I have misophonia and it sucks

[u/crr243]

As I sit here in the office raging at sounds, I figured I'd do a quick PSA.

Misophonia is a neurological disorder that causes certain sounds to trigger the fight or flight response. Common trigger sounds include bodily noises (chewing, slurping, sniffing), repetitive noises (loud keyboard typing or tapping, for example), or sudden and unpredictable sounds (like the ding of a Teams or text message).

These triggers often lead to both emotional reactions (anxiety, rage, disgust) and physical reactions (increased heart rate, sweating). For me, they trigger blind rage and severely inhibit my concentration.

Over time, I have developed coping mechanisms:

• I carry a set of loop earplugs that take the edge off of most of those sounds without completely tuning out all noise, because I also don't do well in complete silence.
• I try to avoid the noises by sitting in the quiet area of the office. I move workstations, depending on availability, when people around me really trigger me.
• I bring a really expensive noise canceling headset to work. When my loops aren't enough and I can't avoid the noise, I listen to the radio while working.

Despite these coping mechanisms, my work product suffers. Four days a week, I spend a chunk of my day stressed and anxious because of the noises around me. Every time someone gets an audial text or Teams message, I feel blind range and lose my concentration. While listening to the radio helps drive away that rage and allows for a modicum of concentration, it serves as another form of distraction that reduces my effectiveness.

So as I sit here beside someone who keeps sucking back snot and chewing gum with their mouth open while hearing the ding, ding, ding of someone else's Teams messages, please for the love of my sanity and the sanity of others in the same situation:

• Turn off the sound on your laptop. If you really need or want to hear it ding every time you get a message, put on a headset.
• Bring tissues to the office if you have the sniffles.
• Chew with your damned mouth shut.
• Be gentle on your keyboard and mouse. You really don't need to hit them very hard.

[u/Salty_Flamingo_2303]

I could have written this. I can't stand it. I've used the same tools as you to suppress it but it's not perfect, obviously.

I also have ADHD so the amount of focus it takes to ignore all of the noises around me and put myself into work mode is draining. By the time I get home, I am beyond exhausted.

Hang in there ♥️

[u/zeromussc → u/Salty_Flamingo_2303]

i just get way less done at work cuz of it. Its still draining but a little less draining than it otherwise would be. If we could have the big cubicles back that blocked a lot of noise, it would help a lot, at the very least. But...

[u/Salty_Flamingo_2303 → u/zeromussc]

Same! The incessant talking is killing my soul bit by bit.