Going deeper into misophonia

[Angular Chap]

So I decided to go deeper into the whole misophonia thing after a thought occurred to me: whenever I encounter certain smells, I have the same reaction that I have when I hear certain sounds, my brain does the same thing. Like being hit by a wave of ice cold water on an already cold day. First there’s the initial slap in the face shock. Then the wave washes over, completely soaking me. Now I’m left cold and wet for the rest of the day and want to deflate like a balloon, slowly sit down, head in hands, eyes tightly shut, face screwed up. Annoyed, maybe a little angry in the immediate aftermath, then mostly deflated for a while afterwards.

My first port of call was to search for “misophonia olfactory” I found a few results, all academic papers. A few references to autism.

I then tried a less scientific search “misophonia smells” (why yes it does, figuratively speaking, but that’s not what I meant!)

Looks like I’m not the only one. I found many firsthand reports with this search, with many mentions of autism.

I discovered the term hyperosmia, sensitivity to smells, but like hyperacusis, it merely describes heightened sensitivity rather than the annoyed and disgusted reactions.

I noticed the umbrella term sensory processing disorder being used a few times. This term is accurate and describes a lot more, even way outside misophonia, but it is too broad for what I was looking into.

Then I found a great resource:

https://misophoniainstitute.org

It covers everything. Triggers (including extensive lists), reflexes, guilt, how it develops, how triggers spread, a test, and so much more. Curiously, no mention of autism.

It mentions olfactory triggers as being related, but I discovered something way more interesting that I hadn’t considered before: visual triggers. This instantly made complete sense to me and perfectly described another related aspect of my misophonia. In short, seeing the action that produces a sound has the same (or similar) reaction as hearing the sound itself. Seeing someone rubbing their clothes annoys me in the same way as hearing it. Seeing someone hold a spoon in a certain way becomes a visual trigger because it is now associated with a sound trigger. Seeing someone doing something silently is almost as bad as hearing them make the noise itself.

I’m still the most sensitive to sound, though, out of all the senses. I have a less severe reaction to light, yet my misophonia is still linked to visual things as well as sound.

So in the end I ended up even more educated, and right back where I started! Despite discovering hyperosmia and accurate descriptions within sensory processing disorder, misophonia is still the term I like to use the most. It feels the most accurate overall.

Hyperacusis/hyperosmia – accurate, but more to do with heightened perception and physical pain.

Phonophobia – more to do with anxiety.

Sensory processing disorder – accurate, but too broad.

I’ll end with this, a collection of research articles for anyone who would like to go down a misophonia rabbit hole:

Collection of Research Articles from our “New Research” Section | Misophonia Association

 

[Outdated]

I've had this sensitivity my whole life. Some smells are painful to me, just like some sounds. The smells that hurt are commercial perfumes and deodorants, especially from 16 to 20 year olds that spray half a can of stuff over themselves but from a lot of other people too. I react as if someone's trying to shove a couple of pencils up my nose because that's what it feels like. I tend to avoid using public transport for that reason.

Last time I lived in Melbourne I lived less than a kilometre from the beach so on a really hot day I decided to walk to the beach and go for a swim. I stopped a few hundred metres short when the smell of sunblock and coconut oil hit me in the face. And when I looked out over the water packed with people I could see an oil slick surrounding them, that revolted me. I went back home and turned the aircon on instead.

 

[vergil96]

The smells that hurt are commercial perfumes and deodorants,

Those are the worst. And old frying oil. And mould.

 

[Rodafina]

I thought one of the Misophonia Institute articles was interesting in pointing out that sometimes the best treatment for misophonia is to add sound to the environment. I do spend a lot of time blocking the sounds out altogether with noise canceling headphones and white noise, but it was interesting to read about how open ear headphones and white noise may be a better approach to dealing with inescapable sounds. I understand better why I like having my fan on so much.

It is a fine line to walk where total avoidance isn’t possible, but increased exposure to unpleasant sounds certainly doesn’t lessen their impact overtime.

I continue to struggle with this one, though I find my aversion to smells much harder to deal with. I have not yet found any ways to manage smells that I cannot avoid and the introduction of new and distracting smells does not seem to work at all. It just creates a whole new awful mix of smells. The concept of adding sound to distract from other sounds works better for me.

 

[Angular Chap]

Those are the worst. And old frying oil. And mould.

This is a bad one for me as well. Cooking oil hits the back of my throat. It’s the cheap sunflower oil that does it worst. I call it “the catering smell.” School, hospital and workplace canteens smell strongly of it. I don’t have issues with olive oil.

It is a fine line to walk where total avoidance isn’t possible, but increased exposure to unpleasant sounds certainly doesn’t lessen their impact overtime.

Right, the concept of desensitising oneself just doesn’t work with autism.

I continue to struggle with this one, though I find my aversion to smells much harder to deal with. I have not yet found any ways to manage smells that I cannot avoid and the introduction of new and distracting smells does not seem to work at all. It just creates a whole new awful mix of smells. The concept of adding sound to distract from other sounds works better for me.

Yes, white noise gives the best of both worlds. A soothing noise that covers up the unwanted one. Whereas with smells, a scented candle for example just replaces one problem with another. Baking fresh bread helps but doing that on demand is too inconvenient.

 

[FayetheAspie]

When we have raked our yard, the cement driveway part being raked bothers me. It seems to be worse when I have been the one to use the rake on the driveway myself. In fact it then makes me nauseous. By the time I finished the task those times, it was almost surprising that I had not actually vomited I felt so sick. I wonder if that was misophonia. I lot of the common triggers listed in an article I looked at don't bother me though. For example, I actually like to click an inkpen repeatedly.