to a loud sound anyone and think that at any moment it can suddenly increase in intensity, causing a great scare. People with phonophobia live with the anxiety that sooner or later they will have to face a deafening noise.

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pooling

Putting the three hearing disorders in common, we can put the following examples. A person with hyperacusis may feel pain or frustration listening to the radio at normal volume, to the point that they must leave the room or use earplugs. A person with phonophobia may be afraid that, when listening to that same radio, the station will be received altered and suddenly the volume will rise without warning, causing a great scare. On the other hand, the person with misophonia may be very irritated by the sound of interference, to such an extent that he picks up the radio and slams it against the wall.

Is there treatment for misophonia?

There is no specific treatment to completely eliminate misophonia, but there are certain therapeutic options that can improve the quality of life of those who suffer from this hearing disorder. psychotherapy and relaxation techniques help minimize the effect of stress and anxiety caused by perceiving sounds as very annoying daily, in addition to providing the patient with tools to assertively manage the situations in which are produced.

Cognitive-behavioral therapies help improve tolerance towards annoying noises, in addition to providing the patient with tools to control the associated emotional reactions. These same, combined with meditation or even practices such as yoga, help combat the irritability associated with annoying sounds.

In situations where it is not possible to escape from the unpleasant sound or control its volume, One of the best options patients with misophonia have is to use simple plugs. Regardless of how controllable the sound is, it is not recommended to consume alcohol, caffeine, or any another exciting substance since it can increase the probability of responding aggressively to the source of sound.

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Are you looking for psychological assistance for misophonia?

At this point, we can know if we have misophonia based on how we behave when we are near a source of sounds that cause us discomfort. This source of annoying sounds may be a person chewing gum or simply breathing and that, although they are harmless sounds, we perceive them as emotionally disturbing. This can make us respond with a lot of irritation, rage and anger, to the point of confronting the person making the noise and even having an argument.

We can conclude that misophonia is a hearing disorder that causes negative reactions such as anxiety or anger to specific sounds, which can vary from person to person. The person becomes irritated in her presence and may even become physically and verbally violent. Regardless of the response it emits to the annoying sound stimulus, these will be included within the behaviors of typical fight and flight from stress and anxiety, either running away from the source of the disturbing sound or facing the same.

if you are looking for psychological support for misophonia, I invite you to contact me. I offer face-to-face sessions in my office in Almería and also online sessions by video call.