Many people with life-long misophonia have suffered because of being misdiagnosed. Traditionally, because virtually no one in the medical and psychological communities was aware of misophonia, any examination of an individual with misophonia resulted in a misdiagnosis. I asked members of an online misophonia support group to tell me their diagnoses prior to realizing they had misophonia. Here is a partial list: intermittent explosive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, mood disorder, hyperacusis, ADD/ADHD, bipolar, paranoid personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, autism, nervous disorder, sensory processing disorder, phobia, typical mother-daughter issues, migraines, seizures, PTSD, and depression. Because any diagnosis without knowing about misophonia is a misdiagnosis, the best answer any professional could have provided was, “I don’t know.”
Additionally, many people have been told that there was nothing wrong with them. They were told they just needed to get on with their lives, or that they were spoiled brats, crazy, too sensitive, a prima donna, never happy, stuck up, or hypersensitive. Many were also told they needed to ignore the sounds or that it was all in their head. Misophonia causes extreme negative emotions and many individuals engage in inappropriate overt behavior (actions) directed against people they dearly love. Both the extreme emotions and actions cause high levels of guilt and shame, which is only made worse if the person is told it is their entire fault!
Here is a poem that expresses what it is like to have misophonia.