There’s a Scientific Explanation for Why The Sound of People Chewing Annoys You

It's called Misophonia

There is a scientific explanation as to why the sound of someone else chomping down on a bag of chips makes you want scream, or the sound of someone breathing heavily drives you up the wall: Misophonia.

Misophonia is a neuropsychiatric disorder defined as the “hatred of sound”.

According to Daily Mail:

“Brain scans show that people who find the sound of chewing, breathing, or numerous other conditions unbearable have a genuine brain abnormality.

People with misophonia – as the condition was named in 2001 – can respond with an intense ‘fight or flight’ reaction.

Researchers at Newcastle University found a difference in the frontal lobe in misophonia sufferers, suggesting it is a genuine condition where medical opinion in the past has been sceptical.

Writing in the journal Current Biology, they found changes in the brain activity when a trigger sound is experienced.

They also found people with misophonia experienced an increased heart rate and sweated when they were confronted by a trigger sound.

The difference lies in the ‘emotional control mechanism’ that causes their brains to go into overdrive on hearing trigger sounds, the authors write.”