A Case of Amplified Misophonia?

Misophonia: A scoping review of research

“…Common terminology was observed in most definitions of misophonia used in the literature. Most commonly it was described as a disproportionately extreme, aversive, and irrational emotional reaction (Bernstein et al, ; Boyce, ; Colucci, ; Dozier a, b; Edelstein et al, ; Erfanian, Brout, & Keshavarz, ; Kumar et al, , ; McKay, Kim, Mancusi, Storch, & Spankovich, ; Rouw & Erfanian, ; Sanchez & da Silva, ; Schneider & Arch, ; Tunç & Başbuğ, ; Vidal, Vidal, & Lage, ; Webber et al, ) to specific (Boyce, , Colucci, , Edelstein et al, , Giorgi, ; McKay et al, ; Reid et al, ; Rouw & Erfanian, ; Sanchez & da Silva, ; Schneider & Arch, ; Schröder et al, ; Tunç & Başbuğ, ; Vidal et al, ; Webber et al, ; Wu et al, ), common human innocuous sounds (Dozier b, c; Johnson et al, ; Kumar et al, ; Schröder, Mahazeri, et al, 2013; Schröder et al, ; Schröder, San Giorgi, Van Wingen, Vulink, & Denys, ; Schneider & Arch, ), and sometimes animal sounds (Schneider & Arch, ). Some authors described in detail the eliciting stimuli of this reaction.…”

“…Most authors described emotional reactivity commonly experienced by patients, as part of their working definition. It is reported that emotional reactions “range or escalate” (Dozier, ) from discomfort (Wu et al, ), anxiety, distress (Johnson et al, ; Wu et al, ) to irritation, disgust, hate, anger, and loss of self‐control (Boyce, ; Colucci, ; Dozier a, b, c; Giorgi, ; Kumar et al, , ; Reid et al, ; Schröder, Mahazeri, et al, 2013, Schröder et al, , ; Webber et al, ; Wu et al, ). Some authors also referred to aggressive outbursts as a central hallmark of the condition (Kluckow et al, ; McGuire et al, ; Schröder, Mahazeri, et al, 2013; Schröder et al, ; Tunç & Başbuğ, ; Webber et al, ).…”

“…Person‐related sounds reported to trigger misophonic responses included oral sounds, especially those made by people eating, such as chewing, lip smacking, swallowing noises, and throat noises (Bernstein et al, ; Boyce, ; Colucci, ; Dozier, a, b, c; Hadjipavlou et al, ; Johnson et al, ; Kamody & Del Conte, ; Kumar et al, , ; Reid et al, ; Sanchez & da Silva, ; Schneider & Arch, ; Schröder, Vulink, et al, ; Schröder et al, , , ; Tunç & Başbuğ, ; Vidal et al, ; Wu et al, ; Zhou et al, ), nasal sounds, such as breathing, blowing nose, sniffling, coughing (Dozier, , ; Johnson et al, ; Kamody & Del Conte, ; Kumar et al, ; Sanchez & da Silva, ; Schröder, Vulink, et al, ; Schröder et al, ; ; Wu et al, ; Zhou et al, ), and in single cases, nail picking (Hadjipavlou et al, ), or sneezing (Dozier, ). Specific spoken sounds, such as /s/, /t/, /ch/, /k/ (Colucci, ; Wu et al, ), or consonants and/or vowels (Zhou et al, ) and specific voices (Boyce, ; Hadjipavlou et al, ; Webber et al, ) were also reported as triggers. The context in which the triggers are experienced also appears important.…”

“…Other common trigger sounds include repetitive clicking and tapping (Colucci, ; Johnson et al, ; McGuire et al, ; Reid et al, ; Schröder et al, ; Vidal et al, ; Wu et al, ; Zhou et al, ), or sounds produced by using utensils, keys, or ice in a glass (Dozier b, c; Johnson et al, ; Sanchez & da Silva, ). Individual cases also describe bird chirps (Dozier, ; Johnson et al, ), dog barking (Kluckow et al, ; Sanchez & da Silva, ), rustling (Sanchez & da Silva, ; Schröder et al, ; Zhou et al, ), and conversations in Spanish in a Hispanic individual who spoke both Spanish and English, as triggers (McGuire et al, ).…”

“…All authors describe the misophonic reactions of their participants as various combinations of discomfort, distress, anxiety, annoyance, disgust, panic, extreme irritation, anger, hate, or sometimes rage with aggressive outbursts or involuntary violence (Bernstein et al, ; Colucci, ; Dozier, a, b, c; Edelstein et al, ; Hadjipavlou et al, ; Johnson et al, ; Kamody & Del Conte, ; Kluckow et al, ; Kumar et al, , ; McGuire et al, ; Reid et al, ; Rouw & Erfanian, ; Sanchez & da Silva, ; Schneider & Arch, ; Schröder, Vulink, et al, ; Schröder et al, ; Tunç & Başbuğ, ; Vidal et al, ; Webber et al, ). A larger qualitative study based on 42 people with misophonia (Schröder, Vulink, et al, ) reported that physical aggression was present as a reaction in five of them.…”