Slurping, Sipping, Clicking Irritation

"For people who suffer, it's as though the brain misinterprets the auditory stimuli and experiences it as harmful or toxic or dangerous."
"[As an example, if a dog is awakened by a door clicking shut] The dog's response is to wake up and think, is that something I need to be aware of?"
"In terms of research, it's [the recently-recognized condition of misophonia] still in its infancy."
Jennifer Brout, psychologist, Westport, Connecticut

"So far, there has been no controlled scientific data to support a specific treatment for misophonia."
"Let's characterize what it is, make a good measure of it, figure out what hearing and psychological processes are related to it."
"And why these specific sounds? How does misophonia develop in the first place? These questions all need to be answered to inspire treatment development."
Zachary Rosenthal, chief psychologist, director, Duke University Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation

Medical News Today

Woman with misophonia covering her ears because she is upset by noises

Misophonia is a disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable give the circumstance.  Those who have misophonia might describe it as when a sound 'drives you crazy'. Their reactions can range from anger and annoyance to panic and the need to flee.  The disorder is sometimes called selective sound sensitivity syndrome.
Individuals with misophonia often report they are triggered by oral sounds  -- the noise someone makes when they eat, breathe, or even chew. Other adverse sounds include. keyboard or finger tapping or the sound of windshield wipers.  Sometimes a small repetitive motion is the cause -- someone fidgets, jostles you, or wiggles their foot.
Similarly, people with misophonia also say they often react to the visual stimuli that accompanies sounds, and may also respond intensely to repetitive motions. Researchers believe that those with misophonia may already have issues with how their brains filter sounds and that one of the features of 'misophonic sounds' may be their repetitive noise. That repetition then exacerbates the other auditory processing problems.
WebMD

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 Misophonia manifests itself generally in late childhood or early adolescence, according to experts in the field. Its symptoms continue over time to become more aggressive and the litany of sounds that trigger the aversive response tends to increase over time as well. When offensive-to-the-hearer sounds occur, it seems to trigger that fight-or-flight autonomic response. It has only been in the last several decades that people who exhibit a distinct distress when they hear sounds irritating to them that the condition has been recognized.

Even while the condition received medical attention, there was no name to describe it. Two doctors treating patients at Emory University for tinnitus -- a ringing in the ears --- and hyperacusis -- a condition where sound is perceived as being extremely loud and physically painful -- became alert to something new. Doctors Pawel and Margaret Jastreboff realized that some patients presenting with these symptoms appeared to suffer from a specific decrease in sound tolerance. These patients seemed to react to certain sound patterns, not necessarily their decibel levels.

Finally, the Jastreboffs proposed in 2001 a name for the condition -- misophonia -- hatred of sound. Still, however, the condition has not yet been officially listed as a diagnosis in any medical manuals despite being widely recognized as a legitimate dysfunctional condition. Since it fails to be so recognized officially, it is not studied in medical school and new doctors faced for the first time with such symptoms fail to recognize them, and to diagnose the condition.

As a result, when patients describe the symptoms they experience, the doctor is more likely to dismiss the complainer as someone who is afflicted with an over-sensitive perception. Alternately, and no more helpful to the patient, diagnosed by their doctor with a mood disorder. And because so little is known about the condition once it is diagnosed -- its cause and onset, its continued disturbance effects throughout life and the frustration it brings to sufferers -- recommendation for treatment is elusive.

So treatment is an unknown, other than some suggestions that are more placebo-like than remedial. Patients are given the advice to try to cope, attempt to distract themselves, to think up coping strategies.  Such as wearing noise-canceling headphones; to divert the annoyance through mindful breathing; or simply removing oneself from the area where the irritating and mind-bending noise is occurring. Redirect attention by taking a brisk walk. And when all else fails, try physical exercise and perhaps antidepressants.

For people with a rare condition known as misophonia, certain sounds like slurping, chewing, tapping and clicking can elicit intense feelings of rage or panic.    Photo illustration by Meredith Rizzo/NPR

"Chewing is almost universal. Gum chewing is almost universal. They also don't like the sound of throat clearing. Coughing, sniffing, nose blowing — a number of things."
"It's as if the survival part of the brain thinks somehow it's being attacked or it's in danger."
Jaelline Jaffe, psychotherapist, Los Angeles