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If the sounds of chewing, crunching, slurping, yawning, pen clicking, tapping, water dripping, sniffling, whistling and breathing make you angry or even panicked, you may have misophonia.
The term, coined in 2001, describes a chronic condition in which certain sounds trigger strong negative responses that can affect daily life and social interactions.
Research estimates that between 5% and 20% of the population suffers from misophonia, though it may be more, as it’s been called a “highly underreported phenomenon.”
As if the intense emotions weren’t bad enough, research out of the Netherlands indicates that people with misophonia may have an increased genetic predisposition for anxiety, depression,
post-traumatic stress disorder and tinnitus, a constant buzzing or ringing in the ears.
“We found that misophonia genetics was related to the genetics of the personality trait ‘irritability,’ which is kind of the essence of misophonia,” Dirk J.A. Smit, an assistant professor of
psychiatric neuroscience and genetics at the Amsterdam University Medical Center, told PsyPost last year.
“You get irritated and angry when you hear the trigger sound, which might then be followed by avoidance behaviors, feelings of guilt and more.”
Smit led a study that used data from 80,000 people who suggested to 23andMe and other sources that they may have misophonia.
The team selected 44 traits and disorders for its genetic correlation analysis, including psychiatric and audiological conditions, personality characteristics and socioeconomic factors like
education.
Past research identified the genetic locus rs2937573 as being strongly linked to sensitivity to chewing sounds. The marker is near the TENM2 gene, which plays a crucial role in brain
development.
Smit told PsyPost “most of the results” of his analysis were “not really a surprise” — he found a genetic overlap between rage-related misophonia and PTSD, anxiety and major depressive
disorder, as well as a correlation for tinnitus risk.
“What drives this link is not clear, but tinnitus almost always has a clear cause in hearing loss of some kind, which may be due to loud music exposure, ototoxic medication, infection or
aging,” he told the outlet.
“But it is also well-known that psychological factors play a role in the level of experienced disturbance, so this might be the link.”
What was striking was the negative correlation with autism spectrum disorder.
ASD is characterized by differences in social communication, as well as the presence of repetitive behaviors and focused interests.
“There was a small but negative correlation between misophonia genetics and autism genetics,” Smit told PsyPost. “Given that autism is often associated with sensory sensitivity problems,
that was unexpected. I expected a positive correlation.”
Smit said more research is needed into the potential genetic links to misophonia. One major limitation of his study, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, is that the data came from people
who self-identified as having misophonia instead of being formally diagnosed.
Another is that the study focused on anger as the primary reaction to the triggering sounds.
Misophonia symptoms can also include anxiety, disgust, fear and emotional distress, as well as physical signs such as increased heart rate, sweating, muscle tension and chest tightness.
