chewing! How ‘sonic anger’ destroys relationships and avoids people

Have you ever noticed that snapping, sniffing or chewing sounds from a family member or close friend bother you? Do not despair, it is not about your attitude towards a particular person, writes The Guardian.

The researchers state that your reaction is quite normal and that there is a scientific explanation for it. According to Jane Gregory, a doctor and clinical psychologist at the University of Oxford, this reaction is called misophonia or “sound anger” – in fact, it is a reduced tolerance for certain sounds, and according to scientists, 18% of people suffer from it. that and that only in Great Britain.

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Gregory reported that in general, people with misophonia are bothered by the sounds of food followed by so-called throat sounds. In this case, it is not the loudness or the acoustic pattern that matters, but the repetition of the triggering sounds.

D., director of the Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Zach Rosenthal notes that as a rule, fairly mundane everyday things become triggers such as:

• chewing;
• crackle;
• snore;
• blow your nose;
• throat clearing;
• whistling in the nose;
• hard breath

Although we encounter such sounds on a daily basis, they cause extremely uncomfortable feelings in people with misophonia. It is interesting that mesophonia is accompanied not only by irritation, but also by a number of physical changes. For example:

• increased muscle tension;
• heart rate;
• emotional reactions (irritability, embarrassment, anxiety).

According to Gregory, in the future, all of this could lead to a person with mosophonia facing a fight, flight, and sometimes freeze response. The researchers note that the triggers cause a person to have a really strong adrenaline response, causing them to feel “in danger or bullied.”

According to researchers, only about 14% of people in the UK know what misophonia is. Gregory believes that one of the reasons is that it can be very inconvenient to talk about such problems, because we actually have to admit to our loved ones that we are uncomfortable with the way they chew or breathe.

Note that how and why misophonia develops is still unknown. Researchers believe it begins in childhood and then progresses. As a result, some are forced to disrupt relationships with their families or partners and sometimes choose a career based on where they can work.

But scientists note that there are several strategies that can help relieve pain and stop escaping. For example:

1. introduce background noise while eating;
2. leave the room and distract the brain for a few minutes – for example, play a game;
3. The “opposite action” rule is to fight your instincts by looking at your partner and reminding yourself that nothing really threatens you and that you love this person.

Previously Focus He wrote that scientists have proven that whining is the most unbearable sound.