Sometimes I cringe once I crunch the potato chips and wince once I slurp the ramen—and please don’t even get me pondering that my dad enjoys his blueberry pie with agonizingly slow bites.
What some people consider on a regular basis noises disgusts me and even makes me indignant. The same goes for my mother and my sister – and, because it seems, Our little farm Star Melissa Gilbert, who spoke this week about affected by misophonia, the neurological disorder that all of us have and an estimated 15% of adults have.
“I cried when I found out it had a name and I wasn’t just a bad person,” said 60-year-old Gilbert People in an exclusive interview this week.
Below you’ll learn more in regards to the disorder that causes intense emotional reactions to very specific sounds.
What is misophonia?
People with Misophoniaafter Cleveland Clinicare triggered by feeling intense and difficult-to-control “anger, fear, or disgust” after they hear certain sounds – either a couple of specific sounds, similar to an individual chewing or water dripping from a faucet, or a variety of sounds, from chewing and heavy respiration to the press of a pen and the ticking of a clock.
Although misophonia shouldn’t be officially recognized as a disorder within the United States, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), it continues to be recognized by experts and there may be a proper consensus definition for research, diagnostic and treatment purposes.
The symptoms of the disorder are in comparison with the fight-or-flight response to danger and may feel as if someone is attacking your “emotional accelerator.” (Ironically, my mother remembers Our little farm and yelled at her brother, who couldn’t benefit from the show due to the crunch of the Doritos; my dad says he sometimes feels pressured to eat his cereal in one other room as of late.)
In more extreme cases, it will possibly cause increased heart rate, blood pressure, and sweating, causing some people to react vocally or avoid situations where these sounds are present. The root causes of misophonia will not be well defined, but genetic aspects and differences in brain structure may play a job.
Women are more commonly affected than men, accounting for 55 to 83% of all cases. Although the disease can occur at any age, it’s most definitely to occur within the early teenage years.
Gilbert was young – she starred in the favored TV series from age 10 to 19 – and her family saw her as a baby who “stared at my parents, my grandmother and my siblings with hate-filled eyes,” Gilbert recalls. “I really thought I was rude. And I felt really bad. And guilty, which is a huge part of misophonia, the guilt you feel about those feelings of fight or flight. It’s a really isolating disorder.”
On set, while playing the earnest tomboy her father called “Half Pint,” Gilbert felt incredibly frustrated and isolated by her own irritations. “If one of the kids was chewing gum or eating or tapping their fingernails on the table, I just wanted to run away,” Gilbert said People“I turned red as a tomato, my eyes filled with tears and I just sat there feeling absolutely miserable and terribly guilty because I felt so much hatred towards all these people – people I loved.”
Her misophonia continued into her adult life as she raised her own two children. “I had a hand signal that I would give where I would make my hand into a puppet and make it look like it was chewing and then I would snap it shut – like I was shutting up!” she says of her children. “My poor children spent their entire childhood with me doing that. They weren’t allowed to eat gum.”
Is there a treatment for misophonia?
After examining her symptoms and checking out Duke Center for Misophonia In North Carolina, Gilbert realized there was a treatment for the disorder: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is used to treat a variety of mental illnesses, including generalized anxiety disorder, by helping victims redirect their thought patterns and manage their emotions.
Talk therapy may also be helpful in identifying and understanding triggers.
“This is an emotional issue. It’s about self-regulation and self-control,” said Gilbert People“I realized that while I can get through these waves, they’re not going to go away. They never go away. But now I have all these tools that allow me to feel more comfortable and less irritable. I feel like I’m in control.”
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