United States: Research experts found that misophonia patients show body reactions similar to discomfort when exposed to noises that cause dislike among typical individuals, including snoring, noisy breathing, and chewing sounds.
More about the news
Surveys about misophonia demonstrate the condition extends beyond projected numbers, while genetic findings between its symptoms and anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) now exist.
A psychiatric study led by Dr. Dirk Smit at Amsterdam University verified using genetic information from both 23andMe and Psychiatric Genomics Consortium sites and UK Biobank that individuals who identify with misophonia possess genes connected to psychiatric conditions and tinnitus.
Those who experience persistent ear sounds, known as tinnitus, show a higher tendency to display psychiatric signs of anxiety and depression.
What more are the experts stating?
According to Smit, “There was also an overlap with PTSD genetics,” sciencealert.com reported.
Additionally, “This means that genes that give sensitivity to PTSD also increase the likelihood for misophonia, and that could point to a shared neurobiological system that affects both. And that could suggest that treatment techniques used for PTSD could also be used for misophonia,” he added.
People who experience misophonia do not necessarily face similar mechanisms with other disorders, although sharing overlapping genetic risks exists.
People who suffer from misophonia show higher tendencies to keep their distress inside themselves.
The 2023 study by Smit and team found conclusive evidence of an association between personality traits and misophonia symptoms such as anxiety, worry, loneliness, and neuroticism behavior.
The intensity of reactions varies between annoyance and anger and disruptive distress that hinders usual activities.
“It has been argued… that misophonia is based on the feelings of guilt about the evoked irritation and anger rather than behavioral expressions of anger itself that causes the distress,” stated Smit and the team.
Research indicates that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend not to develop misophonia, sciencealert.com reported.
Surprisingly, those with ASD demonstrate reduced sound sensitivity despite their well-known sound intolerance.
“Our results suggest that misophonia and ASD are relatively independent disorders with regard to genomic variation,” as the researchers stated in their paper.
“It raises the possibility that other forms of misophonia exist, one that is mostly driven by the conditioning of anger or other negative emotionality to specific trigger sounds moderated by personality traits,” they added.