Misophonia vs. Yousosorria

My siblings can grudgingly attest that since I was wee, I have had zero tolerance for many a noise - including but certainly not limited to sniffling, clearing one's throat and chewing. I saw an article the other day that literally rocked my world and made me feel like I wasn't crazy. While Brandon and my siblings will attest that I'm still off my rocker, I feel relieved to know that I'm not alone in my irritation.

I strongly suspect (but have not officially self-diagnosed) a disorder called Misophonia - selective sound sensitivity. I was doing all sorts of reading about it, when Brandon came over and read over my shoulder and started to laugh. He wondered if I'd happened to notice in all my studying that the "disorder" sounds an awful lot like ME SO PHONY. Hmm. Hadn't occurred to me. I learned the hard way that Wikipedia can be less than reliable when I relied on it to explain the Canadian holiday Victoria Day and the article consisted of "Canada sucks." So I searched high and low for confirmation that I wasn't being taunted and mocked. Sure enough, the internet is all a twitter with support groups and testimonials and sweet, sweet validation.

I've always been annoyed at particular sounds, but college presented a new challenge: The Testing Center. While I'm confident no one particularly enjoyed the time they were required to spend in the Testing Center, for me it was absolute agony. Let's take hundreds of sniffling, throat clearing, coughing, pencil tapping students and stick them in a ridiculously acoustic auditorium. I can't tell you how many times I had to get up and move because someone was constantly kicking my chair or rhythmically sniffing. Just remembering it makes me shudder.

Some love going to the movies. It's almost always been a nightmarish experience for me - even at the height of day in the middle of the week. I like to arrive early enough to have my choice of seats, but I'm starting to see that there isn't a point, since most people arrive after us and choose seats uncomfortably close to us. We saw a movie on our honeymoon and were the only two people in the theater. Until another couple came in. And sat DIRECTLY in front of us. They didn't sit to the side or even have the courtesy to leave a row between us. Outraged (and confused) I insisted we get up and move. And as recent as last month, we went to see Les Mis - more than a month after it had come out. We went to a Monday matinee on Brandon's day off and were joined by more people than I expected. We found a decent seat, and as the previews began, a couple arrived and began to scoot down the row in front of us. I took a deep breath as the wife took her seat and before I could release it in a sigh of relief, her husband left a seat between them and sat immediately in front of me. With the rest of the row and 75% of the theater open, he must have sensed my anxiety and decided to confirm the reason I shy away from movie theaters. I'm not entirely sure why popcorn is the food of choice at movie theatres, but I'd love to go back in time and choke whoever came up with the idea. Crunching - cereal and popcorn in particular - is a sound that sets my teeth on edge and I can't be held responsible for my actions when someone around me is munching and crunching. Poor Brandon has taken to consuming his cereal several feet away these days. My poor husband.

It all may sound silly to you, but hearing that I'm not alone in my abhorrence and sensitivity to annoying sounds was music to my all too sensitive ears.So I'm settling on Misophonia - NOT Me-so-phony-a. And diagnosing Brandon with Yousosorria - in reference to how badly I'm making him feel for doubting me. And Wikipedia.

Sources:
http://www.misophonia.info/symptoms-and-triggers/
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/05/17/do-you-have-misophonia/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/08/misophonia-annoying-noises-disorder_n_953892.html