Misophonia Cure Update

Hello beautiful human. I’ve received a number of inquiries regarding Misophonia and if I’ve overcome it, how, etc. So I’m writing this post as an update to how I’m approaching Misophonia.

I tried a lot of things - ketamine therapy, water fasting, acupuncture, different kinds of therapy, medications, and none of those provided long-term relief.

This is how I currently view Misophonia and how I’ve been going about unwinding it so the sound of someone chewing doesn’t make you want to kill them - lol.

What Misophonia really is (my opinion)

Essentially it boils down to Pavlovian conditioning. Pavlov rings the bell, feeds the dogs, rings the bell, feeds the dogs, etc. Eventually, Pavlov rings the bell, and the dogs start salivating - because their brain has associated the sound of the bell with dinner time.

In the case of Misophonia, for whatever reason our brains have tagged these sounds as extremely threatening (I’m not a doctor, and this isn’t medical advice, this is my view).

It doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical threat, it could’ve been a massive embarrassment while the sound was occurring in the background. The brain tags the sound as a significantly negative stimulus. Similar to Pavlov’s dogs, now whenever the sound is heard, the rage-disgust-i-want-to-destroy-you response is elicited - lol.

Another example could be eating at the dinner table - getting ridiculed by parents or scolded for not finishing the plate, meanwhile, dad is smacking his lips.

My Approach To Misophonia

The good news is that because our brains operate like computers, programs can be reversed - yes - the triggers can go away. I should also mention I personally know two people who no longer have Misophonia. It is possible. Misophonia also means your body is functioning properly! Woohoo. Lucky us right? But really… the brain thinks it’s protecting us from danger.

In order to undo Misophonia, we need to identify a positive stimuli so powerful it will surprise the limbic system (which triggers the Misophonic response).

One of the best questions to ask yourself to find positive stimuli is “What would I need to hear, see, feel, or do immediately after the trigger sound, to neutralize it completely?” What could someone say to me or what positive memory could I recall immediately after a trigger sound that would overpower the Misophonic rage?

Avoid anyone (usually family members) who could’ve been involved with the origin of triggers with the solution. Someone that was part of the problem is most likely not going to be part of the solution.

Anywho - finding people you love and attempting to recondition negative the brain with positive stimuli has worked for some people. It’s been enough for them to overcome their triggers. The key to success is speed. The limbic system acts FAST. Just like when you hear a trigger and the response is immediate, the positive stimuli must be activated IMMEDIATELY after the trigger sound in order to create a “limbic system update” - meaning your brain goes “ooo ahh… wait… maybe this sound isn’t so bad after all.”

I tried this approach for a few months and it worked well. I was able to successfully overcome several triggers and normalize the sounds using this approach.

The issue for me was for some of the bigger, meaner, stronger triggers, the change wasn’t permanent. However, it was still exciting hearing triggers and not being activated for the time being.

I think for me some more internal memory healing was necessary in order for the big trigger shifts to be permanent. I’ve been approaching healing through Neuro Linguistic Programming - which I’m going to be writing about thoroughly in future posts. NLP has truly changed my life.

I’ll be sure to keep you updated on the way to becoming what the ex-misophoners call “supersonic.” Haha. If you’re struggling with Miso, there’s hope for you, we’re all going to be supersonic and trigger-free. Hang in there.

If this information is valuable to you - consider becoming a paid subscriber. It helps me dedicate time to researching and writing about Misophonia and other mental health issues. Thank you.

One more tidbit of wisdom before I go:

Subscribe to Premium to read the rest.