General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDo you hate loud typing? Loud eating? Slurping?
You may have a condition known as misophonia.
I cant stand it when someone behind me at a movie chews popcorn with his or her mouth open. I mean, I really cant stand it.
I have misophonia, a condition with which certain sounds can drive someone into a burst of rage or disgust. Although only identified and named in the last 20 years, misophonia has been enthusiastically embraced, with websites, Facebook pages and conferences drawing small armies of frustrated visitors.
As a primary care physician, I find that misophonia can present some special challenges: At times, my patients can be the source of annoying sounds. At other times, the condition can be a source of special bonding if I realize that a patient is a fellow sufferer.
....
The range of responses to these noises is broad, from irritation to disgust to anger. Some sufferers even respond with verbal or physical aggression to those making the noises. One woman reported wanting to strangle her boyfriend in response to his chewing.
Researchers are only beginning to understand the science behind misophonia, but early data suggest a hyperconnectivity between the auditory system and the limbic system, a part of the brain responsible for generating emotions. Some studies have found associations between misophonia and other psychiatric conditions, such as obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, but many sufferers appear to have no other major emotional problems. Dr. Schröder and other researchers are developing specific diagnostic criteria.
....
For me, one of the most frustrating aspects of misophonia is what I call the incredulity factor. For years, I could not believe that my friends and relatives were not getting as upset at what I considered rude behaviors. They were getting frustrated with me for focusing on sounds they did not really hear.
....
NYTimes
My god, I thought I was alone. I live in daily rage at the loud typers, slurpers, eaters, etc. It drives me to levels extreme anger to hear that repetitive shit. When I can I wear headphones with music blaring to block it all out.
msongs
(67,347 posts)notadmblnd
(23,720 posts)For me right now it's dog barking and airplanes.
Gormy Cuss
(30,884 posts)Your constant whining is driving me bonkers.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)Now that I'm older and have lost some of my hearing, it doesn't bother me anymore.
Warpy
(111,123 posts)My hearing is actually better than predicted for my age but one ear is slightly deaf. I sleep on my side with that deaf ear up and I can sleep through everything.
Poor hearing means that irritating people who make disgusting noises don't bother us any more and the spider webs over our eyes mean our SO doesn't get uglier every year as s/he ages.
I could do without the aches, though. Everything hurts.
Laffy Kat
(16,366 posts)The rest I get.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)it's the two finger typers that are obnoxiously loud.
tishaLA
(14,176 posts)And I type with all ten fingers. I'm not sure why I do, but I do. A woman I went to grad school with, though, made my loud typing seem tame...when she started typing near me, I had to get up and leave the room cuz she wasn't only loud, but super fast.
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)I use nine. The left thumb adds nothing to the process.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)That's what I learned back in the day.
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)I even used a manual typewriter at a part time job as a teen. I don't remember the theory of using the thumb that is on the hand of the next letter (key). I don't see any advantage. It seems easier and more natural to just use which thumb is autmatic.
Reter
(2,188 posts)I'm a two fingered typer, I can be loud. But it's not like hearing cats lick themselves, that irritates me to no end.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Learned to type on the old Royal and SCM manual typewriters which required a real hard tap to get an impression on the ink ribbon.
edgineered
(2,101 posts)how hard the keys had to be struck. One time while on a car trip I asked my sister if she would mind if I clipped my nails. She was totally baffled why I would even ask that.
Only my polar opposite cannot appreciate the rhythmic flow of a good typist while the inconsistent, aggravating snapping of clippers means nothing!
NJCher
(35,616 posts)It makes me think about where the clipping is landing. If the clipper is clipping the nails over a wastebasket (ideal), it would still bother me, but not as much as imagining that nail flying onto the rug. or landing on a counter.
Eeeeeks, I'm squirming, just thinking of it.
Cher
edgineered
(2,101 posts)Trimmings are about the nastiest waste there is.
NJCher
(35,616 posts)Yeah, thought about mentioning it in my post, but figured people would take me for a real crazy. But here's the story, anyway.
I had a job that required me to travel. A good-sized expense account allowed me to stay in nice places, but even the nice places have people who miss a few things now and then.
This was one of my first jobs out of college, and I was finding that I didn't like travel all that well. Kind of depressed at being away from my home, I checked into my hotel room and sat down on the bed to make a phone call. I happened to look at a little tray that was next to the bed. It was supposed to have chocolates in it, but instead it had....nail clippings. The previous occupant's nail clippings.
