mis·o·pho·nia
\ mi-sō-ˈfō-nē-ə\
A condition characterized by a strongly negative and atypical emotional and physiological response to certain sounds.
Jastreboff & Jastreboff 2001
What?
Misophonia is a very understudied and complex neuropsychological/neurobehavioral disorder. Individuals suffering from this disorder often have an intense & uncontrollable emotional reaction to stimuli, in this case: sounds.
Chewing, Clocks Ticking, Snoring, Rustling, Sniffling, Pet Noises, Repetitive Sounds
- There is no research-defined pathology to misophonia.
- There is no clinical characterization or widely-accepted assessment.
- There are some developing misophonic tests, all in the form of self-report questionnaires.
There is no official treatment or diagnostic criteria for misophonia.
Who?
- Anyone can exhibit symptoms of misophonia.
- Onset can also occur at any time, although most report irritation to particular stimuli from a very young age.
- It is estimated that at least 10 to 20% of the population suffers from some degree of uncontrollable irritation towards sounds.
- Comorbidity, that is the existence of more than one disease or condition in one person, may account for some misophonic tendencies, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and some other generalized anxiety disorders (GADs).
Why?
- Daily life can easily be disrupted for those affected by the symptoms of this condition. Those suffering need help and research is the only way to develop that assistance.
- There is no way to formally diagnose and treat this disorder, more research needs to characterize all nuances and symptoms
The misophonia.io project intends to rigorously characterize misophonia, developing a combination of valid & non-confounding questionnaires, instruments, & assesments. Our goal is to create tools that will help assess and understand why misophonia effects an individual. With our tools helping clinicians and physicians accurately diagnose patients, we can then start to develop effective treatments to produce better outcomes.
How can I help?
We are actively recruiting participants for our ongoing study. If you would like to participate in our current trials, please view our Participation Page.