Tags: loud | chewing | annoy | psychological | condition

Annoyed by Loud Chewing? You May Have Mental Condition

Annoyed by Loud Chewing? You May Have Mental Condition
(Copyright DPC)

Monday, 26 October 2015 05:17 PM EDT

Can’t stand the sound of someone biting into an apple, slurping soup, or chewing popcorn? Experts say you may have a bona fide psychological condition.

People who have an extreme aversion to specific noises — most often “mouth sounds” such as loud chewing or lip-smacking — may suffer from a condition called misophonia, the Wall Street Journal reports.

While many people find some everyday sounds annoying, misophonia can disrupts a person’s life, and may affect up to 20 percent of the population, researchers say.

A study of 483 people, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, found that misophonia sufferers say their lives are most impaired by their sensitivity to eating sounds at work and at school, but also at home.

Monica Wu, a clinical psychology graduate student at the University of South Florida in Tampa and the lead researcher on the study, said people who have misophonia often have symptoms of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or depression. Experts theorize that misophonia may be caused, in part, by enhanced neural connections in the brain between the auditory, limbic, and autonomic systems.

There are people who can’t watch movies in theaters because of popcorn crunching, stand in line at a store because of gum snapping, or be around their family when any kind of soup is being served.

A form of cognitive behavioral therapy, called “exposure and response prevention,” has been shown to be effective for misophonia sufferers.

A documentary film on the condition, “Quiet Please...,” arrives next summer.

© 2025 NewsmaxHealth. All rights reserved.


Brain-Health
Can't stand the sound of someone biting into an apple or chewing popcorn? Experts say you may have a bona fide psychological condition. People who have an extreme aversion to specific noises - such as loud chewing or lip-smacking - may suffer from a condition called misophonia.
loud, chewing, annoy, psychological, condition
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2015-17-26
Monday, 26 October 2015 05:17 PM
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