In the early days of misophonia, the disorder was often referred to by memes and media as “chewing rage” — even Kathie Lee and Hoda were in on the joke, mocking the condition as “phoney” while making chewing noises. In the early years of my advocacy from 2014 to 2017, I was constantly frustrated by the way the media (and how researchers) were discussing misophonia. Rather than a serious condition that causes upheaval of the lives of those who have it and those around them, it was something to be mocked if it were even brought up at all.
At one point, a sub-set of the community was referring to the condition as Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome, a name that ironically triggered many with the “s” trigger. While some still use this name, it has mostly been out of favor.
While I personally use the word “misophonia” as it has tied advocates and researchers together, the term itself “hatred” “of sound” is lacking and ignores the complex physiological components of what we refer to as misophonia.
I will admit that sensory dysregulation is a term that I have been personally adopting as we see the literature move decidedly in the direction of a neurophysiological disorder that impacts the sensory system. While auditory dysregulation can be used for sounds specifically, many with misophonia also have visual/tactile/olfactory triggers. It is my view that research needs to move in an area that parses out whether or not misophonia is actually a discrete auditory dysregulation, or if it is part of a greater sensory-based neurotype. While I cannot say for sure, growing literature on overlaps in misophonia and autism are an important part of this puzzle that needs to be investigated.
The term sensory dysregulation is simple because it is not political, not based on another existing disorder, and is trans-diagnostic. Rather than referring to misophonia, I am referring to persons whose nervous systems are hijacked by sensory stimuli. The specifics of why this happens do not change that the sensory system is clearly operating in a way that is not regulated.
