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Moist.
Just the sight of the word above either had you simply shrugging your shoulders or recoiling with horror.
The latter group suffer from visceral aversion in which they’ve associated an innocent word with the emotion of disgust to such a degree, that simply seeing the word can cause an unpleasant sensation.
But it is not just words that cause people’s blood pressure to rise. Sounds can also do the same thing.
The term for it is called Misophonia and it’s not uncommon, although it only acquired this name in 2001.
While everyone can agree that fingernails down the chalkboard is a form of aural torture, for those suffering from Misophonia, hearing rather ordinary sounds like smacking lips, chewing or tapping a keyboard can leave them at best feeling faintly annoyed, to uncontrolled rage at worst.
The word Misophonia simply means a ‘hatred of sound’, but that’s too broad a definition. Those who have the condition react badly to very specific sounds.
Symptoms include elevated heart rate, an increase in temperature and blood pressure or even a tightness in the chest. The condition appears to be more prevalent in women than men.
It’s a relatively new field of research, so there are more questions than answers but a study done on the phenomenon has revealed that emotion centres of the brain light up when exposed to specific sounds. Those who do not have the condition showed no emotional reaction to the same stimuli.
Sufferers also appear to have higher amounts of myelin, a fatty substance that wraps around nerve cells in the brain to provide electrical insulation, like the insulation on a wire. Another study showed that more than half of sufferers might also be diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Whether these are causes or effects remains a mystery for now.
Given that we know very little about Misophonia, is there anything we can do to alleviate the symptoms?
The answer appears to be related to the way we treat tinnitus.
While the use of noise cancelling headphones and white noise can be a useful tool. Cognitive behavioural therapies that help people to react better to hearing the sound can provide excellent results.
Conditions like Misophonia and Tinnitus just go to prove that much about our hearing is about what happens between the ears.
Are there any sounds that really get your goat? Let us know in comments.
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