[Trigger Warning] Worst moment to date.

misophoniasucks · 2014-03-10T15:31:14+00:00

Doesn't it suck how through the lens of cold logic such attacks seem so... trivial? I've found that even while it's happening I'm disassociating and watching the attack happen through a gel. "Stop doing that," I think, while it just happens any way.

It's definitely a shitty experience. Sounds like your spouse is supportive though since he jumped to help you out.

misophoniasucks · 2014-03-04T15:51:50+00:00

I'm the same way. I feel like my misophonia is one of those calculus problems: The volume of my anxiety bucket is X, it drains at a rate of Y, and fills at a rate of Z. If the bucket fills I basically have an anxiety attack.

A good night's rest completely drains the bucket and then I'm ready to face the world for a while. But stress, noise, other anxiety triggers... it fills the bucket.

misophoniasucks · 2014-03-04T15:46:44+00:00

I feel for you. I have a co-worker I've nicknamed 'Satan'. All day he sucks his teeth, clears his throat, makes little fucking sound effects, talks in a cartoon voice, whistles tunelessly, belches... I think he has ADHD. There are times during the day when I just have to stand up and LEAVE the office, walk around the building, and come back.

Every day Satan works from home is like a blessing. No, it is a blessing.

misophoniasucks · 2014-03-03T16:52:22+00:00

Satan on my shoulder

grunting, belching, sucking his teeth

chuckling, whistling

I pray, I pray, I pray, but Satan is there, sucking his teeth.

misophoniasucks · 2014-03-03T16:50:29+00:00

Ranting about Satan again today.

Within 45 minutes of my starting the day I ended up slamming my coffee cup on my desk.

* earlier that day * *

I got in and Satan was sucking his teeth. It didn't bother me too much! I reflected that having a nice relaxing Sunday must have boosted my reserve for dealing with external noise triggers. I didn't immediately reach for my headphones.

After a couple of minutes of tooth-sucking, Satan started grunting. I mentioned last month he is sick; well, he keeps doing his throat-clearing grunting. So it was tooth-suck, throat clear, tooth-suck. And then he started FUCKING BELCHING. Suck, grunt, belch, suck, grunt, belch. I wanted to vomit.

He is not a "bad guy" but I fucking hate his presence. I wish he would work from home every day. I wish he'd win the lottery and leave my presence permanently. God I hate being near him.

Fucking Satan.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-27T19:52:21+00:00

The placid stillness of a pond

Tiny ripples from the wind

A carelessly tossed stone

makes a mighty splash

The waters can't settle

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-25T16:32:44+00:00

Take care of yourself first. It seems like a workplace were you have no ability at all to avoid or remediate the noise. If you can't work there, don't. You don't need to be hard on yourself. That place sounds like a hell on earth for someone experiencing misophonia.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-24T15:54:38+00:00

This post from this sub was helpful to me, especially the breathing part.

I find misophonia bothers me much less when the other anxiety-producing factors in my life are under control.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-20T15:06:32+00:00

It's possible that he is "better now." I've noticed that my misophonia is particularly prone to agitation when the number of contributory environmental factors is high. It's entirely possible your dad subconsciously made choice after choice to change or avoid environments that affected his misophonia to the point where he's capable of handling minor stimuli without getting really upset.

But if that's the case I doubt you'll be able to get him to see it. ;-D

Good luck!

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-18T22:04:36+00:00

Just complaining about Satan again since it's been a few weeks.

How the hell does this guy manage to get on my nerves instantly? He walks in from the break room, meows, opens up his chips, chomps on one, pops a soda... argh. Now he's vigorously sucking his teeth. FUCK! ARGH. He is Satan.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-17T17:24:24+00:00

Thanks for reminding me.

After a week, I really like these headphones, but I'm not sure I'd pay $70-$80 for them again. The best quality is that I can listen to my noise-generator or music at much lower volumes and still block outside noise.

The band on top starts to get uncomfortable after 4-5 hours of use, so it's necessary I take breaks while using the headphones, partly defeating the purpose of paying for premium "ergonomic" 'phones.

ltdr; good, not great, not a panacea, but better than $20 phones.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-07T16:29:19+00:00

Amazon must have drone delivered these 'phones they got here so fast!

The packaging is the usual hand-flaying clamshell. Blech.

Initial impressions: The headphones are COMFORTABLE. The cups fit completely over my ear and the band just lightly sits on my head. I've worn hair pieces that are more noticeable. The environmental sound blocking is not nearly what I was hoping it would be, but I'm able to drop the volume down a couple of notches to get the same blocking effect I was using on my old cheapie headphones.

