Dr Hashir Aazh Talks to the Independent About Misophonia

Dr Hashir Aazh talks to The Independent about misophonia and its impact on the life of the person who experience it. Sometimes we may find certain sounds irritating and hard to ignore. Examples are: scraping a chalkboard with the fingernails, someone eating loudly or speaking loudly on their mobile phone in a bus or at a hospital waiting room, repetitive sniffing or coughing, a clock ticking, drops of water from a loose tap. For majority of us, this is only a minor problem and we can get on with our day-to-day activities despite the annoyance that such sounds can cause. However, individuals with misophonia, experience intense emotional and behavioural reactions to certain sounds related to eating, sniffing, breathing, slurping, burping and some other repetitive man-made noises, known as the trigger sounds. Dr Aazh tells The Independent that research studies show that a specialised version of cognitive behavioural therapy can help the individual to minimise the stress caused by their initial reaction to the trigger sounds and stop from escalating to a level that damages their quality of life.