I cannot sit through a movie with someone who rustles a popcorn bag and slurps so loudly like they’re trying to suck the soul out of a soda cup.
Once the crinkle starts, it’s all I can hear. Dialogue? Gone. And plot doesn’t matter. My only mission is to keep myself from snatching the bag and hurling it across the room. One time, I left a packed theater fifteen minutes into a film just because the man next to me wouldn’t stop digging in his bag like he was foraging for gold. I didn’t even get a refund.

Like me, many people find certain sounds unpleasant like loud slurping, or the constant clicking of a pen. But for some, these noises aren’t just irritating, they’re unbearable. This heightened emotional response to specific everyday sounds is known as misophonia, a condition that’s only recently begun to receive serious scientific attention.

So is it just a matter of needing better manners and stronger tolerance? Not quite. While the triggers may vary, chewing is among the most common. The sound of someone eating nearby [especially with open-mouth smacking] can cause disproportionate levels of distress, anxiety, or even anger in those with misophonia. Emerging research suggests that misophonia may be more than a simple pet peeve. In fact, it’s often associated with deeper emotional, psychological trait. People who experience this kind of sound-triggered rage [misophonia] are more likely to share certain brain patterns and even genetic markers linked to psychiatric and neurological conditions. So if the sound of someone cracking their knuckles makes you fantasize about jumping out a window, you’re probably not just high-strung. You might actually be wired differently.

Here are five traits and conditions commonly linked to misophonia, according to recent studies.

1. Depression and Anxiety

Beyond trauma-related disorders, misophonia has been linked to more common mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Individuals who live with these conditions often experience heightened sensitivity to sensory stimuli. When emotional reserves are already depleted, even relatively minor triggers like the sound of someone chewing can provoke outsized stress reactions.

In clinical terms, this can be explained by lowered sensory tolerance and a hypervigilant nervous system. One study found that individuals with misophonia had stronger reactions not only emotionally but also neurologically, with increased activation in the anterior insular cortex, a brain region involved in processing both sound and emotion.

2. Emotional Suppression and Neuroticism

Another recurring theme in misophonia research is the tendency to internalize emotions. People with misophonia often report bottling up frustration, sadness, or anger rather than expressing it. This emotional suppression has been associated with traits like neuroticism, loneliness, and excessive worry.

A study co-authored by Dr. Smit found that people with misophonia are more likely to avoid confrontation and struggle with unresolved emotional tension. Over time, this bottled-up stress can manifest as an intense response to otherwise mundane stimuli like chewing, tapping, or breathing.

In other words, it’s not just the sound itself that’s intolerable, it’s the accumulated stress beneath the surface that makes the sound unbearable.

3. Guilt and Shame Over Emotional Reactions

Interestingly, one of the more nuanced traits associated with misophonia is guilt not necessarily about the trigger, but about the reaction to it. Many people with misophonia report feeling ashamed or embarrassed by the anger or panic they experience in response to everyday sounds.

Dr. Smit’s research suggests that this emotional dynamic is central to how misophonia works. Unlike conditions that result in outward aggression, misophonia is often marked by internalized guilt, feeling bad for being irritated, even though the irritation itself feels uncontrollable.

This emotional tension may actually intensify the reaction, creating a loop of sound, irritation, guilt, and more irritation.

4. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

One of the strongest connections uncovered in recent genetic studies is between misophonia and PTSD. A study conducted by researchers in the Netherlands found that individuals with misophonia were more likely to carry genetic variants associated with PTSD susceptibility. This suggests that both conditions may be rooted in similar neurobiological mechanisms, specifically those related to emotional regulation and hyperarousal.

According to lead researcher Dr. Dirk Smit from the University of Amsterdam, this genetic overlap may also open the door to treatment options. If PTSD and misophonia share similar pathways, then it’s possible that therapies used for PTSD such as exposure therapy or cognitive reprocessing could also help people living with misophonia, per PsyPost.

5. Tinnitus and Sensory Processing Disorders

Tinnitus is a condition where people hear persistent ringing, hissing, or buzzing in their ears—is strongly correlated with misophonia. While tinnitus is typically thought of as a symptom, not a diagnosis, it often accompanies psychological conditions like anxiety, PTSD, and depression, all of which overlap with misophonia.

What researchers are beginning to see is a shared pattern of hyperactivity in the brain’s auditory and emotional processing centers. In other words, people with misophonia may not just dislike sound—they may experience it differently at a neurological level.