Raihan explains misophonia, a condition that involves feeling hatred and annoyance towards certain sounds. She also tells us how we can be more mindful of others around us.
Have you had meals with people who loudly smack or chew while eating? Does that make you uncomfortable or disgust you? The answers to these questions might indicate a pet peeve, but misophonia is a more formal term for the hatred of sounds and being negatively affected by such sounds.
This condition is a spectrum, meaning those who have misophonia could either be mildly to severely affected by it. Individuals who are clinically diagnosed with misophonia are triggered by oral sounds, pen-clicking, foot-tapping, finger-tapping, and other trivial sounds that are sourced from their environment. The most reported sound trigger is the sound from the acts of eating, chewing, and breathing.
The misophonia condition, as said earlier, is a spectrum that affects the individual’s psychological and emotional responses, which varies from mild to severe. Some mild reactions of individuals that are diagnosed with misophonia include being anxious, disturbed, uncomfortable, and disgusted. Some may have the urge to escape from the source of noise. Meanwhile, severe responses include hatred, anger, fear, panic, and emotional distress.
Interestingly enough, medical doctors themselves are uncertain of the real causes of misophonia. However, they are certain that it is not an auditory problem and deduce it as a condition within the realm of neurology—it can sometimes be misguidedly diagnosed as an anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder (BD), or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Nonetheless, without a proper clinical diagnosis, any type of disorder should not be carelessly labelled. A take-home message from me would be to try to be mindful of the people around us because we do not know how their mind and body might react to our actions. And of course, be mindful when eating; this can be practiced by eating slowly and taking time to chew. It’ll be good for us and others too!
*This article is purely a compilation of facts and opinions presented by the writer. By no means does it intend to influence a diagnosis.
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