Miso Crazy

Last night on Twitter, I mentioned that I couldn't watch the show Pawn Stars because Rick's laugh -- one of those chubby guy laughs that's not quite a chuckle, not quite a guffaw -- triggers my misophonia like whoa. That triggered (heh) a host of responses from fellow sufferers, including a couple of people who said they'd never heard of the disorder, but had suffered for years from it.

Misophonia, literally "hatred of sound", is a neurological disorder in which negative experiences (anger, flight, hatred, disgust) are triggered by specific sounds. -- Wikipedia 

Most of us are bothered by annoying sounds like nails on a chalkboard, or a barking dog, but misophonia goes beyond just being bothered. My main trigger is someone chewing gum. If I even SEE a person chewing gum, even if they are on the other side of the room, my heart rate increases, and I start looking for an exit.  The closer they get to me, my heart rate increases and my fight-or-flight reaction kicks into high gear.  I'll start to sweat and fidget.  All I can think about is get away get away get away.

I can pretty much pinpoint when mine began. I was riding in the car with my parents, sitting between them in the front seat, and my dad was smacking his lips together. I said, "Stop smacking," and he of course said, "I'm not smacking" and then it was like a switch went off.  His lip smacking was ALL I COULD HEAR.  More triggers were added as I grew older, like the gum chewing and two competing sounds (TV and another TV or a TV and a radio).  Sounds that enraged me when I was younger like, strangely enough, my dad's lip smacking, have stopped triggering me completely.

I think I manage mine pretty well for the most part.  I always sit on back rows, especially at church or the movies.  I watch TV in my bedroom.  I sleep in ear plugs at night and have banned gum from my house.  Do I wish I didn't have to do those things?  Sure.  But like any other mental weirdness, you learn to adjust.

What are your triggers?  How do you cope? 

Let's try this again. . .

I used to have a Wordpress blog, back in the day. I hardly ever updated it (when I tried, everything sounded stupid and gross and stupid so I'd delete) and when I *did*, no one read it.

But that was before I met my friends on Twitter, and now I can tweet that there's a new blog entry, and y'all can read it. And comment, or not. Whatever.

Plus now I'm gonna be writing at Chicksdigthefastball soon, too, so maybe that'll get my blogging mojo back, and I can put all non-sports related stuff here.

I hope this works.