Research

[Guest guest]

It's clear to me that Misophonia in a form of SPD. Especially after reading so many posts about other sensory over sensitivities. Most people here have touch and sight issues. This is more than just sound. Maybe Misophonia is not the best word to describe what we have. Sound is only part of it for most of us, but it is the worst of the senses it seems. Interesting how they talk of the therapeutic effects of intense exercise, aerobic as well as non-aerobic. That has been my Godsend. ( But I am an exercise addict!) Relieves the tension and relaxes with endorphins as well as the very relaxing effect of deep breathing. I recommend it to all that are physically able to do it. Also rocking

helps. I am going to get a rocking chair. It is very calming. For some reason this affliction has been understudied and misunderstood. We should connect with the people at Temple Univ. who are doing the study. They may be interested, and may save us time and money if they are already funded to study this. Mike To: Soundsensitivity Sent: Wednesday, May

30, 2012 3:05 PM Subject: Research

I had heard many years ago that Temple University was doing research on Sensory Defensiveness (now called SPD). It presents the same symptoms as Misophonia, except SPD involves all senses. I decided to see if I could find the results. Here's the publication in the Temple Times dated September 23, 2004. It states that research is on-going, but they may have wrapped it up by now.

http://www.temple.edu/temple_times/9-23-04/senses.html

I'll do more web searches to see what I can find.

Colleen

[Guest guest]

For what it is worth ... The main difference, as I see it, between Misophonia

and SPD is the nature of the trigger.

Especially in auditory sensitivity, the typical SPD trigger is loud,

high-pitched, sudden sounds of any type - what audiologists call hyperacusis, as

far as I can tell.

For misophonia, the triggers are often soft, but repetitive, sounds of some very

specific types (e.g. slurping or gum chewing). I don't mind many types of soft

repetitive sounds (e.g. the sound of waves on a beach) - not even all mouth and

nose sounds cause me problems (e.g. sniffing is not major trigger for me, but is

for my misophonic daughter - who doesn't have my problem with eating or drinking

sounds).

Similarly with visual triggers. The typical visual trigger for SPD is bright or

flickering light (hence the SPD book title " Too Loud, Too Bright... " ). But I

react to the sight of repetitive movements - a jiggling leg, a crowd (even some

distance away) walking every which way through a public space (it is too " busy "

to look at). It is arguable that this aversion to repetitive moving sights is

similar to the aversion to flickering - they are all repetitive visual changes -

but it certainly isn't related to bright flickering lights like fluorescents (I

have that problem too, but that is a classic problem for people with

Asperger's).

The other issue in my mind: is SPD itself a single condition, or is it a family

of similar conditions or a spectrum? We might be a relatively un-researched and

peculiar subtype of SPD, rather than " mainstream SPD " . If that is the case, we

might want to maintain our separate identity from (mainstream) SPD until the

connection between misophonia and SPD becomes clearer.

But I certainly think we should participate in SPD research projects and bring

the attention of Temple University to our condition (whatever it is). After all,

misophonia is a big occupational and environmental problem for us - the kind of

thing that OTs *should* be aware of and concerned about ... and researching.

Also I am not sure how effective the sensory diet and similar OT treatments for

SPD are when applied to misophonia. OTs themsleves have not always been quick to

embrace misophonia as a form of SPD when it has been explained to them -

whatever it is, it is not exactly " classic SPD " . But it is certainly a

tantalising similarlity.

>

> It's clear to me that Misophonia in a form of SPD. Especially after reading so

many posts about other sensory over sensitivities. Most people here have touch

and sight issues. This is 

> more than just sound. Maybe Misophonia is not the best word to describe what

we have. Sound is only part of it for most of us, but it is the worst of the

senses it seems. 

[Guest guest]

I've noticed that the direction of current research in HM seems to be mainly following just two directions - new methods for analysing constituents, and a search for possible contra-indications or side-effects. There is all too little research exploring possible clinical usefulness. Nice to be proved wrong - saw this recently - it specifically mentions interest in herbal medicine. But perhaps Israel hasn't felt the full "Ernst effect" yet ;-) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22915072TBreast Cancer Res Treat. 2012 Aug 23. [Epub ahead of print]Chemotherapy-related

cognitive impairment: does integrating complementary medicine have something to add? Review of the literature.Avisar A, River Y, Schiff E, Bar-Sela G, Steiner M, Ben-Arye E.SourceIntegrative

Oncology Program, Oncology Service, Lin Medical Center, Clalit Health Services, Haifa and Western Galilee District, Haifa, Israel.