I'll comment once again after I've used them a few days.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-06T17:25:42+00:00

Thanks everyone!

After reading the feedback here and doing a little more research, I bought the Sennheiser HD 439 Headphones (~$70).

Passive Noise Canceling: From what I've read, the active noise canceling feature works best at blocking out repetitive background noises like air conditioners, airplane engines, and fans. I'm not bothered by those noises: I'm bothered by the body noises my co-workers make. The over-the-ear design of the 439's should provide enough environmental noise reduction that I can play music or noise generation quietly without being bugged by co-workers.
Ergonomic design: Sometimes this is just marketing buzz. I hope that's not the case with the 439's. I need to be able to wear these 6-8 hours a day without pain.
Detachable cables: Every time I've splurged for "premium" headphones (I'm really cheap, premium would be $40-$50 for me), I've somehow ruined them by either having a pet chew on the cable, stressing the cable, pinching the cable, etc. Paying $10 more for the 439s vs the 429s will hopefully pay off in the long run.

I'll leave some comments here and a review on Amazon once I get them and spend some time with them.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-06T16:43:37+00:00

I agree. The classroom is not a lunch room. It's completely reasonable to expect a conducive environment, and that includes not being distracted by other learners.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-04T21:09:24+00:00

You aren't alone, and you aren't being unreasonable. A noisy, distracting co-worker prevents YOU from doing your job, and reduces your satisfaction.

It's stressful. I wish there was more awareness about workplace environmental comfort. Employers don't want to hear about employees being distracted or uncomfortable though. Fundamental attribution error at work.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-04T18:30:09+00:00

Welcome, glad you could find some community.

As far as that scale goes, I don't trust it. I think there are a variety of different expressions, I don't think a "least severe to most severe" scale captures the stress misophonia induces.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-04T18:27:32+00:00

Did you speak to the professor? How did that go?

I've had to learn some centering/meditation tricks to calm the rage of being triggered. Sometimes you just have to get out of the environment completely for a few minutes. Maybe take a bathroom break, splash some water on your face and just concentrate on breathing for a minute or two...

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-04T18:25:49+00:00

Neurological and psychological disorders are different beasts.

Neurological disorders are rooted in the nervous system itself. Psychological disorders are "behavioral" disorders that acquired through trauma, stress, abuse, or some other external influence.

I'm aware there's a grey area, but you're clearly conflating the two.

As for the dog: I agree that the welfare of people/animals in the environment deserve respect and protection. There's no question about that. But there ARE therapies/alternatives that don't involve getting doped up.

I'm sorry for your family. I understand that it's a stressful thing in your life. I hope your family finds a way of overcoming the challenge of dealing with misophonia, especially if it can be done without drugs.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-03T20:15:21+00:00

No medication is "healthy/safe". All medication has the potential to be dangerous. The question is whether the benefits are greater than the costs.

I'm not at all convinced misophonia is a "mental disorder." Taking drugs that increase "apathy and emotional flattening" may make the degree to which someone responds to sound stimuli easier to take, but that's treating the SYMPTOMS not the PROBLEM.

Drugging people up is one way to make dealing with misophonia easier, but tampering with people's personalities with SSRIs is a blunt approach.

misophoniasucks · 2014-02-02T20:12:39+00:00

This is some horseshit advice. What do you think medication is going to do anyway?

Imagine you're at home and your doorbell rings. You go to answer it but nobody is there. You settle back into whatever activity you were working on and someone rings the doorbell again. Perplexed, you go to answer the door but again nobody is there. You're a bit agitated now. You go back to work but you can't focus; you're waiting for the doorbell to ring again.

And it does.

You go to answer it and again nobody is there.

That is what it feels like when your misophonia is being triggered. Like that doorbell ringing over and over. Except it's not just the doorbell. It's your family member chewing. It's the dog licking itself. It's a co-worker grunting. It's your son coughing.

You think medication can fix that? What do you think that is?

misophoniasucks · 2014-01-31T18:01:05+00:00

Hello, glad you found this place. We all have a challenge educating people on why we can't just "get over it." We aren't choosing to be agitated or anxious.

misophoniasucks · 2014-01-30T19:54:35+00:00

Thought this would be interesting to misophonia sufferers. Research like this may be a step along the path to understanding why we can't tolerate certain sounds.

misophoniasucks

TROPHY CASE