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

"I feel like my pelvic area is being stabbed with metal spikes that are on fire and that I feel a constant hard blow to my stomach that, on many occasions, makes me feel faint."
"Nausea, chronic fatigue, pain all over my body, difficulty sleeping, difficulty digesting food and painful urination are some of my chronic issues I deal with."
"No, it is not just a painful period, the excruciating period pain that, sometimes with no awareness at that moment, led me to tear my bed sheets from how tight I'd pull on them during my worst days."
"I was told I was crazy by many doctors or that I needed to just see a psychiatrist. Some even told me I was exaggerating just so I can get a prescription to strong pain medication."
"I decided to be vocal and go public with my story. I wanted to get any girl's attention that was still feeling the need to suffer in silence to try and stand up and believe her body and symptoms, and try her best to get answers and not give up."
Carine Boustani, 24, endometriosis sufferer

Carine Boustani is the Ottawa team leader of the Worldwide Endometriosis March. Errol McGihon / Postmedia

"Endometriosis, by definition, is tissue that's similar to the lining of the uterus implanting itself outside the uterus."
"It can be present most often on the pelvic organs, uterus, ovaries and Fallopian tubes. Every month, instead of having a normal period, the bleeding that results from the tissues on these organs can cause havoc and damage to the internal organs."
"Pain is very important to treat early on, regardless of the cause. When it is not treated early on, it can become chronic and then the brain senses harm, not just on a monthly basis. It perceives that there may be harm on a daily basis."
"Talking about periods isn't gross, isn't dirty, isn't disgusting. It's a normal part of being human, and until we get over the embarrassment, we won't move forward. Make it dinnertime conversation. Normalize it. That's going to be our goal."
Dr. Sony Sukhbir Singh, vice-chair, Gynecology, The Ottawa Hospital

Pain and infertility, two frightening words usually associated with Endometriosis, an abnormal growth of endometrial cells outside of the uterus. This chronic illness affects approximately 1 in 10 women and to date, even more concerning, the exact cause of it has not been identified. There is no cure.

According to the World Endometriosis Society this is a medical-health disorder affecting over 176 million women throughout the world. Despite its surprising prevalence it is a condition that remains largely undiagnosed by medical professionals. Additionally, this is a condition experienced differently by any woman whom it affects.

Carine Boustani, now the Ottawa team leader of the Worldwide Endometriosis awareness campaign that takes place every March, was informed by all the doctors she approached for diagnosis and help, as being "normal", despite her anything-but-normal symptoms, their persistence and the misery her life has become as a victim of this medical condition. This diagnosis of normalcy is ordinarily a most reassuring one for anyone who seeks out medical advice, but for obvious reasons it did nothing to reassure this woman whose symptoms were disbelieved.

She saw no fewer than eight doctors, none of whom appeared capable of diagnosing her problem. Through her own research she managed to discover that what she was suffering from was a condition afflicting one in ten women of reproductive age. Why, she then wondered, was it so difficult for the medical community to recognize its prevalence and its symptoms? Of a condition that affects so many women? Might that be construed as the normal part, that so many women suffered from it, giving it an aura of normalcy?

Are women held universally to be chronic complainers and thus to have their concerns shunted aside? That led her to begin thinking how many women she personally knew had symptoms of endometriosis, had no idea what was troubling them; the result being their symptoms were not being treated. Mostly because their concerns were not being taken seriously. If women fail to seek out proper treatment, points out gynecologist Dr. Singh, the pain they undergo during menstruation has the potential to develop toward daily pain, possibly leading to infertility.

The more she learned about endometriosis, the more forlorn Ms. Boustani felt. That took an emotional toll, directing her to advocate for awareness of the condition, to reach out to women who could be experiencing pain similar to her own, along with the confusion that she was left with when there seemed to be no readily attainable medical answers to her questions. Hers has not been an easy journey; her diagnosis led to six surgeries; and several hormonal treatment rounds which induced menopause.

She has had her gallbladder removed, has developed fibromyalgia and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. She has had to undergo treatment for depression brought on by the hormonal treatments. Worldwide Endometriosis March is now occurring in over 50 countries where women are invited to publicly share their stories, to wear yellow in solidarity, and to help end the stigma seen to be attached to women's sexual health and reproductive functions.

"If we don't insist on our symptoms, don't try to be taken seriously, and give up on advocating for ourselves, then we're going to continue being ignored and the stigma of painful periods and it being normal will remain. We need to educate the community as a whole, not just women", she insists, and with obvious good reason.