美国国家公共电台 NPR Misophonia: When Life's Noises Drive You Mad

Misophonia: When Life's Noises Drive You Mad

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The sound of someone chewing or smacking¹ gum can be annoying, but for some people, these noises trigger instant rage or panic. This is not just an eccentricity². It is a real condition, and it's called misophonia. Here's NPR's April Fulton.

APRIL FULTON, BYLINE³: When 18-year-old Ellie Rapp sits down to dinner, this happens.

ELLIE RAPP: My heart begins to pound. I go one of two ways. I either start to cry, or I just get really intensely angry.

FULTON: That's because the sound of her family chewing creates an automatic and extreme emotional response. She has to eat in another room.

E RAPP: It's really intense. I mean, it's as if you're going to die.

FULTON: And she's been experiencing this intense reaction to certain noises since she was a toddler. But it wasn't until middle school, when her mom showed her an article about something called misophonia, that she was able to put a name on it.

E RAPP: I said, this is what I have. This is it.

FULTON: She started seeing Jaelline Jaffe, a psychotherapist in Los Angeles who specializes in misophonia. Jaffe says the most common triggers for people like Ellie are mouth noises.

JAELLINE JAFFE: Chewing is almost universal. Gum chewing is almost universal. They also don't like the sound of throat clearing, coughing, sniffing⁴.

FULTON: It could also be humming, tapping or pen clicking. Sometimes just the sight of someone chewing is enough to cause a panic attack.

JAFFE: It's as if the survival part of the brain thinks somehow it's being attacked.

FULTON: And this prompts the fight or flight reaction. Now, not much is known about misophonia. It was only given a name a few years ago, and people who have it often think they're going crazy. Many doctors have never heard of it. And if people do talk about their symptoms, they're dismissed or diagnosed with a mood disorder⁵. But a small study published recently suggests that the brains of people with misophonia actually react differently to certain sounds. Phillip Gander studies how the brain makes sense of sound at the University of Iowa.

PHILLIP GANDER: We - pretty convinced that we found some very good evidence for relating this disorder to particular patterns of brain activity.

FULTON: When researchers put people in an MRI scanner and played trigger sounds like chewing and eating, he says you could see the difference.

GANDER: In the misophonia group, the activity was far greater in particular areas of their brain.

FULTON: And they showed classic signs of stress.

GANDER: Their heart rate increased, and also, their palms were sweating more.

MARSHA JOHNSON: It was phenomenal. It was the first piece of research that showed our population that they - what they have is real.

FULTON: That's Marsha Johnson. She's an audiologist in Portland, Ore. She was one of the first to recognize the disorder in the 1990s. She says misophonia is really devastating⁶ to families.

JOHNSON: If you're a mother and your child has - is a misophonic person and the sibling⁷ is the trigger, you're trying to stop this one from eating and this one from reacting. It's just absolutely awful.

FULTON: The National Institutes of Health calls misophonia a chronic⁸ condition, and the cause is unknown. More research is needed to understand it. But for people who have misophonia, they need strategies now. Johnson says for one, don't force everyone to sit around the dinner table together.

JOHNSON: Have a buffet-style - everybody eats where they want. But why don't you plan the big event of a family day called taking a hike, going up to a waterfall, going bowling⁹?

FULTON: Of course, people suffering from misophonia can't totally avoid their trigger noises. So Johnson suggests, try wearing headphones to flood the ears with pleasant sounds, or mindful breathing. But the most important advice comes from Ellie's mom, Kathy Rapp. If your child complains of these symptoms, don't dismiss them.

KATHY RAPP: It sounds bizarre, but it's very real. And a family's help, I think, is critical to helping¹⁰ somebody live a fuller life.

FULTON: April Fulton, NPR News, Los Angeles.

1 smacking   

活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的

参考例句：

• He gave both of the children a good smacking. 他把两个孩子都狠揍了一顿。
• She inclined her cheek,and John gave it a smacking kiss. 她把头低下，约翰在她的脸上响亮的一吻。

2 eccentricity   

n.古怪，反常，怪癖

参考例句：

• I can't understand the eccentricity of Henry's behavior.我不理解亨利的古怪举止。
• His eccentricity had become legendary long before he died.在他去世之前他的古怪脾气就早已闻名遐尔了。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

6 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

7 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

8 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

9 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。