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.