Misophonia, literally "hatred of sound", is a neurological disorder in which negative
experiences are triggered by specific sounds.
The sounds can be loud or soft.
The term was coined by American neuroscientists Pawel Jastreboff and Margaret Jastreboff and
is often used interchangeably with the term selective sound sensitivity.
Misophonia has not been classified as a discrete disorder in DSM-5 or ICD-10, but in 2013 three
psychiatrists at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam formulated diagnostic criteria
for it based on the largest cohort of misophonia patients so far, and suggested that it be
classified as a separate psychiatric disorder.
The disorder comprises a unique set of symptoms, most likely attributable to neurological causes
unrelated to hearing-system dysfunction.
It can be described as an immediate and extremely negative emotional response accompanied by
an automatic physiological flight response to identifiable auditory, visual, and olfactory
stimuli.
The disorder disrupts daily living and can have a significant impact on social interactions
A 2013 review of the most current neurological studies and fMRI studies of the brain as it
relates to the disorder postulates that abnormal or dysfunctional assessment of neural signals
occurs in the anterior cingulate cortex and insular cortex.
These cortices are also implicated in Tourette Syndrome, and are the hub for processing anger,
pain, and sensory information.
Other researchers concur that the dysfunction is in central nervous system structures.
It has been speculated that the anatomical location may be more central than that involved
in hyperacusis.
Symptoms People who have misophonia are most commonly
angered, and even enraged, by common ambient sounds, such as other people clearing their
throats, clipping their nails, brushing their teeth, chewing crushed ice, eating, slurping,
drinking, breathing, sniffing, talking, sneezing, yawning, walking, chewing gum, laughing, snoring,
typing on a keyboard, whistling or coughing; saying certain consonants; or repetitive sounds.
Some are also affected by visual stimuli, such as repetitive foot or body movements,
fidgeting, or movement they observe out of the corners of their eyes; this has been termed
misokinesia, meaning hatred of movement.
Intense anxiety and avoidant behavior may develop, which can lead to decreased socialization.
Some people feel the compulsion to mimic what they hear or see.
Mimicry is an automatic, non-conscious, and social phenomenon.
It has a palliative aspect, making the sufferer feel better.
The act of mimicry can elicit compassion and empathy, which ameliorates and lessens hostility,
competition, and opposition.
There is also a biological basis for how mimicry reduces the suffering from a trigger.
Prevalence and comorbidity The prevalence of misophonia is unknown, but
groups of people identifying with the condition suggest it is more common than previously
recognized.
Among patients with tinnitus, which is prevalent in 4–5% of the general population, some
surveys report prevalence as high as 60%, while prevalence in a 2010 study was measured
at 10%.
The Dutch study published in 2013 of a sample of 42 patients with misophonia found a low
incidence of psychiatric disorders, with the exception of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality
Disorder.
It has been suggested that there is a connection between misophonia and synesthesia, a neurological
condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary
experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.
The basic problem may be a pathological distortion of connections between various limbic structures
and the auditory cortex, causing sound-emotion synesthesia.
There are people with both misophonia and synesthesia, and many people with synesthesia
have more than one form of synesthesia.
See also Hyperacusis
Phonophobia Sensory processing disorder
References
External links an online website full of information and
a support board to help those with Misophonia http:www.psychosomaticmedicine.org70739.full
http:www.ctv.caArticleNewsCTVNewsmisophonia_sounds_090713/20090713 Misophonia: Diagnostic Criteria for a New
Psychiatric Disorder