Misophonia literally translated means “hatred of sound”; it’s a disorder related to the processing of specific sounds in the brain. Hearing is a gift: the sound of the ocean, music, or gently falling rain; however, we all have certain sounds that we find annoying or discordant; such as the proverbial “nails on a chalkboard” or a baby crying incessantly. For some people, selective sounds go beyond annoying and can ultimately dictate and consume their lives and relationships; it’s like an autoimmune disease, when the body turns on itself…but in this case, your senses backfire and they elicit rage, anxiety, and possibly a life of isolation.
Here’s a segment from “The Expanded Edition” that could help both sufferers and non-sufferers alike; it’s a poem by Julie R.M. Chesters, a British woman who sent it to me after watching the original version of the film.