This video describes the construct of misophonia. Misophonia literally translates into “hatred of sound.” Misophonia is a condition, but not a mental disorder or any other type of disorder. It's something that's being studied, but it has not yet been classified. Misophonia is an aversive reaction to repetitive or patternbased sounds. Sometimes it's referred to as selective sound sensitivity syndrome and sometimes it's also referred to as sound rage. With certain sounds, there would be a reaction with misophonia and this reaction could be autonomic arousal and a number of distressing feelings including anxiety, disgust, anger, or irritability. We could also see behavioral reactions with this as well, including avoidance or acting out on the feelings of anger. There's some debate as to what types of sounds would qualify under misophonia. One school of thought is that the sounds have to be directly related to the human body like breathing or chewing. Another theory indicates that it could be any type of repetitive or patternbased sound. Some examples would include typing, whistling, foot tapping, or finger tapping, a clock ticking, an engine running, the sound of cars in the distance, stepping sounds or something like opening a plastic wrapper. The reaction to these triggering sounds is not necessarily proportional to the volume or the intensity of the sound. Loud sounds wouldn't necessarily cause a greater reaction or trigger a reaction as opposed to lower volume sounds. Misophonia is not an official disorder and it may actually be a symptom of another disorder. Misophonia tends to be comorbid with a number of other conditions and disorders including Tourette syndrome, obsessivecompulsive disorder, obsessivecompulsive personality disorder, a number of anxiety disorders, and tinnitus (ringing in the ears). There is no established treatment protocol for misophonia, although certain treatments have been attempted with mixed results. There's some indication that cognitive behavioral therapy may be somewhat effective in treating misophonia and there's also some research that indicates that exposure and response prevention may help a little bit. Some theories about treatment approaches have focused more on related symptoms to misophonia, like avoidance, anxiety, and anger. There are a number of treatment protocols already established for those feelings or behaviors.