What can I do to help someone who has Misophonia?
Please reblog this, even if you don’t have misophonia, or don’t know someone who has it :)
Ask what you can do to minimize triggers
Many people may not be comfortable giving you a big list of all their triggers, especially if you don’t know them super well. Instead, asking this allows them to provide the information they want, as well as letting you know the most effective ways you can prevent triggering them!
2. Remind others in your social circle to minimize sounds that you know trigger someone!
You can do this without disclosing why, something as simple as saying “can you please stop doing x?” is perfect, as you do not need to tell others about your friend/peer/other’s misophonia, but still help reduce their distress!
3. Ask what you can do when they are feeling triggered! Some people may find that distractions from the audio stimuli help minimize their reaction, while others may not want to be touched/spoken to if they are feeling distressed or overstimulated. This will vary from person to person, so its really important to know what you can do to help without being pushy.
4. Don’t be offended if they express you trigger them often.
It can be frustrating to try to stop making sounds, or not realize you’re making them, but expressing this to the person with misophonia may cause them to feel guilty for asking you to accommodate them. Please try to be respectful and understanding, it is 100% okay to mess up sometimes! We aren’t perfect, but please keep in mind how your reactions affect others. Oftentimes, people with misophonia already feel bad telling someone they are triggering them, especially more than once, they aren’t saying so to hurt you in any way!
Please feel free to add onto this post and spread it around!
Wanted to add:
Don’t blame the person with Misophonia for not being able to control their triggers.
We ask that you be respectful and open minded, we don’t want to get upset that you’re making a trigger—we just want to feel safe.
Some people get verbally or physically aggressive—please try to be patient with them. We don’t mean to act out like that, but it’s hard to regulate when you’re being flooded with intense emotions.
The sound of a human being whistling is painful to me. Strangely, animals that whistle, like birds, don't have this effect.
I used to yell at kids to stop whistling when I was young, instead of politely asking, and they made fun of me. Later I learned that people are much more likely to stop if you just say "Please don't whistle" or "Please don't do that, it hurts my ears."
It doesn't embarrass me in the slightest to explain misophonia to someone. Be decent to me and I'll be decent to you about it.