That was it. I called the management, who had someone come and remove the clippings. That was the last night I spent "on the road."
Cher
edgineered
(2,101 posts)I'm sitting here laughing, able to relate in so many ways, right down to the part where someone thinks you're nuts. In a rare moment that I didn't properly weigh my statements before opening my mouth, I said to my sister, "Everyone in our family has something wrong with their head." Her response was no big surprise, "Well maybe you do!"
Orrex
(63,169 posts)But somehow we manage not to dial our smartphones.
It's preposterous to claim that learning on a manual typewriter is the reason why someone in 2015 still bangs on the keyboard.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)(I'll preface this with most anything she did annoyed me but her typing especially). She had long nails and typed with her nails instead of the pads of her fingers. To this day I can't stand to hear typing with fingernails--including myself. That's when I know it's time to cut my nails, when I hear them clacking on the keyboard. That's like nails on a chalkboard to me.
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)She's a super loud typer. The worst is when she's brings her laptop to a meeting and is typing while others talk.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Loud typing bothers me mostly because I keep thinking "RSI! Don't type angry!"
S_B_Jackson
(906 posts)typewriter, then it was indeed necessary to hit the keys very firmly. So much of typing is a function of muscle-memory, and the key connections for many older than 45-50 were formed using manual typewriter keyboards.
Orrex
(63,169 posts)I learned to type on a manual typewriter, but I've never tried to do a manual carriage return on my computer.
I learned to write with a pencil, but never have I tried to sharpen a pen.
I learned to ride a bicycle, but I've never tried to pedal my car.
I simply do not believe that a functional adult can honestly fail to distinguish between a 15-pound Smith Corona typewriter and a modern laptop keyboard.
I used a real typewriter for years, but I type quietly on my laptop.
I was near a very loud typer recently, and I wondered if there was some control for the keyboard sound and she had turned it up. The sound is feedback in a way, so that could be logical, but I have never seen such a control.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Not sure about Windows or Mac. Also some keyboards are designed to be louder than they "should" because people used to older keyboards and typewriters like the audio feedback (so it helps them type less angrily).
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Either way, if you would like to avoid RSI it's time to learn how modern keyboards work...
Octafish
(55,745 posts)They get to me.
olddots
(10,237 posts)can make it worse in the long haul .
kentauros
(29,414 posts)For example, some weeks ago the apartments next to this one were re-doing their paving. In their infinite wisdom, they also felt that they needed to jackhammer out the old (and perfectly nice even compared to our new concrete one) exit ramp instead of just paving on top of it, like they've always done. So, jackhammer noise all day long for several days.
There's a noise site I use often just for relaxation. I hadn't ever used it for sound masking. And yet, when I used the demolition sounds to mask out the industrial noise next door, it worked quite well! It didn't eliminate that noise entirely, but it merged with the site's noise enough that I could tune it out easier. And when they stopped, I often didn't know right away.
And when the neighbors' kid below me starts shrieking, music usually masks it just fine
(Although earlier this evening I was using the Flying Fortress page to mask the screaming...)
Logical
(22,457 posts)LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)This isn't your problem, good for you.
clamshells
(57 posts)always say when they encounter something they don't experience themselves. Lighten up about peanut butter/cigarette smoke, you aren't really allergic/don't want to avoid cancer and numerous other diseases (rolls eyes.)
Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)When we first moved into our house, we bought a dining room table to eat dinner as a family. That lasted a month. I'm a quiet chewer, and so is my daughter, but it still drives my wife crazy. We all eat separately now.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)I'm hoping I can bring this to HR to get myself an office and out of the cube farm.
I can be like Costanza with my own bathroom.
unblock
(52,113 posts)it took me a rather long time to get past the cognitive dissonance of mrs. unblock professing her undying love for me, yet she would get annoyed at nearly everything i did, or so it seemed. worse, she could make the same noises herself and of course it wouldn't phase her in the least.
the clacking of utensils, fork on bowl or rarely, fork on teeth, e.g., is a particular annoyance for her., but there are many sounds that she cannot stand.
earplugs have saved our marriage! i have to raise my voice to talk to her (itself a source of mutual annoyance) but overall it's a big improvement!
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)Certain noises and it's WW3. She doesn't hold back.
