Do certain noises make you angry and violent? Here's what you need to know about misophonia.
BALTIMORE -- Do certain everyday noises made by people around you, like chewing or slurping, cause you to become angry or even violent?
If so, you may have a neurological condition called misophonia.
Trigger sounds
At any given moment, a seemingly harmless sound by a family member or a stranger in public can fill Jen Voelker with paralyzing fear.
"I always thought I was crazy," Voelker said. "I always thought I was weird. My family didn't understand it."
Some sounds are mildly irritating to most us of, like the sound of nails on a chalkboard. However, for Voelker, panic sets in.
"It was just kind of something I kept hidden and that I was ashamed of."
Voelker said she was ashamed because two particular sounds cause a visceral reaction and unleash rage.
"My trigger sounds are breathing and snoring," Voelker said.
"I get angry"
Voelker, a 27-year-old, suffers from a neurological condition called misophonia, which comes from the Greek phrase, "hatred of sound." The condition is described as having an emotional response to certain noises
"Snoring is definitely worse for me, but it doesn't matter how loud or soft the breathing is, if I hear it, I get angry," Voelker said.
The rumbling sound of snoring and heavy breathing has even impacted Voelker's romantic relationships.
"My partner recently moved in a year ago and we have had to stay in separate bedrooms," she said.
Coping mechanisms
Currently, there is no treatment, but Voelker has developed her own coping mechanisms.
"I have been using headphones for a long time," Voelker said. "I have had to sleep with headphones in when I'm with my partner or just whomever I'm with at the time. I've had to play white noise loud and I have noticed it has deteriorated my hearing a little bit."
Audiologist Dr. Marsha Johnson, founder of the Misophonia Association, says finding relief hasn't come easy for those who suffer from misophonia.
"There really isn't a treatment," Johnson said. "There are only management therapies."
Johnson said there are ways to cope with misophonia.
- Wearing ear plugs or headphones
- Using white noise machines
- Practice deep breathing or muscle relaxation techniques
Johnson says the annual Misophonia Convention will be in November in Atlanta, and it is a safe place for sufferers to gather and for professionals to share peer-reviewed professional research.
The reaction
So, what happens when those sounds intrude Voelker's space?
"The first feeling, my chest gets tight, I start to sweat," Voelker said.
Then, Voelker said, "The fight or flight kicks in and I must decide whether I want to flee or stay here and fight the noise."
The last time Voelker fought the noise was from the sky, in an airplane.
"Last week, I was flying back from Chicago and I had somebody next to me breathing really loud," she said. "I had to put in headphones the whole two-and-a-half-hour flight. And then our plane got stuck at the gate an extra hour and a half and we were just stuck on the plane, and I had to just sit there. All my devices were dying. I was like, 'Please just let me get through the next hour and a half. So, I can get out of this enclosed area.'"
Research of misophonia
Johnson said broader awareness of misophonia came to the attention of doctors back in the 1990s.
"In the beginning, honestly 28 years ago, people told me constantly that I was crazy, and I was like, 'Look I got 5,000 of these cases and they are all the same.'"
Johnson said research has come a long way.
"Now with our scientific research of over $10 million in the last few years, we have discovered more evidence," Johnson said. "It's a brain-based neurological defect or issue that has genetic roots."
Johnson says three-quarters of misophonia sufferers are women and the condition typically develops pre-puberty and persists for a lifetime.
"Some people get rather violent and they want to reach out and hurt something," Johnson said. "We have had children chasing parents with tire irons trying to break their car windows."
