Baden’s Story

I mentioned Baden’s story briefly in Chapter 7 as the individual with a trigger to mockingbirds. Baden was in good health, in his early thirties, with no history of mental health problems. He presented with misophonia trigger stimuli of mockingbird chirps and lesser triggers to some other birds. One year earlier, mockingbirds had built their nest near Baden’s bedroom window. Mockingbirds have a unique characteristic of chirping both day and night. The chirping prevented Baden from sleeping and, over time, he developed a misophonic response to each of the five distinct calls of the mockingbird. Since then, he experienced an expansion of trigger stimuli to other (but not all) birds, though the misophonic response to other bird chirps was less severe. Baden’s physical reflex was a “chill” on his upper arm and a sensation on the sides of his head.