Re: Explaining Selectiveness to Family and Friends

[Guest guest]

I have never been able to explain my symptoms . People assume they are a pet peeve My Biggest triggers are noises associated with the mouth like eating and between word smacking while someone is speaking. I really wish the word selective wasn't in the description as I never selected these triggers, They just affect me, bottom line. From:

mollymbarker To: Soundsensitivity Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 8:38 AM Subject: Explaining "Selectiveness" to Family and Friends

I have tried explaining my symptoms to my family for years. But because my symptoms are "inconsistent" or "selective", they feel that it is not a real problem, as if I can choose to turn it on or off. Some days a trigger will send me through the roof, other days I have enough control to leave the room. And the fact that I don't bother myself when I eat only adds to their misunderstanding (eating and all associated sounds is my biggest trigger). Does anyone else have a hard time explaining that it is selective? To my family and friends, selective implies a choice on my end, this is certainly not the case.

[Guest guest]

I had a hard time trying to explain to my parents what was wrong with me for six

years, and they finally knew something was wrong when I told them I thought I

had some kind of psychological problem. Things have been a little better, and

when I found out it was misophonia, they really took precautions and tried to

make my life a little easier. But I don't think Miso is psychological. Could be,

but I'm no expert, I'm only 17.

I told my aunt about it too, but she didn't believe me at first, so I showed her

on the internet what Misophonia was. And she was convinced I had this problem.

But she also thought it was " Selective " and told me not to use it as an excuse.

I told her it wasn't my choice, that she didn't understand, but she just kept

quiet. I guess she knows how hard it is for me.

Anyway, hope this helps.

-Chery

>

> I have tried explaining my symptoms to my family for years. But because my

symptoms are " inconsistent " or " selective " , they feel that it is not a real

problem, as if I can choose to turn it on or off. Some days a trigger will send

me through the roof, other days I have enough control to leave the room. And the

fact that I don't bother myself when I eat only adds to their misunderstanding

(eating and all associated sounds is my biggest trigger). Does anyone else have

a hard time explaining that it is selective? To my family and friends, selective

implies a choice on my end, this is certainly not the case.

>

[Guest guest]

Molly, one guess is that you have less control when you are tired or hungry.

Just a thought, but I know that sometimes people with a strong accent find

themselves lapsing into that accent when they are tired, etc.

>

> I have tried explaining my symptoms to my family for years. But because my

symptoms are " inconsistent " or " selective " , they feel that it is not a real

problem, as if I can choose to turn it on or off. Some days a trigger will send

me through the roof, other days I have enough control to leave the room. And the

fact that I don't bother myself when I eat only adds to their misunderstanding

(eating and all associated sounds is my biggest trigger). Does anyone else have

a hard time explaining that it is selective? To my family and friends, selective

implies a choice on my end, this is certainly not the case.

>

[Guest guest]

I've found that it's a lot easier to explain to others when they have had

experience with anxiety disorders. To my friend with social anxiety, I

explained by saying, " You know how you feel when you're on a crowded bus and it

doesn't seem to bother anyone else, but you panic and need to leave immediately?

It's like that, only with specific sounds rather than specific situations. "

I also make sure that the person I'm telling understands that it's much more

than a pet peeve - that it's psychological torture. Showing them news articles

or the 20/20 special might help as well. It's just, unfortunately, a very

misunderstood problem. Best of luck to you explaining it to others in the

future.

-Ronnie-

>

> I have tried explaining my symptoms to my family for years. But because my

symptoms are " inconsistent " or " selective " , they feel that it is not a real

problem, as if I can choose to turn it on or off. Some days a trigger will send

me through the roof, other days I have enough control to leave the room. And the

fact that I don't bother myself when I eat only adds to their misunderstanding

(eating and all associated sounds is my biggest trigger). Does anyone else have

a hard time explaining that it is selective? To my family and friends, selective

implies a choice on my end, this is certainly not the case.

>