Current Trends in the Treatment of Misophonia

Abstract

Misophonia is a disorder characterized by emotional and physiological responses that occur in response to certain auditory stimuli. Visual, tactile, and olfactory stimuli, primarily oral and nasal sounds such as eating, nose, and respiratory sounds, reveal misophonic responses. People with misophonia may have difficulty in social interactions, and work or school performance may be adversely affected. Misophonia symptoms can also cause anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems. Physiological reactions in the body, such as pain, sweating, tachycardia, hot flashes, and breathing difficulties, negatively affect people's physical health. For this reason, people's physical and mental health and quality of life are significantly affected. The absence of agreed diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of misophonia and the lack of sufficient data to classify it as a psychiatric disorder has led to the lack of validated treatment guidelines. However, there are treatment recommendations discussed in the literature for misophonia, which has a prevalence of 20% in a limited number of studies and negatively affects the functionality of the individual. In the management of misophonia, tinnitus re-education therapy (TRT) was used as audiological treatment, antidepressants, and anxiolytics were used as pharmacological treatment and cognitive behavioral therapies were used as therapy. Other suggested treatment recommendations are neural remodeling technique, sequential remodeling hypnotherapy, trauma prevention technique, and trauma and tension reduction exercises. This review aims to present the treatment approaches available in the literature together and to understand the need for experimental evidence for treatment methods.