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I sometimes quiver at the crunch of the potato chip and convulse at the slurp of the ramen\u2014and please don\u2019t get me started on my Dad savoring his blueberry pie with excruciatingly slow bites.<\/p>\n
What some may consider everyday noises make me repulsed or even angry. Same with my mom and my sister\u2014and, it turns out, Little House on the Prairie<\/em> star Melissa Gilbert, who spoke out this week about having misophonia, the neurological<\/a> disorder we all have, along with an estimated 15% of adults.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI sobbed when I found out that it had a name and I wasn\u2019t just a bad person,\u201d Gilbert, 60, told People<\/em><\/a> in an exclusive interview this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n Below, more about the disorder<\/a> that prompts intense emotional reactions to very specific noises.<\/p>\n People with misophonia<\/a>, according to the Cleveland Clinic<\/a>, are triggered, feeling intense and hard-to-control \u201canger, anxiety, or disgust\u201d when listening to certain sounds\u2014either a couple of specific sounds, such as a person chewing or water dripping from a tap, or a range of noises, from chewing and heavy breathing to the click of a pen and the ticks of a clock.\u00a0<\/p>\n While misophonia doesn\u2019t have official recognition as a disorder in the the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders<\/em> (DSM-5<\/a>), experts still recognize it and have a formal consensus definition for purposes of research, diagnosis, and treatment.<\/p>\n The symptoms of the disorder are likened to the fight-or-flight response to danger and can feel like someone stepping on your \u201cemotional gas pedal<\/a>.\u201d (Ironically, my mom recalls watching Little House on the Prairie<\/em> and screaming at her brother, whose crunch of the Doritos made it impossible to enjoy the series; these days, my dad says he sometimes feels pressured to eat his cereal in a different room.) <\/p>\n In more extreme cases, people may experience increased heart rate<\/a>, blood pressure, and sweating, leading some to react vocally or avoid situations where the noises are present, for example. The root causes of misophonia are not well defined, but genetics and differences in the structure of the brain <\/a>may all play a role.<\/p>\n Women are affected more than men, accounting for 55% to 83% of all cases, and while it can develop at any age, it\u2019s most likely to develop in early teen years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gilbert was young\u2014starring in the beloved TV series from the age of 10 to 19\u2014and her family saw her as a kid who \u201cwould just glare at my parents and my grandmother and my siblings with eyes filled with hate,\u201d Gilbert recalled. \u201cI really just thought that I was rude. And I felt really bad. And guilty, which is an enormous component of misophonia, the guilt that you feel for these feelings of fight or flight. It\u2019s a really isolating disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n On set, while playing the earnest tomboy her dad called \u201cHalf Pint,\u201d Gilbert felt incredibly frustrated and isolated by her own irritations. \u201cIf any of the kids chewed gum or ate or tapped their fingernails on the table, I would want to run away so badly,\u201d Gilbert told People<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI would turn beet red and my eyes would fill up with tears and I\u2019d just sit there feeling absolutely miserable and horribly guilty for feeling so hateful towards all these people\u2014people I loved.\u201d<\/p>\n Her misophonia persisted into her adult life, and as she raised her own two kids. \u201cI had a hand signal that I would give, making my hand into a puppet and I\u2019d make it look like it was chewing and then I\u2019d snap it shut \u2014 like shut your mouth!\u201d she says about her children. \u201cMy poor kids spent their whole childhoods growing up with me doing this. They weren\u2019t allowed to have gum.\u201d<\/p>\n After researching her symptoms and finding Duke Center for Misophonia<\/a> in North Carolina, Gilbert realized there was a treatment for the disorder\u2014cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, which is used to treat a variety of mental health conditions, including generalized anxiety, by helping people redirect their thinking patterns and manage their emotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Talk therapy as a way to identify and understand triggers can also be helpful. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is an emotional issue. It\u2019s about self-regulation and self-control,\u201d Gilbert told People<\/em>. \u201cI realized I could ride out these waves but that they\u2019re not going to go away. They never go away. But now I have all these tools to enable me to be more comfortable and less triggered. It made me feel in control.\u201d<\/p>\n More on mental health:<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhat is Misophonia?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Is there a treatment for misophonia?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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