Think it's funny?

It seems that some article writers try to make a mockery of misophonia by using exaggerated images of eating, as if this is the only noise that is bothersome and the triggers are limited to auditory stimulation, along with poorly researched blurbs of information.

At this point, no one can say for sure that it's a mental disorder. They're still researching what causes it, treatments, etc. I think there are psychiatric complications that arise from a lack of recognition, accurate diagnosis, and treatment within the medical community, maladaptive coping methods in part due to the aforementioned, no hope of a cure, and social backlash.

Most people with psychiatric disorders...

Cannot control their emotional responses or behaviors as a result of them. People with misophonia may not be able to control the emotions that come up when confronted with a noise that disturbs us, but we can -usually- walk away or use things like pink noise to mask the sounds.

The emotional response is worse if there is mockery; deliberate exaggeration of the noise, or someone knows it is an issue and does it all the more (which is pretty immature in itself). At that point, it is like a psychological assault.

When you are being assaulted...let's say someone was trying to mug or rape you...would the psychiatric professional community claim it is "abnormal" or the product of a "mental illness" for the one being assaulted to fight back?

Well, this is the same thing, except the assault is on your mind and ears. I don't mean that it can always be considered an assault; only if someone is aware of the issue and continues to do it to be a dick because they're ignorant.

I'm a very calm sort without the intolerable noises and people who do it just to get under my skin. I like to read, paint wooden items (boxes, plaques, etc), and things of that nature. I like to joke around when I'm with people and have a silly sense of humor; I'm easily amused, which sometimes gets me into "trouble" around those who don't understand what's so funny.

One of the few things that I don't find funny are assaults on the psyche - because the health and well-being of the psyche affects everything else in the body, including other people around the one whose psyche is being attacked or injured.

I don't look up to or have respect for anyone who engages in malicious manipulations, brainwashing techniques, psychological harassment, and similar. It's one thing for someone to be "mentally unbalanced" without anyone's "help"; quite another to be a contributor to said imbalance.

How I Cope

One thing that has helped is to use other sounds that I either find pleasant (ideal!) or at the very least, tolerable. This isn't possible in all settings and situations, but it seems to work at home, especially while I sleep since others in the household 'need' a TV on all the time and I can hear it through the walls.

Recently, I discovered that one of those sounds is pink noise, which sounds a bit like heavy rain to me. It's not the most pleasant and there are other selections, but it is tolerable and drowns out a lot of the noises that are bothersome. You can find long videos of it on YouTube - this is the one I prefer:

Sometimes I will open another tab and play my favorite music with the pink noise on low, so at that point it's just used to fill in the time between song changes or at quieter moments in the music. The only downside to that is I may not hear all of the notes or the pink noise may be too low to drown out the problematic sounds, so I've had to experiment with the right balance on volumes.

It can keep me sane for up to 10 hours; then I have to replay.

Now, in those other settings...it's really hard at work. Most of the common methods, like walking away, are impossible when you need the job. So each day becomes torture beyond the usual reasons many people begin to hate their jobs.

I can either pretend it doesn't bother me (not very well), start glaring at the noisemaker, send them hostile glances every time they do it, fidget like I'm five, grind my teeth, clench a fist, or just admit that what they're doing is getting on my nerves and can they please stop.

The last is the most ideal, honest, and mature; however, it isn't realistic. Most of those are more reaction than coping and most people don't stop. They mock, call me an asshole, or something of that nature.

So the there seems to be a shortage of healthy coping methods available within certain social contexts and it probably won't change even as misophonia becomes more widely understood. Like many other medical conditions that relate to the emotions, you can bet there will be a stigma.

Others who have misophonia have mentioned using mimicry (this has never brought me much relief) and ear-plugs (they can hurt after a few hours and may induce hyperacusis with prolonged use). Some people have recommended exposure, except if that worked, we would all be cured already.