Writing Misophonia 🔇
Part 1: Symptoms & Triggers
eng | @lintang.docx on insta
Until this day, misophonia is still a topic that's often untouched. So as a writer who has it, I figured that making this post could help people include more misophonia rep in fiction!
So, What's Misophonia?
-> Misophonia is a condition that causes our fight-of-flight response to kick in. This happens whenever we hear a certain set of sounds, usually called trigger sounds.
-> While a majority of people are merely bothered by these noises, people with misophonia have a strong psychological and emotional reaction to it, which is caused by a difference in the frontal lobe of our brain.
Symptoms 🔎
Keep in mind that the severity of misophonia varies throughout each misophoniac. Some of us are still able to control ourselves and go on with our day, while others struggle to the point of needing to be home schooled.
• MILD SYMPTOMS: Feeling uncomfortable/disgusted/anxious.
• SEVERE SYMPTOMS: Feeling scared/angry/panicked/hatred/emotional distress, to the point of being violent/crying.
Besides that, misophonia (as stated above!) triggers the fight-or-flight response. We CANNOT ignore whatever noise that's triggering our misophonia. Nope, no, nada, we either get some headphones, find a way to drown out the noise, or get out the room.
(But if we happen to also have noise hypersensitivity, only the latter helps.)
In times of stress, the severity of misophonia can also be heightened. Since my misophonia is somewhere in the middle of mild and severe, this is when I usually fail to control it and go batsh*t in the process.
Triggers?
Not-so-fun fact: a majority of our trigger sounds are noises made by humans.
Now, here are some common triggers:
Eating sounds, like chewing/slurping (this is the most common trigger)
Mouth sounds, like loud breathing, coughing, snoring, or sniffling
Finger/pen/pencil tapping
Nails on the chalkboard
Whirring motors
And a bunch of repetitive sounds
It's also been reported that people with misophonia don't experience the same irritation when they make the exact noises themselves. The more you know!
Extra Notes
TW: SELF-HARM!
To be fair, misophonia is still a new term (it was acknowledged in the 2000s, I think), but it is real. It is a serious condition that makes a bunch of us want to deafen ourselves at some point of our lives (and yes, I'm included).
A lot of misophoniacs go on their days without even knowing misophonia is a thing. For that reason, misophonia rep would be such a nice thing to have :)
all! of! this! is! so! important!
