r/misophonia

So I am looking for tips specifically on controlling my reactions.

As we all know certain sounds give me an intense involuntary reaction. I need to not show ANY indication of this due to some people around me taking it personally. Exposure didn't work AT all for me so my therapist suggested just removing myself ASAP so I can de-escalate. BUT I have to be able to stay calm in the process and show zero outward reaction.

Which of course is not what my brain is doing AT all but this is my dilemma. Helppppp!!

I’m in the process of selling my apartment, because I can no longer stand my neighbours’ footsteps. I had my own safe place for 7 years and my misophonia forced me to get rid of the place my mum bought me after I graduated from uni, which makes me feel so bad. I tried everything, spent most of my savings on installing acoustic ceiling panels. It didn’t help. I feel like the noise is even worse now. The apartment above me was empty for 6 years. After they had moved in, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t relax, I couldn’t work. Around the same time, my partner broke up with me after 6 years. I lost love and peace at once.. This is so frustrating. My only triggers have always been some eating sounds or any sounds made by the mouth or the nose (throat clearing sound makes me want to cry :( ). It’s the first time I’ve been triggered by this type of sound. I’m temporarily living with my mum, but she also triggers me. I feel so trapped and I’m so tired:(

I have misophonia. I would get scared and cover my ears whenever my mom would cough (she had a smoker's cough that was really loud). She would get upset and chased me around the house coughing at me as I was panicking. To this day, I get startle reactions at coughing. Any time someone coughs I jump out of my skin and feel anxiety. I never told anyone because I was so ashamed of this problem and it has stayed with me all these years and I am 33 now. How can I heal from this?

… and nacho beans. It is 8am and he’s fussing with the world’s crinkliest bag (Costco mega size tortilla chip bag) and CHOMPING beans on chips. He throws the entire chip in his mouth and goes cruuuuuuuunch. It’s like a thunderclap.
He will eat four more meals of this today. Please pray for me.

Recently realized this is the name for what ive been dealing with for ages. Moved to an apartment wt the end of last year and my noise sensitivity has become significantly more debilitating. The build has heavy fire doors the swing closed fast and hard and my neighbor loves to slam her door and shake the walls whenever she can. I’ve been able to recognize other residents dont deal with the same challenges as myself. But only identifying the condition recently, I still have little to no tools and have been struggling with meltdowns and lack of coping. It really sucks that ppl think im just complaining when im experiencing real physical and emotional responses. It takes me forever to get on with whatever im doing and its often invalidated as common annoyance

I've had misophonia for as long as I can remember and it's been getting worse recently. I also have autism (lots of sensory issues) and an anxiety disorder that makes everything worse. I always struggle with triggering noises throughout the day but it's been every little noise that causes a reaction lately and I don't know what changed. I've even started developing "tics?" involving my neck and arms when I get triggered or think of triggers. Coping wise I've been to therapy for my sensory issues and found that breathing exercises make things worse and grounding techniques only help with anxiety and not my misophonia so I don't really know what to do anymore.

Basically idk how to cope with it and I hate being such a problem child. I'm a senior in highschool and classes are getting harder to focus on, I like headphones for taking the focus away but I'm not allowed to have them in at school. I also hate having headphones on at home because my family sees it as rude/disrespectful and I feel so left out cuz no one wants to talk to someone with earbuds in. Meal times are getting harder to bear and I feel stupid for getting onto people for the way they eat especially since they always get upset with me when I do. Any advice is appreciated, I truly have no clue what I'm doing anymore and it's all really overwhelming. Thank you in advance! :)

Unfortunately it’s not possible for me to block/mask all my triggers, so I am trying to work on calming my nervous system response to a trigger as quickly and effectively as possible (my understanding is it takes quite a bit of practice).

I have been reading about methods like box breathing, or splashing cold water on your face, the 5,4,3,2,1 method, etc. but I’m interested in methods that people actively use and find that they work in practice.

Thanks for any suggestions.