Me, I'm more passive aggressive with my reactions.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)Someone in the row behind us was chewing with their mouth open. It shocked everyone in the theater into complete silence. She simply couldn't stand any kind of lip smacking, slurping or eating with your mouth open noises.
Maybe there's a connection with her being a manic-depressive like the article hints at. It would be.
nruthie
(466 posts)Heavy breathing, stuffy noses, wheezing, slurping, snoring, etc....makes me feel like physically attacking people. It is something I am unable to control. Nice to know there is a name for this condition. Now if someone could just figure out how to fix it!
notadmblnd
(23,720 posts)instead of blowing that shit out
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Cellophane, silverware, swallowing, ice chewing, crunching of popcorn and potato chips, and a whole bunch of other things drive my sister and I absolutely up the wall.
Cirque du So-What
(25,907 posts)but not to me.
left on green only
(1,484 posts)I simply cannot imagine that anyone who does this is not trying to offend other people.
raccoon
(31,105 posts)olddots
(10,237 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)Happyhippychick
(8,379 posts)My friends son has it and it has drastically affected his social life. He can't sit in the cafeteria at school because of the noise of eating, he can't sit with his family during dinner, he can't participate in any social events that involve food. It's awful for him.
mnhtnbb
(31,371 posts)And my husband is totally addicted to gum chewing...I guess so he won't smoke.
It drives me nuts. Bonkers. I have to tell him every time he starts chewing gum when we're
in the car, or at a movie theatre, on a plane...to chew silently.
Glad to know I'm not alone.
Orrex
(63,169 posts)That is, a real condition easily self-diagnosed by people who thereafter passionately resist any challenge to or clinical diagnosis of the claimed malady.
loyalsister
(13,390 posts)My emotional responses are more on the side of extreme irritation than the intensity described in the article. I use my IPOD to block it out, too.
I totally get the incredulity factor. I once had to spend an entire night hearing the chirp of a dying smoke detector battery. The people I was staying with didn't hear it even hear it until I pointed it out even though they were in much closer proximity.
me b zola
(19,053 posts)The sounds of (other people) kissing make me ill. M dogs licking themselves.They are getting pretty good about going to the next room or outside if they want to lick themselves.
lamp_shade
(14,814 posts)ozone_man
(4,825 posts)Noisy keyboard is nothing. A sign of productivity.
mythology
(9,527 posts)She runs over and bites the whistler on the face. I don't recommend you try that approach.
ozone_man
(4,825 posts)faith moon
(8 posts)But I can't stand people who have tone-deaf whistling. It's random and annoying. I am a master whistler, though. Fuck. I wonder if I've been irksome to society...
When people jab at the keys on a 'puter board--that is uber irritating.
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)when some genius sound director decides to bump up the volume of whispers, clinking glasses , heavy breathing and what not.
Slurping and loud typing are in the top 10 of most hated sounds.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)Buns_of_Fire
(17,148 posts)Now, if someone could rid me of these damned brain-eating cicadas that have taken up residence for the last twenty years or so...
shanti
(21,675 posts)i suffer from it too. must have been all those concerts i went to without earplugs, standing right next to the speakers. you play, you pay, apparently.
MowCowWhoHow III
(2,103 posts)People are strange.
Buns_of_Fire
(17,148 posts)ileus
(15,396 posts)Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)Me and another guy sit in he middle two cubes of a 4 cube run and we both type quietly. We're sandwiched by the two loudest typers who sound like they're trying to murder their keyboards.
Bonus: loud typers also slurp, chew with mouths open, sigh loudly, talk at high volume, and belch loudly.
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)I have to believe that the sound of someone typing in an IBM Selectric would drive you nuts.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)But I can pass for 40
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)your old enought to remember typewriters. Did you ever work in an office back then where typewriters were common. Did that sound bother you?
I used to look younger than my age, wait it will catch up with you.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)I remember typewriters from home and high school.
The work I currently do doesn't involve too much typing (mostly mouse based) All the typing I hear is the two people instant messaging all day. The loud typer closest to me hammers the shit out of his keys with his two index fingers and when he's ready to send his message he twirls his right index finger in the air and crushes the enter key. He's good for about 500 messages like that a day as he typically has multiple IM windows open.
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)It seems like he is wasting an incredibal amount of work time. The bosses have to be aware of this.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)Time wasting is subjective. I'm actually that guy's superior. I only care that he gets his assignments done.
