Are the chewing, slurping & other sounds your family makes driving you insane?
If you’ve been cooped up inside your house with your family for the last couple months and noticed yourself getting ANNOYED by little things like the sound of their CHEWING, this might be the reason!
1. You may have something called misophonia. That’s a combination of Greek words meaning “hate” and “voice” and it loosely translates to “hatred of sound.” Things like chewing, slurping, or popping gum are especially big triggers.
2. Now, it’s not the same as phonophobia – which is the fear or hatred of loud sounds – or hyperacusis – which is a sensitivity to certain frequencies and volume ranges – but the experts say there might be some overlap.
3. Around 20% of people might suffer from misophonia.
4. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot you can do to stop it (other than getting away from everyone). Misophonia isn’t well understood by doctors yet, so there’s no real treatment plan.
But according to the National Institutes of Health, you can try wearing ear plugs when you might be around triggering sounds and you should try to keep your stress levels in check by staying active and sleeping enough.