We’ve all been there. Someone is making an abnormal amount of noise crunching on their morning cereal. Or you start to wonder if there is something wrong with someone because their breathing is so loud. It turns out that this annoyance has a name: Misophonia.
Misophonia literally means “hatred of sound” and is characterized by a negative reaction to specific sounds. It is an actual neurological disorder. Those with Misophonia are most commonly annoyed or even enraged by every day sounds such as people brushing their teeth, eating, breathing, sniffing, chewing gum, laughing, snoring, etc.
It is unknown how prevalent Misophonia is in the general population. Some studies have put it at 10% of the population while others have said it is closer to 60%.