Well, get them done quietly
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)I used to have a subordinate who was texting all the time and he wasn't getting his work done in a timely manner. He was warned many times about his use of time. Thankfully, I didn't have to fire him. I got promoted and he became someone else's problem.
Skittles
(153,104 posts)it's not like we have mechanical typewriters and you have to POUND the keys
Chemisse
(30,802 posts)It really irks me!!
I think it's because the sound is accentuated (compared to other sounds) in shows or movies, likely for effect.
REP
(21,691 posts)Those "cute" commercials with children eating with their mouths open, making nasty noises are stomach churning. I've had "the talk" with my husband about not chewing so damned loud. Loud fidgeting bothers the fuck out of me, too. Whistling, tuneless humming, repetitive mumbling of nonsense words ... arrrrrgh.
Loud music, though - no problem. Music or dialogue just below threshold of being able to be heard clearly? Rage-inducing.
Jane Austin
(9,199 posts)but yell everything.
I spend a lot of time in the pool area of our YMCA. The kids are incredibly loud there, which I understand because they're having fun, but in the locker rooms they shout and yell everything they say.
I am usually listening to a recorded book or a podcast and I literally can't hear my recording when they are in the locker room.
I wonder if they are so loud because their parents don't respond to them until the decibels have risen a few notches.
When my kids were little, I reminded them in public places that no one except me came there to hear them. We always had a lot of fun together without excessive noise.
Meanwhile, has anybody ever measured the decibel level of public toilets flushing? They are so loud they hurt my ears.
marle35
(172 posts)at work. I assume they can't help it, or it would take great effort and practice to stop. It hurts my ears sometimes.
shanti
(21,675 posts)gum popping, public nail clipping (in a train, really??), choppers. hell, just about any obnoxious sound I cannot escape from!
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)but I'm not the only one. LOL. At our work we have a few people who do not see slurping or smacking when chewing as rude. We work in a very quiet office. A few of the ladies are constantly snacking and they are always chewing with their mouth open and smacking their mouths when they chew. One person won't even eat in the lunchroom because she cannot stand to look at food hanging out of some people's mouths, lol. Luckily, we are allowed to wear headphones while we work. Which is a good thing because several people type REALLY loudly - a few of the people who have fake nails go 'clickety-clack' so loudly. The person next to me does the smacking AND the loud typing. She hits her keyboard so hard sometimes my cubicle wall shakes.
I know I'm not alone - in fact when we rearranged our cubicles, several people warned me about the lip smacking and the aggressive typing, LOL. The crunching, typing, smacking etc really does get to me, but I think it's a pretty large percentage in our office that get annoyed by those things.
Skittles
(153,104 posts)whistlers, hummers, people who make noise when they walk (usually women in pumps), that idiot at the movies who tries to slowly unwrap a candy bar - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)TYY
Joanie Baloney
(1,357 posts)Kids (mostly) who screech their sneakers on linoleum floors like in the grocery stores. On purpose. My eyes turn red with anger.
My best friend will go out of her way to identify gum poppers when she hears them. I don't notice them at all....until she points them out and then I hear nothing else. She can spot one all the way across a movie theater.
Funny how the mind works.
-JB
MisterP
(23,730 posts)of course a lot of tourists add that Americans have a massive oral fixation
MisterP
(23,730 posts)these people must have hollow teeth or something, a leaf blower isn't as loud
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)I cannot stand the sound of people eating corn on the cob.
My dad clanks his spoon in the bowl when eating cereal and soup. My mother hated it.
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)..slurp, snort, cough, rustle, crinkle, crackle, slurp, slurp, CRINKLE, SLUUURRRPP, SNOOORT.
I'm ashamed (kinda') to admit this but I actually stood up once, turned around and told the couple behind me. "You either finish that fuckin' candy bar and your other assorted noises or I'll stick the thing up your asses" That was 12 years ago. I'm nicer now..I wait until the movie is over.
CBHagman
(16,980 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)Doesn't bother me at all
UTUSN
(70,641 posts)Reter
(2,188 posts)I despise that noise, and can hear it across the room. And I love cats.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)and I have cats. They'd have to be right up next to my ear ( and maybe my hearing aids would have to be in) for me to hear that.
Reter
(2,188 posts)It can't really be that she's loud, because I heard my other cat too when he was alive. Perhaps my house is just very quiet?
