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Feelin a lot like this lately

Started by Sir Squid Diddimus, January 24, 2013, 04:41:37 AM

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Sir Squid Diddimus

I'm actually interested in reading it.

Squid= amused by this kind of thing

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

#46
Your wish is my command!


Who hasn't been annoyed by the sound of someone chewing with their mouth open, or slurping through a straw? These are pretty common irritants, but Joyce Cohen explores what happens for people for whom commonplace sounds can be more than irritants, but triggers for the fight-or-flight response. These people suffer from a poorly-understood disorder called misophonia, the existence of which I was alerted to by a friend who is a sufferer. In exploring the topic, I found this article by Joyce Cohen in the New York Times, written for an audience of laypersons.

This article seems fairly accurate, from what little I've been able to read on the topic, and I'm glad it was able to help give me a little more insight into my friend, and a better understanding of why she seems so often to isolate herself from other people, and why such seemingly tiny things like the sound of her husband rubbing his socks on the carpet result in loathing-fueled rants after the fact; fortunately, she's an extremely entertaining ranter, so she manages to make her plight seem entertaining rather than purely tragic.

Contemplating misophonia, it strikes me as a double-edged sword that this sensory condition is something that most people can probably empathize with, up to a point. Most of us can understand being distracted and irritated by the clicking of a pen or rhythmic squeaking of a chair, especially if we're trying to concentrate on something else. The other side of that is that it may also be too tempting to believe that this empathy means we fully understand it, and to dismiss it as being a mere irritant, or within the sufferer's control, when for them it triggers uncontrollable, overwhelming feelings of anxiety or rage.

The frustration sufferers must frequently experience when they are misdiagnosed or dismissed must be profound, and some of these people, like my friend, find that they have trouble functioning in certain environments because of their disorder. It isn't the loud sounds... like rock concerts and heavy machinery... that trigger their adrenal response, but soft, repetitive, usually commonplace ones. Can you imagine, if the dinner table or classroom or office was a panic-inducing nightmare of sounds? If you had the overwhelming urge to attack someone simply for chewing gum near you?

I'm reminded of something I once read, a humorous blog post about cat-sitting, in which the author was driven to what seemed like a hilariously overblown state of rage by the sound of his furry charge "smacking its stupid little kitty lips" while drinking water.  Now, I wonder if his loathing of stupid little kitty lips was due to misophonia, and whether I would have found it so entertaining if I'd known of the condition at the time.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Sir Squid Diddimus

This is awesome!
Sounds like you get it. Where nobody else does.

"Omg I hate chewing too! It makes me like, wanna die and stuff" no. no, you don't get it.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 17, 2013, 03:36:03 AM
This is awesome!
Sounds like you get it. Where nobody else does.

"Omg I hate chewing too! It makes me like, wanna die and stuff" no. no, you don't get it.

It sounds incredibly shitty, actually.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Sir Squid Diddimus

It causes an emotional self loathing spiral of hate.

First you're immediately irate, then usually you lash out. "Can you stop that?!"
This makes you feel bad for getting upset, then guilty for being angry at someone you might like.
That causes a feeling of self loathing and "why am I like this? why do I suck so bad?"
Which causes depression, which makes you hate yourself, then you hate everyone else for doing things that make you feel this way.

Funny how someone tapping their pencil on their desk can send you into a dark whirling vortex of murder suicide. Only it isn't funny at all.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 17, 2013, 04:00:57 PM
It causes an emotional self loathing spiral of hate.

First you're immediately irate, then usually you lash out. "Can you stop that?!"
This makes you feel bad for getting upset, then guilty for being angry at someone you might like.
That causes a feeling of self loathing and "why am I like this? why do I suck so bad?"
Which causes depression, which makes you hate yourself, then you hate everyone else for doing things that make you feel this way.

Funny how someone tapping their pencil on their desk can send you into a dark whirling vortex of murder suicide. Only it isn't funny at all.

Yeah, that actually sounds pretty completely unfunny and awful. Especially the part where you go to a professional for help and they don't get it, either.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Sir Squid Diddimus

Ugh. Yeah.
I have an appointment Thursday.
I'm sure he's gonna wanna talk about my parents and past relationships.
Not helpful.

I should just cancel.
Or maybe I'll give him this chance. Maybe he did some research. That's what they're paid for anyway.
I'm not too keen on the "I might have to report things if I feel like you're a threat to yourself or others" bullshit, kind of makes me want to clam up. I certainly won't be telling him that I damn near (or may have) broke my hand beating up a sandwich cause the insides weren't stacked correctly. Fuck.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 17, 2013, 04:16:22 PM
Ugh. Yeah.
I have an appointment Thursday.
I'm sure he's gonna wanna talk about my parents and past relationships.
Not helpful.

I should just cancel.
Or maybe I'll give him this chance. Maybe he did some research. That's what they're paid for anyway.
I'm not too keen on the "I might have to report things if I feel like you're a threat to yourself or others" bullshit, kind of makes me want to clam up. I certainly won't be telling him that I damn near (or may have) broke my hand beating up a sandwich cause the insides weren't stacked correctly. Fuck.

They all have to say that. Fuck, *I* have to say that if I'm dealing with kids.

You should probably tell him about the sandwich, that's not the kind of threat they have to report.

However, if you're not feeling heard by this guy you should just get a new one. Not all therapists are good therapists. Also, you probably want a neuropsychologist, not a therapist. A psychiatrist might do if he has decent neuropsychology training.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Sir Squid Diddimus

yeah, a neuropsycholologrist sounds more useful

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Sir Squid Diddimus on February 18, 2013, 02:24:10 PM
yeah, a neuropsycholologrist sounds more useful

DON'T LET THEM GRIND UP YOUR BRAIN, SQUIDDY!  YOU NEED THAT SHIT!

TGRR,
Couldn't stand it if you joined the Tea Party.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."