Naming It

For years and years I have had an aversion to certain sounds like other people chewing or typing. My reaction went beyond annoyance. I used to share on office with two other people, one of whom typed very fast on a very "clicky" keyboard. I could not stand it. Most of the time I worked with my headphones on to drown it out. If I couldn't do that I would literally panic. All I wanted in the world at that moment was for the sound to stop. If I could have I would have destroyed her keyboard or jumped out a window. It was absolute fight or flight. Fortunately the office had a door so I used that to get away and calm down.

When I would express what was happening to me people would just say I was being anal or over-reacting. But I don't think so. I have researched this on and off over the years and recently I discovered a name for this: misophonia or selective sound sensitivity.

The first time I read an article describing my symptoms and giving them a name I wept. My condition didn't go away, but at least I knew I wasn't crazy. Okay, I am crazy, but crazy with a name is much better than just crazy.

The NY Times recently featured the condition in an article and it was on the Today Show.

If you're curious, there's more information here.