Why That Chewing Noise Drives You Crazy

This article has been researched and written by Dalea Alawar. AI has not been used in producing this article.

It’s called misophonia, which literally means “hatred of sound”! It happens when someone experiences a strong emotional reaction like anger, anxiety, or disgust to:

• Mouth sounds (chewing, slurping, lip smacking, heavy breathing)
• Throat sounds (sniffing, coughing)
• Repetitive sounds (clock ticking, foot tapping, pen clicking)

So, why does this happen? Science doesn’t have all the answers yet, but there are two main hypotheses that help explain what’s going on in the brain: Brain scans of people with misophonia show extra-strong connections between the part of the brain that hears sound ( auditory cortex) and the part that feels emotions like disgust and anger (anterior insular cortex).

Translation: When someone with misophonia hears r a trigger sound, their brain fast-tracks it straight to the emotional response center – skipping the logic and reasoning parts altogether. That’s why you might find yourself snapping at your partner for chewing too loudly before you even realize you’re annoyed.

Overall, misophonia is a reaction that truly does feel outside of the control of he person experiencing it. In both theories discussed, what is clear is that the “rational” part of the brain gets bypassed entirely when you hear a triggering sound. Your brain literally does not pause to think about how to react. All of a sudden, you hear yourself snapping at your partner for eating their popcorn too loudly, as if you didn’t choose to snap.

The good news is that you can do something about this. Once you recognize your trigger sounds, you can prepare for them and decide how you want to respond – before your brain hijacks the situation. Another hypothesis is that misophonia is the result of a conditioned response. Just like a song can remind you of a breakup, misophonia may develop when the brain starts to associate certain sounds with past stress, tension, or negative experiences. For example, if you were scolded as a child for tapping your foot, your brain may now associate foot-tapping = bad feeling. So even years later, the sound alone can bring on that same stress – without you even realizing why.

So, instead of yelling at your popcom-munching partner, you might try a little humor: “Hey babe, can we put your snack on mute?” You might still be annoyed – but you’ll be in charge of your response.

Dalea Alawar

Clinical Psychologist