Sip, gulp, gasp. Chomp, smack, crack.What if the sounds of other people eating, drinking, and breathing sent you into a fit of rage?This is a peculiar, yet real condition called misophonia, also known as Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome. Misophonia is characterized by a strong, negative emotional and mental reaction to certain sounds that are considered everyday or "normal." Crack, Smack, Punch is an autobiographical, introspective account of living with this life impacting condition that is not well-known, yet not as rare as one might think. The author takes an off-beat approach by interjecting poetry, humor, and biting sarcasm to tell the story of this perplexing condition that she calls "The Curse." She shares examples of the sounds that trigger this extreme anger, explores ideas about possible causes for the condition, describes the effects on her everyday life, reveals the types of coping mechanisms she uses, and conveys her opinions about the way it is currently being treated.This book aims to enlighten those who don't understand the condition and encourage those who suffer to speak out. As people tell their stories and share their experiences, misophonia will continue to gain awareness from social and scientific researchers and more effective treatments can be explored.IntroductionThis book is a journal of the thoughts, ideas and experiences of someone who suffers from Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome, also known as misophonia. If you know someone who suffers from this disorder or are curious about it, this book will give you a holistic picture of what it's like living with noise sensitivity. Misophonia literally means "hatred of sound." Recently it has been gaining awareness as a new psychiatric or neurological disorder that is rarely diagnosed. "Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome" known as 4S for short, is a sensory processing disorder which some believe may be caused by abnormal or dysfunctional neural signals and is characterized by decreased sound tolerance.The disease is not well-known and uncovering successful treatments has been challenging. Two neuroscientists coined the name for this disease: Pawel and Margaret Jastreboff. Jastreboff is a doctor who has researched Hyperacusis and Tinnitus, two other audiological diseases that have some similarities to 4S. Misophonia has also been compared to phonophobia, or sound phobia, which is a different type of audiology disorder.People who suffer from misophonia experience anger, rage, pain, disgust, or other negative emotions that are triggered by specific sounds made by humans such as eating noises and breathing noises. Typical trigger stimuli include sipping, chewing, gum cracking or gum popping, and certain repetitive sounds such as typing, pen clicking and nail biting. Certain visual stimuli can also be triggers such as repetitive body movements. When this sensory information is processed, the sufferer experiences anxiety with an extremely intense emotional desire to stop the source of the noise. It is often compared to the type of torture that most people suffer when they hear the sound of nails scraping on a chalkboard. The level of irritation and annoyance that they suffer from these normal noises is considered irrational, and so misophonia is sometimes categorized as an anger disorder. The emotional distress caused by selective sound intolerance may lead to depression, decreased socialization and reclusiveness. Sufferers often use headphones, earplugs and white noise devices as coping mechanisms.This writing is an honest revelation of the disease and the hope is that others who share it will not feel alone. In turn, as people grow more aware, perhaps researchers, doctors, audiologists, and therapists will have an increased interest in the subject and will spend more time researching the disease. The greatest wish is for a truly effective treatment or cure to be found.
