Difficult Tolerate When Hearing Certain Voices? Can You Experience Misophonia

Illustration (Ron Lach/Pexels)

JAKARTA - Daily sounds such as breathing, yawning, or chewing can trigger random stress responses in some people. Scientists say this condition is known as misophonia.

Collaborative research from King's College, London, and the University of Oxford, according to Medical Daily shows 18.4 percent of the UK's general population is experiencing misophonia. The research, published in the journal PLOS One, is the first attempt to assess the impact of the condition on the population in general.

The researchers conducted experiments on at least 772 people of various ages, genders, and ethnicities to understand the intensity and complexity of misophonia. And how noise triggers irritated them. As part of the campaign, they were given a questionnaire and it turned out that only 13.6 percent of those who had heard the term misophonia and 2.3 percent were identified to have these conditions. The results of the study also noted that misophonia can affect men and women and its severity decreases with age.

Misophonia is defined as a phenomenon that causes emotions and strong reactions to certain 'trigger' sounds. Symptoms of this condition can range from intense anger, anxiety, or disgust, and emotional outbursts largely depend on one's ability to control one's emotions, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

A person affected by misophonia is more than just disturbed by sound. Misophonia can cause feelings of helplessness and being trapped when people can't break away from unpleasant voices," said senior study author Dr. Jane Gregory, of the experimental psychology department at the University of Oxford, in a statement.

There is only one dominant symptom of misophonia, namely strong negative emotions every time a person hears a trigger sound. This may give a response such as feeling annoyed, angry, nervous, anxious, or shortness of breath all over the body, quoted from Healthline.

The sounds that trigger misophonia are chewing, sipping, swallowing, loud breaths, clicking pens, shoe sounds, birdsmoking or crickets.

Gregory said that although the exact cause of misophonia is still unknown, there may be many factors behind these conditions, such as differences in brain structure, family history, genetics, or other conditions.

Often people with misophonia feel bad about themselves for reacting like that. Especially when they respond to voices made by loved ones. More research is needed to understand what causes misophonia and how experts can help people who experience misophonia live their daily lives," said Gregory.