DO CHEWING SOUNDS DRIVE YOU CRAZY?

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Elliehmltn
Elliehmltn Posts: 254 Member
in Motivation and Support
They make me go ballistic.

Yesterday my husband and I were in the movies (“Son of God”) and the teenager behind us was eating popcorn. It sounded like he was chewing rocks. I kept resisting the reflex to jump up and attack him. Pretty ironic, considering the movie we were watching.

Since sometime in my early teens, I have felt my guts, muscles, nerves, brain, hair, and fingernails go tied into knots at the sound of anyone chewing, licking, sucking, slurping, crunching, slobbering (insert any other mouth sounds you can think of), and by the sight of gum-chewing (let alone its sounds.) My parents yelled at me because I'd scream at the dog and clobber or even kick it for licking itself.

In public, I have had to leave rooms because someone near me was chewing something. My children knew they had to take an apple or carrot into another room. Gum in the house was pretty much out of the question.

I have asked people to spit out their gum when I was in **their** house.

But I have learned that the aversion to masticating sounds is not all in my head and I'm not the only one afflicted. It has a name: misophonia. Google it (or “chewing noises” or similar keywords) and you will discover that this is a real disorder, not something you have made up or deliberately cultivated or are doing to get attention or any of the other things people may have told you all your life. I have had people deliberately chomp and slobber at me because they think it's funny. It makes me feel as though I'm crawling inside with maggots.

It's only recently recognized and named, in its infancy of research and treatment, but it's not a new phenomenon to people like me who have suffered with it for 50 years. It's kind of like when science finally acknowledged, "Yes, there really are menstrual cramps." We who have it have always known it's real.

We are not crazy. We are not making it up.There's a cause. They just haven't found it. In the meantime, we just go on controlling ourselves and asking those around us to be considerate, or at least to condescend.

One more reason to eat gently -- you never know what burden the person next to you carries.
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Replies

  • santiagoivonne22
    santiagoivonne22 Posts: 13 Member
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    This by far has always been a annoyance of mine. My husband drives me crazy! He is getting better. When we spoke to the dentist about his eating and how he grinds/chews his food she said it was because he had a irregular jaw shape. there are many reasons why people chew loudly i just hate when i know people are being inconsiderate about it. I wont even eat crunchy foods sometimes because i can hear myself!
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    It is a very real thing. Interestingly (and not with everyone it bothers, of course) but there is a connection between children who've been sexually molested and mouth noises. It really bothers them to the point they have to leave the room sometimes, even into adulthood.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    And during the Walking Dead episode from last Sunday, if I had been in the actual clearning with Beth and Daryl, I might have used that crossbow on Daryl while he was eating that snake.
  • ActuarialChef
    ActuarialChef Posts: 1,413 Member
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    OMG the licking. My dog has allergies and licks his paws pretty frequently. DRIVES ME INSANEEEE. Also, if he chews something for longer than I think it should take him, I get antsy and agitated. (But I don't scream at him or hit him.. I just huff and puff until he's done or I distract him with a toy haha)

    Oh, and when my bf eats something soft, he chomps his teeth in a way that I have never heard anyone else chew. I have to leave the room when he eats ice cream, etc. It's horrible.

    It's really only repetitive sounds though, like if someone pops their gum or chews it loudly for a second or two, no biggie, but if it continues, I can't get away fast enough.
  • somefitsomefat
    somefitsomefat Posts: 445 Member
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    there are many reasons why people chew loudly i just hate when i know people are being inconsiderate about it.

    So because you can't control your emotions I have to go out of my way to make sure my chewing isn't too loud for you?
  • Steph4454
    Steph4454 Posts: 164 Member
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    My parents yelled at me because I'd scream at the dog and clobber or even kick it for licking itself.

    Seriously? That's all they did, was yell? I'd have kicked your rotten little butt halfway to Tuesday for abusing a family pet for doing something it can't help. And I don't even like dogs. Did you ever stop to think maybe, just maybe, the problem is YOU, not the people unfortunate enough to have to be near you?

    Just for you, peaches:

    chew.gif

    Your parents lacked smackin the *kitten* out of you too I guess. Rude and uncalled for. Everyone has issues

    Anyway- I am also annoyed but the sound of people chewing sometimes, but not to your extent.
  • santiagoivonne22
    santiagoivonne22 Posts: 13 Member
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    i dont yell or tell people to stop. I notice it and change where i am at or how i see things. i never invade or change someone else i change myself. If it bothers me fine but i dont have to be a jerk. i just ignore it or move some place else thats all.
  • santiagoivonne22
    santiagoivonne22 Posts: 13 Member
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    there are many reasons why people chew loudly i just hate when i know people are being inconsiderate about it.

