No photo this week: I’m ambivalent about the whole kissing thing.
Sure, a kiss of any nature feels good (unless it’s from some lecherous golfing partner who’s intent on kissing instead of shaking hands) but then there’s that sound: like a dog licking itself or a person chewing with their mouth open – ewwww.
People kissing on the big screen or TV? Fine, just turn down the sound.
I thought this particular aversion was just another peculiar quirk of my ultra-cranky disposition, until a few years ago when a young colleague expressed his mystification at why his wife would fly into a blind rage whenever their spaniel would do his daily licking grooming.
“Does she have the same reaction to people kissing on TV?” I asked.
“Yes!!” he shrieked.
I was onto something.
I did some research. Turns out, it’s a disorder (Of course. What isn’t?!). And it goes by the name of Misophonia.
In my case, these rage-inducing noises are limited to certain mouth sounds in others: teeth-sucking, open-mouthed chewing, licking, slurpy kissing, lip-smacking, spaghetti-sucking, finger-licking (I guess you won’t be inviting me over for dinner any time soon, haha).
Actually, it’s not that bad – I don’t have to leave the room to deal with my neurological irrationality. Just wish I could use it to my advantage: I’d be soooo thin if I had the same reaction to the sound of my own chewing…
What about you? Are there any sounds that drive you beyond crazy?
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For genuine entries to this week’s photo challenge, see The Daily Post.
beeblu blog 
i cannot stand slurping, but chomping into an apple nearby is the worst crime anyone can commit … it drives me into a rage immediately, and even after 40 years husband still does it sometimes, quite unaware that he is walking towards me crunching … and of course i can’t concentrate on anything he says, i am just waiting to create some distance between us so i don’t scream!!!! kissing? i have never thought about it, we don’t tend to watch things where kissing happens!
” i can’t concentrate on anything he says” – that is a sure sign of it, Christine. It’s really quite a strange thing and I wonder if, in the ancient past, there was some sort of evolutionary advantage to having such an extreme response to these sounds. My empathies! 🙂 The crime of crimes for me is teeth-sucking 😯
Oh this is so hilarious! I am the same as you!
Another one! It’s an epidemic 🙂
Some peoples eating habits make me feel yuk! My own are perfect of course!!! This is hilarious Beeblu 🙂
Hehe – thanks, Gilly. 🙂
They don’t make me crazy but they do make me cringe. Yuk.
Manners maketh the man, but even the chewing sounds of the well-mannered man maketh the Misophonian 🙂
Ooh, a new word. Looking it up now.
I learned something new – thanks!
Perhaps a bit more than you wanted to 😉
No, not at all. I love new words and I never knew this condition existed, so I score twice 🙂
Thrice, on being relieved to find that you don’t have it 😀
😀
So a number of people think that kissing sucks if it sounds as if it sucks?
Yes, poor suckers 🙂
Don’t come to China then! They often slurp their food and chew loudy with their mouths open. I am not sure why, but many do it. Yes I find it gross too. Maybe it stems from using chopticks and you need to schlurp to help get the food into your mouth!
I haven’t been to China, but have travelled in Asia, so know what you mean. The funny thing is that if it is a whole table of people slurping loudly it does not elicit the same irrational response as just a single person slurping, chewing, etc. It’s quite inexplicable. Thanks for stopping by and commenting 😀
That is too funny!
You are welcome.
I’m with you, BB. I don’t want to HEAR any of those things. That’s why we watch TV while we eat. 😀
With the sound turned down so you can’t hear the kissing, haha.
sorta with you on this 🙂
Fess up!
Funny, when I used to work concerts there were certain performers that did not want audience members eating during their performances: Polish singer Basia was one. I don’t think it was the sound factor; it was the visual factor!
Can’t say I blame them – somehow, the audience chomping merrily during a live concert seems ill-mannered (Particularly if the performer hasn’t had his dinner yet, haha)
Now what a delightful read to have with my morning coffee….which I shall drink silently as not to offend anyone. 🙂
I wouldn’t imagine you to be the slurping kind, Charles 🙂
At last, I know I’m not alone! And that there’s a name for it. I hate all those sounds including the crunching apple that dadirri7 mentions. I don’t fly into a rage but I get so agitated I cannot even concentrate on what I’m doing. Oh my fellow Misophonian – this is probably the best post I’ve ever read 🙂 Other sounds that drive me bonkers – sniffing and pen clicking.
Ooh, Girl, you’ve got it baaad! 😯 Commiserations, Fellow Misophonian 🙂 (And, ja, sniffing is another one – aieeeee!)
In some countries it is polite to slurp your food – shows appreciation. Guess you just have to be careful where you eat! I like this take on the photo challenge – very original!
