November 28, 2023

"I have that disorder where when people make noises it hurts me. Like at the movies? That loud popcorn chewing..."

"... or the rustling of the wrappers. I don’t go to the movies for that reason.... Not interested [in men]. I don’t want to sleep with anybody any more. I don’t want to hear somebody breathing."


There are plenty of reasons to avoid relationships. One is that they make noise, even if it's only the breathing.

ADDED: The condition, I've read elsewhere, is called "misophonia," and I blogged about it here, in 2011, and here, in 2015. There's an excellent Reddit group, r/misophonia, here.

17 comments:

tim in vermont said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Earnest Prole said...

There are plenty of reasons to avoid relationships. One is that they make noise, even if it's only the breathing.

Don't say you weren't warned.

n.n said...

Is it because the men in her life snore?

I totally agree about the movies, which are often an insular reproduction of modern political, popular, and family culture.

Kate said...

I bet the guy with a fig and piece of bread under a glass made no noise at all. She just hasn't found the right economist yet.

Friendo said...

She sounds fun.

YoungHegelian said...

I bet she was just tormented to near insanity when her last date met her for dinner & a night out after he had participated in the big local chili cook-off the day before!

Kevin said...

Oliver Rose : I think you owe me a solid reason. I worked my ass off for you and the kids to have a nice life and you owe me a reason that makes sense. I want to hear it.

Barbara Rose : Because. When I watch you eat. When I see you asleep. When I look at you lately, I just want to smash your face in.

boatbuilder said...

If you can hear anything at all at the movies, over the booming soundtrack, you got me beat. Chewing popcorn? That's what bothers you?

Narr said...

YoungHegelian reminds me of one of my great moments. The year was 1967, and Greg, Kenny, and I rode the bus all the way downtown to see "The Dirty Dozen" at the Loews State or Palace.

We sat with our feet on the backs of the chairs in front of us, so my pants were stretched tight, and during a brief pause in the gunfire and screaming, I let fly with a great ripping FFFFRRRPPPTTT. I could not have timed it better if I'd tried, and the whole place was shaking.

Ah, youth.



n.n said...

even if it's only the breathing.

Oh, and heartbeats. Boom! Boom!!

OhMichael said...

Wife: I'm sick of that nervous habit you have.

Husband: what nervous habit?

Wife: that constant breathing in and out.

Rocco said...

I'm just two years younger. I now make noises that would probably annoy her, too.

gspencer said...

"I don’t want to sleep with anybody any more. I don’t want to hear somebody breathing."

Thanks for sharing. But did you really have to do that?

J L Oliver said...

In my practice I have worked with people with misophonia. The interesting part is no matter how much they say they hate it, as they improve they stop coming for therapy. It is my opinion that misophonia is a type of OCD.

mikee said...

At 58 and beyond, her misophonia will be overcome with increasing hardness of hearing, which if not a cure is at least an obliviation of the problem.


Raymond Chadler, writing about the annoying Santa Anna, but with the same effects: "Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen.”

RigelDog said...

My husband has misophonia. Thankfully he is not bothered by me breathing; that would probably have been a deal-breaker. Every now and then, like all happily married people, I want to torture my mate, and all it takes is a little.tippy.tappy.of.fingernails.on.the.table. Almost too easy, really.

Narr said...

My wife's hearing sucks, but mine is acute. The only thing she does that really bugs me is clacking her fork on the plate when she stabs her food.

My voice is low and she has trouble understanding if I don't stand close and bellow and ee-nun-see-ate clearly.

OTOH I've started not hearing (wink wink) a lot of what she says unless she speaks close, loud, and clear.