Misophonia is a relatively rare neurological disorder that has a crippling effect on suffers. The word misophonia literally translates to "the hatred of sound", but misophonics (those who suffer with the disorder) will tell you that it is much more than hatred.

Misophonics experience uncontrollable emotional/physical responses to auditory triggers. To date, there has been no formal research into the cause/mechanics of the disorder, or treatment for it. Most sufferers are not even aware of the term, and spend many years believing themselves to be mentally unstable.

Everyone's triggers are different, but there are many common themes:

-any sound of mastication: chewing, crunching, slurping, teeth grinding, clearing of the throat

-repetetive unneccesary sounds: pen clicking, tapping, keys jingling

-bodily function sounds: sniffling, coughing, snoring

A misophonic doesn't just dislike these sounds, we have an automatic emotional/physical response to them. We will flee the area, cry, have panic attacks, be nauseous, have headaches, feel like we are in danger, become physically violent, hurt ourselves, and more. There are many online support groups for us to seek reassurance from our peers, but we all have one single hope: to find out what exactly it is, and how to treat it.

We become agorophobics, lose jobs, lose relationships, hurt ourselves, hurt others, and more, because there is no cure.

If it were simply a psychiatric condition, anxiety medication would have an effect on our symptoms...but it doesn't. There are some case studies that suggest that misophonia is on the autism spectrum, making it a neurological disorder.

McMaster Univeristy has the ability to make a difference to all of us suffering around the world. You have the resources and technology to be the pioneers in researching misophonia, and making a huge difference in our lives.

Please consider our request seriously.

Thank you for your time,

Kate Kingston

katekingston73@gmail.com