    So because you can't control your emotions I have to go out of my way to make sure my chewing isn't too loud for you?


    i dont yell or tell people to stop. I notice it and change where i am at or how i see things. i never invade or change someone else i change myself. If it bothers me fine but i dont have to be a jerk. i just ignore it or move some place else thats all.
  • AsaThorsWoman
    AsaThorsWoman Posts: 2,303 Member
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    It's gross to me but not like it is to you. I do sometimes play music at the family dinner to make it a better experience.

    I remember eating at the table with my grandfather. I dearly love him but it was hard to eat around him.
  • ware_sarah
    ware_sarah Posts: 21 Member
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    I'M THE SAME WAY!!!! As well as 2 of my sisters. Sadly, as an adult, I do freak out on my dog that sloppy noise he makes uggg...just thinking about it is infuriating and makes me was to wiggle out of my skin!!

    My husband does the chomping on purpose. I'm surprised we are still married and he is not buried in the back yard.

    I, now, have to do my best to control my craziness. I have a 2 & 3 year old and I am trying to teach them dinner manners.... give me strength.

    I have a 16 & 13 year old who also find it funny to make we want to go on a rampage and lock them in closets. (That's OK- I Just take their phones away they usually learn real quick to stop!)

    Best of a ll is the mother-in-law who lives with me. (I was always told to respect my elders, so I try to be polite and leave the room when she comes in) The many years of drug use has left her with these F$*@ing ticks... one of them is making the
    "um -hum" noise and opening and closing her mouth. Taking great care to make a slopping opening/closing noise every 60 seconds..... I need to run away!!!!
  • 19TaraLynn84
    19TaraLynn84 Posts: 739 Member
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    Yes, the noises my husband and his offspring make while they eat drive me batty!! I love the man to pieces, but wow! I am constantly having to tell my oldest son to stop smacking. I'm not talking normal chewing, either. I'm talking open-mouthed chewing, lip smacking, and all.
  • Cyclingbonnie
    Cyclingbonnie Posts: 413 Member
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    My issue is even a little broader than that. It is the little noises that most people don't seem to notice. Like driving down the road and bag in back seat is rattling. The hum of the refrigerator at night. The dog licking its paws. I can keep it going. It isn't the big noises it is the little ones that drive me insane.

    When I was in college I couldn't study in the library, because all the little noises would distract me. However, I could sit in the middle of the student union with games, music and people screaming across the room at each other and I felt like I was in my own little world studying.
  • 1shauna1
    1shauna1 Posts: 993 Member
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    I don't mind sounds like the crunching of an apple or whatever. But when people "mmm" as they eat, or chew with their mouths open leading to slurping sounds.....then I'll run screaming!
  • trijoe
    trijoe Posts: 729 Member
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    YES!!! I can. not. stand. being around people chewing gum. It's endlessly irritating! Either they spit out the gum or I leave. My FIL eats loudly and smacks his lips. It's like fingernails on a chalk board.

    Popcorn I can handle. There's just no way to quietly eat popcorn. And basically, if I'm around people eating popcorn, then it's a situation I've chosen to put myself in. So that's fine.

    But gum? I'd rather be tied to an electric fence.
  • irunforcookies
    irunforcookies Posts: 111 Member
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    Ok, you're all going to think I'm the crazy one here, but I love those kinds of sounds. It has a name too. ASMR. I actually love the sound of chewing gum, it will put me to sleep! Crunching popcorn gives me tingles. I can't be the only one here that thinks this way, it's more common than you think!
  • irunforcookies
    irunforcookies Posts: 111 Member
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    But on the flip side - my husband is just like you! He has to leave the room when my Dad eats, and I can't eat food next to him anywhere but the kitchen. If he gets mad at me for eating noises in the kitchen, he's the one that gets to leave :)
  • debrag12
    debrag12 Posts: 1,071 Member
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    Hell yes!
  • JoanneC1216
    JoanneC1216 Posts: 166
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    And during the Walking Dead episode from last Sunday, if I had been in the actual clearning with Beth and Daryl, I might have used that crossbow on Daryl while he was eating that snake.

    That was annoying, wasn't it??
  • mcibty
    mcibty Posts: 1,252 Member
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    YES.
  • JoanneC1216
    JoanneC1216 Posts: 166
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    I saw a Dr Phil episode where this girl went ballistic around masticating sounds, not sure what he did for her.

    The only time it bothers me is if someone is chewing with their mouth open. Gross!~

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