Misophonia is an extreme emotional reaction to typically occurring sounds. “Miso” means dislike or hatred, “phonia” means sounds, so “misophonia” means ‘’a dislike or hatred of sounds.” This rather broad name was given to the disorder in 2001 by Drs. Pawel and Margaret Jastreboff. I say “broad” because it’s not about hating sounds in general; it’s about hating only specific sounds. We call these trigger sounds. Additionally, the “hatred” of trigger sounds applies more to your involuntary response to a sound than your feelings about that sound.

1. Know About Diagnosing Misophonia
Misophoniaisan extreme emotional reactiontotypicallyoccurringsounds.“Miso”meansdislikeor
hatred,“phonia”meanssounds,so“misophonia”means‘’adislike orhatred of sounds.”Thisrather
broad name wasgiventothe disorderin2001 by Drs. Pawel andMargaret Jastreboff.Isay“broad”
because it’snotabouthatingsoundsingeneral;it’sabouthatingonly specific sounds.We call these
trigger sounds.Additionally,the “hatred”of triggersoundsappliesmore toyourinvoluntary
response toa soundthan yourfeelingsaboutthatsound.
ThisconditionisalsoknownasSelective SoundSensitivitySyndrome,or4S. Thisis the name givento
thisconditionbyaudiologistMarshaJohnson,whofirstidentifiedthisconditionin1997. Thisisreally
a bettername for the conditionbecause there are specificandselectivesoundstowhichthe person
isextremelysensitive.However, misophoniaisthe more popularname forthisconditionnow,andit
alsoincludesvisual triggers.
I have proposedthatan evenbettername forthisconditionisConditionedAversiveReflexDisorder
or CARD,whichI will explainlater.
To define misophonia,let’sfirstdescribewhatmisophonia isnot.
Misophoniaisnota sensitivitytothe volume of the soundorto how loudthe soundis.That’s
hyperacusis,andthat’scommon,especiallyinsmall children. Testformisophoniaforthis byseeing
if the personreacts to anyform of loudnoise. Misophoniatestonline forthe general sensitivityto
the volume of the sound. Hyperacusiscaneitherdevelopinadulthoodorcontinue fromchildhood.
It can be misophoniasymptomstest by an audiologistbymeasuringthe volumeatwhichsound
becomespainful. The testisfairlysimple. There are specifictreatmentsthathave beenshownto
reduce hyperacusis.Treatmentforhyperacusisismuchdifferentthat misophoniatreatment.
It’snot a fear of a sound;that’s phonophobia.Andthat’salsocommoninchildren.Bothhyperacusis
and phonophobiaare commonwithautism, forexample,andinyoungchildrenbeingscaredbythe
toiletorthe vacuum cleanersound.Thisisnot misophonia.Treatmentfor phonophobiashouldbe
standardtreatmentfora phobia.
In children,SensoryProcessingDisorder(SPD) canalso causesof misophoniaan intolerance of loud
sounds. To misophoniatestand treatmentfor this,lookformultiple formsof sensoryinputsuchas
touch,taste,smell,sight,andsounds. The testforSPD isa general heightenedsensitivitytosensory
stimulation.Itisnotthe same as misophonia,anditisnotrelatedto misophonia.A childwithSPD
may appearto have hyperacusisorphonophobiabecause of the wayhe or she reacts to
sounds.TreatmentforSPDincludeshabituation(gradual exposure),but treatmentformisophonia
needstobe much more gradual.
MisophoniaTest to see if the misophoniasymptomscome frombeingeasilyirritated. Testtosee if
theyare irritatedorupsetbya continuous,loud,intrusive,oranirritatingsound.There are
people who,whentheyare inasituationwhere there’sarepeatingsound,becomevery
upset.These peopleare generallyconsideredahighlysensitiveperson(HSP).Theirlevelof
tolerance forthese obnoxiousorirritatingsituationsisnot ashighas withmostother

2. people.Andsotheygetupset.Forexample,apersonlivingnearanairportsays thatthey
have an extreme emotional reactiontothe soundof airplanesflyingover.Thismayormay
not be misophonia.Misophoniaisbeingupset(triggered) byasingle occurrenceof the
trigger. There isno defined treatmentforHSP. To getbest misophoniatreatment centers
visitMisophoniaTreatment.Com