Whole groups of people slurping do not, strangely enough, elicit the same irrational response. It is the lone quiet slurper that does it. Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Terri 🙂
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I feel embarrassed for them and can’t bear to look. If I could, I would block my ears, but imagine what people wouLd think of ME! 😀
The strange thing is, Adee, is that it is not actually brought on by ill-mannered eating – it is apparently something to do with these specific sounds, usually at quite low volumes – Christine (dadirri7) and Jacqui definitely suffer from the same thing – they have both described a key aspect of the reaction – becoming agitated and unable to concentrate on anything else (now I’m not sure of what you must think of ME, haha – crazy, for sure:))
Good grief – now I know what they call it. I thought it was just me who hated these sounds! LOL 😀
I’m amazed at how many people are identifying with this, Dianne. Jacqui has coined the phrase “Misophonians” for us beleaguered souls. 😀 (never mind the people who have to live with us!)
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beeblu, this is real revelation … i have looked it up and discovered that all these years i have not been just intolerant … i am a misphonian, now i can relax about hating the sound of the door banging ever so softly when it is not latched (yes it happens every day), i understand it is a neurological thingy and not just impatience or worse … woweee … very liberating, thank you so much … a lifetime of thinking i was weird!!!
I must say that I was relieved to find that I was not alone, Christine – until that conversation with my colleague and my subsequent research, I thought that the family’s crankiness gene was starting to over-express itself, LOL 🙂
What a turn up for the books, BB! I have to confess to being in the same department as you on the whole kissing thing. Bleurgh. PiedType screened an awful commercial they showed between Superbowl stints this year. I had to run from the room. Horrendous stuff…I’ll leave the link for those curious but if I were you I should give it a wide berth…http://piedtype.com/2013/02/04/my-take-on-some-super-bowl-commercials/
“Bleurgh” 😀 What a fabulous word!
Running from the room is a typical Misophoniac reaction, Kate. You are not alone, dear friend 🙂
Just tried it and the copyright has been infringed quite a lot so YouTube had it removed. Just as well.
I am curious, but am quite glad I also got the copyright infringement notice when I clicked on that link, haha.
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Seems like this is a very common problem 😉 What drives me into a rage is the sound of Tony Abbott speaking – hahaha – but I don’t think that is quite the same thing that you’re talking about.
Mmmm…snakey sibilant sounds – yes, that could do it, haha
Ok, anything to do with feet scraping – -arrrgh. give me nails on blackboards anytime.
I knew it 😀 Feet scraping? That’s an interesting one. I didn’t think there was much that would be more scream-inducing than the nails-on-the-blackboard thing.
Bluebee, I love this. You would not have liked the woman behind me at the opera last weekend. She opened a cough drop – or something – and proceeded to smack her lips, bite and chew for quite a while. In these days of anything goes, no one said a thing or even looked bothered. I wonder sometimes. Glad your symptoms have a hearty name.
How infuriating!
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The sound of people dragging their feet when they walk. UGH! Even if I don’t know them I want to growl at them. Pick up your feet when you walk! Step lively!
Great post 🙂
My husband shares your feelings on this one 🙂 Nice to see you here, Lafiammatabella 🙂
You nailed it and that’s why i have no human shots of the act. 😆
Haha
I am in the same club! I suppose it has a lot to do with education as all these sounds were forbidden…things have changed, I did not think I was that old!
Me neither, Benedicte, haha
Hi there BB, I can’t stand hearing someone loudly sniffing, (myself excluded of course, goes without saying)…I get so het up I feel like offering them a hankie. .. I do agree with your offering too, I cringe when the mouth’s are wide open and they start eating each others faces…. Yikes, eat first , then kiss methinks….. (Jealousy perhaps?…I don’t think so 🙂 )….xPenx
and another one,…. anyone eating crisps is a no-no, (myself included this time) …It almost becomes a feeding frenzy getting those tasty morsels into the mouth cavity as soon as possible…. erm… I’ll stop there …xx
Crisps in crinkly packets during movies *screaming now* 🙂
Hello Pen! 😀 Welcome back!
Yes, continual sniffing is plain bad manners. And I can’t even think about the other – double ewww!
Well the way you describe all those activities, makes them sound revolting. I can’t stand most of those plus chalk squeaking on a blackboard, or someone constantly clicking a ball point pen. 😆
Aversion to the clicking pen – that’s definitely a symptom of misophonia, AD. 🙂 I can’t even THINK about chalk squeaking on a blackboard or nails…8-O
This was funny! The only noise I can think of right now that drives me crazy is coughing. I swear I almost left church service last week because of it.
This post also makes me think of my aunt’s severe aversion to ice chewing. At a gathering around Christmas, I noticed my aunt staring at my husband, while she gripped the arm of the couch. Finally, I realized he was crunching ice cubes. I got him to stop and then we had fun teasing her about it.
Haha – I think your aunt definitely has it! 🙂