Your Yawning Makes Me Want to Punch You

Why some people get irrationally angry at minor noises — and what you can do if you are one of them.

Did you just yawn? That’s so annoying.

I have a confession to make: every time I hear someone yawn I become irritated. Enraged even. In fact, there is a direct correlation to the loudness of a person’s yawn and how much I want to punch them in the face.

Also, if someone chews their food too loudly, or groans when they get up, or breathes too loudly, or makes any other body-related noises, it’s all I can do not to start screaming at them.

If these types of noises don’t bother you, it likely sounds completely irrational and unfair when I share that certain noises impact me so much.

I am not normally an angry person, but certain noises drive me crazy. I am not alone. Many people experience overwhelming sensations of irritation at hearing common noises. This is caused by an affective sound processing disorder called misophonia, also called “selective sound sensitivity syndrome”.

While most people experience slight annoyance at particular sounds, those of us with misophonia feel a much higher level of reaction to sounds that we deem annoying.

Web MD describes misophonia like this:

“Misophonia is a disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable given the circumstance. Those who have misophonia might describe it as when a sound ‘drives you crazy.’ Their reactions can range from anger and annoyance to panic and the need to flee.”

Not all sounds cause a reaction. In general, people with misophonia have particular “trigger noises” that impact them more than others and trigger the “fight or flight” reaction. Hearing trigger noises can bring up feelings of anxiety, panic or rage; these reactions range from mild to severe.

The reaction is often exacerbated when the noise is louder or repeated more than once. There also tends to be an associated reaction to the visual cues that accompany a noise. For example, watching someone yawn or chew.

Repetitive sounds and their accompanying motions, like tapping fingers or rocking back and forth, can also cause a reaction.

Doctors can’t explain what causes misophonia. It’s not classified as a mental illness and so far there is no physical explanation for this sensitivity to particular sounds. No one knows why some people have this selective sensitivity to sounds that most people aren’t bothered by at all.

There’s not a lot known about misophonia, but researchers are trying to learn more. There is not yet consensus in the medical community about how to classify the disorder, although recent research has pointed to the possibility that it’s a brain disorder that occurs in the part of the brain that processes and categorizes sound.

Patients often fail to report misophonia to their doctors for fear of being judged or deemed mentally ill. But misophonia is not all in our heads.

MRI imaging of the brains of individuals with misophonia confirmed that certain sounds trigger “greatly exaggerated” responses in the anterior insular cortex (AIC), a part of the brain responsible for processing fear, emotions and long-term memory. The brains of misophonia sufferers also showed higher amounts of myelination around the nerve cells of the brain. Further research is needed to determine if these myelin levels might be a cause or a side effect of misophonia.

According to researchers, the most common triggers for misophonia are:

• Eating sounds like chewing, which affect 81 percent of those studied
• Loud breathing or nose whistling sounds, which affect 64.3 percent of people
• Finger cracking or hand sounds, affecting 59.5 percent of people
• Repeating certain physical actions, such as shaking their knees or tapping fingers, which affect 11.9 percent of people

The misophonic reaction is thought to be an unconscious or autonomic response of the nervous system. For some with misophonia, just thinking about the noise without hearing it can trigger a reaction.

A study published in the magazine Frontiers of Neuroscience found that people with misophonia experience a range of symptoms when hearing noises that trigger them, including:

• pressure throughout the body, especially the chest
• muscle tightness
• increases in blood pressure
• more rapid heartbeat
• increases in body temperature

Misophonia can also create anxiety. People might avoid situations where they anticipate being triggered, such as going to a restaurant or spending time with family. Patients with misophonia may experience higher levels of depression, social anxiety and isolation.

This aversion to particular sounds is more common in women and may develop suddenly at any time. Since misophonia tends to run in families, there may be a genetic component. Misophonia sufferers also tend to have higher IQs than the general population.

There seems to be no direct correlation between misophonia and other disorders, although there is a higher co-occurrence with people who also have anxiety disorder, Tourette’s syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Many medical professionals are unaware of misophonia and may chalk up a patient’s symptoms to other unrelated conditions such as mental illness, hearing or sensory disorders.

While there is no known treatment for misophonia, there are some things you can do to lessen its impact and decrease symptoms.

• Avoid alcohol and caffeine: these can both exacerbate the reactions experienced
• Use headphones or earphones to block out trigger noises
• Distract your brain with other more pleasant noises
• Maintain distance from people or situations that tend to trigger sounds
• Create “noise free zones” in your house where you can escape
• Incorporate breathing exercises like meditation to reduce stress
• Talk to your doctor or therapist about coping mechanisms
• Explain your triggers to friends and family
• Get plenty of sleep
• Tinnitus retraining therapy
• Cognitive behavioral therapy

If you experience the symptoms of misophonia talk to your doctor or counselor about how you can get some relief.

Often a multi-pronged approach that includes sensory distraction, cognitive behavior therapy and lifestyle changes can help patients to manage their symptoms and reduce their reactions to sounds. Some of the same techniques you might use for anxiety can be helpful for misophonia including exercise, proper sleep, yoga and meditation.

If you find yourself annoyed by sounds like me, increasing your awareness can be helpful as well. I try to remind myself that people don’t make most noises on purpose, and that my reaction is out of proportion. It still annoys me, but sometimes that can help diffuse it a bit.

Until the next yawn.