Crunching down on an apple or gnawing at a handful of nuts can illicit sounds synonymous with walking on gravel.
And while it may be slightly irritating to some, people like Marina Sergeant completely buckle beneath it.
Sergeant, 24, has been diagnosed with misophonia, a rare condition that causes sufferers to hate certain sounds. In Sergeant’s case, she detests the sound of people chewing.
“I would be sitting with my friends at school lunch and their chewing would be so amplified in my head it would spark an outburst,’ she told The Courier-Mail.
“I would pretty much yell at them to stop eating like pigs and learn some manners. You can imagine the reaction to that kind of rage.”
It was the sound of chewing that also lead Brisbane native Sergeant to retreat to her bedroom at meal times to avoid hearing her friends and family eat.
But since Sergeant has been seeing her audiologist, Nolene Nielson, she has been able to eat with her family for the first time in 10 years.
Nielson also told The Courier-Mail that along with those who have a blind hatred of chewing, those who have been diagnosed with misophena may also loathe the sound of snoring of sniffling, adding that “it is a severe disability that is not generally recognised”.
If you, or someone you know is showing symptoms of misophena, book an appointment with your local GP. If these symptoms are making you/them feel anxious or depressed, contact beyondblue for a free, confidential chat.
