Having gone through therapy for misophonia over the last year, I'm happy that research on the phenomenon has progressed quite a bit since I last gave up on treatment back in the early 2010s. While not 100% gone, I find my misophonia response is nearly gone and I now have skills to deal with it should a response happen. (My therapist's goal was to take misophonia "from the size of an elephant down to a mouse.")
Some interesting things to look for here in the comments of folks describing their own experiences:
- occurrences are often much stronger with family members or friends
- occurrences are often stronger at home or in places that "should" be safe and controllable.
- the content of the sound is what matters (e.g. chewing, engines, tapping, etc), not strictly the quality of the sound (loudness, pitch, etc) -- that's a different thing called hyperacusis
- misophonia often forms in childhood
Anyway, for the many folks here suffering from it: yes, misophonia is real, but also, it is treatable.
Some interesting things to look for here in the comments of folks describing their own experiences:
- occurrences are often much stronger with family members or friends
- occurrences are often stronger at home or in places that "should" be safe and controllable.
- the content of the sound is what matters (e.g. chewing, engines, tapping, etc), not strictly the quality of the sound (loudness, pitch, etc) -- that's a different thing called hyperacusis
- misophonia often forms in childhood
Anyway, for the many folks here suffering from it: yes, misophonia is real, but also, it is treatable.