Hypnotherapy against misophonia
Misophonia is a condition in which you dislike everyday sounds that other people may make, for example, the smacking when someone chews food. The clacking of pumps on a parquet or stone floor. The tapping of someone working on their computer. Even the breathing of your partner sleeping next to you can drive you crazy and irritated. Furious people with misophonia can become enraged by these kinds of sounds around them.
Because this adds all kinds of complications to your life, in this article I will go over what misophonia is and what you can do about it.
What is misophonia
With misophonia, soft sounds trigger negative thoughts and emotions. Misophonia is not always recognized as a “disease,” but it can certainly make your life more difficult. Scientists also recommend classifying misophonia as a distinct mental disorder.
It’s difficult to maintain relationships when everyday sounds constantly make you angry. Even if you hold back, the tension is palpable, and this can drive partners and friends away. Moreover, it can also lead to strained family relationships.
If you live in an apartment and can hear your neighbors, this can also be a source of irritation. A story by an Englishman who shared his experiences with misophonia online also showed that it can cause feelings of anxiety because you have to go home after work and are then confronted with the noise again.
The symptoms of misophonia
In 80% of cases, people who suffer from misophonia dislike sounds related to food. 60% of cases also involve sounds that are repeated over and over, such as someone walking, typing, chewing and the like.
Your reaction to the sound may involve displaying aggression toward the source of the noise. This can be something as small as glaring at someone you feel is making too much noise while chewing. Nearly 30% of people who suffer from misophonia may also say something about the sound, and a Dutch study found that just over 16% of participants could also become physically aggressive in response to the sound. Five of the 42 participants had hit their (ex) partner because of a sound they made. This is, of course, very problematic.
In the Dutch study, on the contrary, it was clear that anxiety had nothing to do with it, but that may not have emerged due to the small sample size, since the experience of the Englishman mentioned above did indicate that the condition could cause anxiety.
Participants did indicate that it could cause stress if they anticipated sounds that unexpectedly came through to them anyway. So they did feel stressed by the thought that they might hear unexpectedly with the sound they associated negative emotions with anyway.
In the process, they also worried about losing control of the situation.
You can also choose to go away so that you are not "bothered" by the noise. Of course, this is the way to have no social life at some point. So still no real solution to the problem.
Undergoing. You're at someone's house eating smack and just acting like nothing is wrong, when in fact you're annoyed to death. Surely that's going to create tension again....
Block out the noise, for example, if you are bothered by the sound of your upstairs neighbors, you can choose to turn on music so you don't hear them or sleep with earplugs.
Mimicry is also a symptom of misophonia.
Sometimes you may also experience anger or irritation while seeing the activity that causes the sound. For example, when someone is eating, but you don't hear it.
Cause of misophonia
The cause of misophonia can often be found in childhood and adolescence, especially with family relationships at that time, or a relationship with your pet. On average, symptoms begin during the 13th year of life.
Girls are also more affected by misophonia than boys. Doctors do not yet know why it happens, but it is already certain that there is nothing wrong with your hearing. They assume it is something psychological or physical. Physical in the sense that the sound triggers parts of the brain to have an automatic reaction of hatred, irritation or something similar.
There are also people with misophonia who believe it comes from disrupted family relationships. For example, if you disliked a family member who smacked a lot, you may later develop a pestilential dislike for smacking. It's as if your brain made a link to the action rather than the person. This all happens unconsciously.
Studies on tinnitus also show that tinnitus can cause misophonia.
Treatment of misophonia
Misophonia is currently treated primarily with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This approach can be enhanced when the therapy is conducted under hypnosis.
In addition, stress also appears to influence emotional responses to sound. That is why regular exercise and adequate sleep are recommended to at least keep stress to a minimum.
Because tinnitus can also cause misophonia, therapy for tinnitus is sometimes recommended for people with both misophonia and tinnitus.
Cognitive behavioral therapy and misophonia
Cognitive behavioral therapy examines the beliefs you hold about yourself, the world, and others. It also explores how your behavior influences what you think and feel.
For example, your beliefs can affect the feeling of disgust when someone smacks while eating. This belief is often irrational. The therapist must then demonstrate to you
By performing CBT while under hypnosis, you are more open to the changes and the effect of the therapy is greater.
Hypnotherapy against misophonia
Hypnotherapy often includes CBT, but in addition there are other techniques that a hypnotherapist can use.
Hypnotherapy attempts to give you more influence over the subconscious mind. Precisely because the hateful reaction to certain sounds is subconscious, because consciously you do realize that it's a little weird, hypnotherapy can be a good solution.
One complaint from people with misophonia is the lack of control over the situation. To address this, the therapist first looks back into the past for moments when the “patient” did have control. This doesn’t even have to be related to the sound. Among other things, this helps the person realize that they do have control over many other aspects of life and take certain actions accordingly. For example, staying calm when you accidentally drop and break something, or when your child, partner, or friend does so. After all, everyone drops something once in a while.
They then look at times when sound was a problem and which of the techniques they use in other situations can also be applied to these situations.
Visualizations can also play a major role. For example, the visualization that when they hear the sound they can turn it "off" or at least softer with some kind of volume control.
In addition to the sound button, they can visualize precisely how to turn certain emotions on or off. For example, after they are triggered by a smacking sound or something similar they feel irritation. Then they can convert it with a button or something else to calmness, joy or sociability or whatever emotion fits the context in which the sound is produced.
You will also receive self-hypnosis exercises to reinforce the therapy. Thereby, this can also help you in situations where you actually face the sound that triggers you.
In short
Misophonia is a disorder in which you are violently irritated by sounds people may make, such as smacking, walking on heels and typing. This can cause you to avoid places where you can expect these kinds of sounds or become aggressive about them. Needless to say, none of this is good for your social life.
Therefore, it is also receiving increasing attention in science, but so far mainly to indicate that it should be recognized as a disorder. Therefore, there are as yet no scientifically proven treatments for misophonia.
Because researchers believe misophonia is primarily a psychological problem, this disorder is currently treated primarily with CBT and hypnotherapy. In hypnotherapy, the focus may be on feeling in control and reducing the perception of the sound and more control over emotions.
Want to learn more about what hypnosis can do ovor you and others? Then come to the free online master class.
a n d b e c a u s e t h e Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' events and trainings.
Also pin this handy infographic as a reminder:
Sources:
http://www.misophonia-uk.org/dealing-with-misophonia.html
http://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/testimonials/noise-sensitivity
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0054706
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-misophonia