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)I live next to a highway. But even when I lived in a quiet apartment, I never noticed that sound, and I've had cats for a few decades.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)When my boyfriend is eating, I leave the room. He understands
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)Gum snapping!!!! DO NOT DO THAT AROUND ME! I once was on a line in a store and the woman behind me snapped gum, maybe only once. I turned around and turned the high beams on her such that she sincerely apologized without my saying a word.
Also, absent minded crushing of water bottles (e.g., the ones used by Poland Spring) that have been made kind of flimsy probably for recycling purposes. They make a crinkly kind of racket when nearly empty and pressure is applied. DON'T DO IT. I WILL GLARE AT YOU, TOO.
Last but by no means least, it is not necessary to POUND THE KEYBOARD and it contributes to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome SO DON'T DO THAT EITHER.
madamesilverspurs
(15,798 posts)Back in my switchboard operator days there was nothing NOTHING that I hated more than gum-chewing. It just seemed so amplified in the headset. There were times when they caught me taking off the headset to wipe my ear and neck, I swore I could feel gooey slobber running down my skin.
Had one audio-visual treat on a date: Nice enough guy, but when they brought our dinner he turned into some kind of barnyard experiment gone bad, chewing with his mouth open and snorting and slurping, not bothering to swallow before talking. Even the people at the next table were staring. I worked with this guy and had been in the break room when he was snacking, no evidence of the odd behavior there; maybe the nice suit triggered something, but sheesh. To this day I can't eat lasagna without remembering him.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)tavernier
(12,368 posts)"You've never been sent to Siberia."
He was, and he would laugh at all the silly shit we (my friends and I) would consider as life threatening events.
I guess that when you walk a mile in the ice to get a crust of bread, it no longer matters if someone is pissing you off with their wheezing. Your only hope is that you can keep them and yourself alive long enough to get that bite of food.
madinmaryland
(64,931 posts)Whistlers really piss me off.
marle35
(172 posts)People randomly whistling in public spaces... If I'm in a supermarket and I hear it, I try to move quickly out of earshot.
It evokes more feelings of irritation in me than anything else. I'm not sure why. I'm almost as irritated by other sounds, like repeated tapping, clicking pens, etc.
People are obnoxious.
fadedrose
(10,044 posts)as tho the eater was smashing bugs with every bite..
drives me nuts
Basic LA
(2,026 posts)Every single person at the gym is trying to listen to their own earbuds, but the jet roar of gym "music" makes it impossible! I've complained repeatedly but 10 minutes later the speakers are blasting again, so I guess it's just me who is aggravated. No type of noise-cancelling head phones work in this din.
clamshells
(57 posts)I bet the Bose earphones I noted below would work on the gym "music."
kentauros
(29,414 posts)frogmarch
(12,153 posts)adult sons can't stand the sound of people eating potato chips and other crunchy snacks.
I like sounds. The only one I can think of I hate is the fingernails-on-a-chalkboard sound - oh, and the sound of silence. (I even sleep with the TV on.)
clamshells
(57 posts)$300, but you will wonder how you survived without them. If you do get them, be sure to turn the tiny power on button on, as they do not work with it off or when the battery runs down. You do not have to listen to music with them, you can hear blissful silence.
artislife
(9,497 posts)Years of riding on the bus, just getting more upset because they always sat right behind me! I had a Nigerian roommate and even though I know it was his culture, the lip smacking, grunting while eating was rage enducing. I only ate once with him, could not stand it.
The sound of another person vacuuming makes me seethe, could be that my mother would do it right in front of me, pushing the machined under my feet until I would get up and just take over. It seems like the definition of what passive aggressive behavior sounds like...lol.
I do have PSTS, though.
faith moon
(8 posts)Leaf blowers are the worst. And mowers. I cannot stand dance music leaking out of headphones. Don't get me started, LOL!
Response to Capt. Obvious (Original post)
BigDemVoter This message was self-deleted by its author.
Ilsa
(61,690 posts)ear buds might go a long way in reducing frustration with noises that are cluttering, IMO.
I sometimes wear headphones to tune out other members of my family when they talk incessantly or ask stupid questions during a movie or football game. I once left my living room during my alma mater's football game because my MIL wouldn't STFU. She kept her motormouth running with such brilliant comments as repeating the score multiple times in a two minute period, asking if the coaches ever get stressed out, and just endless commentary.