A highly specific type of sensory overload. Examples also happen in persons with autism.
But some people are more than merely annoyed—certain sounds can send them into an agonized frenzy. There’s the journalist from Atlanta who wanted to reach across the dinner table to strangle his loudly chewing father; the computer scientist from Arizona who hated the sound of knives so much his girlfriend developed a phobia, too; the housewife from Oregon who moved her whole family out of her home so she wouldn’t have to listen to them. One teen couldn’t stand the sound of her mother sighing and, after going on anti-depressants, attempted suicide three times. Psychologists have begun to call them misophones—people with an acute reaction to specific, usually low-volume sounds. But because the condition is still poorly understood, sufferers struggle to convince their families, friends, and employers that their problem isn’t just a heightened form of neuroticism. In this hotel, however, where the first-ever scientific conference on misophonia was being held, tales of extreme aural agony were pouring forth, and sufferers who thought they were alone in their misery were finally meeting others of their kind. You just had to be very, very careful with your cutlery.