MISOPHONIA MATTERS

Volume 0, Issue 0 (Dummy issue) January 2010

What’s In A Name? View from the Ivory Tower

Misophonia battles it out with Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome
Practitioners have been engaging in what might be called “term
warfare” when it comes to finding a name for the species of
decreased sound tolerance involving an extreme dislike of,
among other things, eating and breathing noises. American
neuroscientist Pawel Jastreboff coined the word misophonia in
the early 90s; ‘miso’ hatred or strong dislike and ‘phonia’ sound.
Marsha Johnson, an audiologist from Oregon, favours
“selective/soft sound sensitivity syndrome”, also known as
SSSS, a phrase she developed. It certainly has the benefit of
“saying what it is on the can”. Johnson’s main criticism is that
she believes misophonia should be reserved for those who hate
all sound where SSSS, by its very nature, is a specific syndrome.
Appearing to have a predilection for ancient Greek monikers, it
is perhaps no surprise that medical practitioners on both sides
of the Pond are using misophonia to refer to what Dr Johnson
calls SSSS.
Scouring the literature for references to misophonia
Dr Jastreboff coined the term “misophonia” in 1991. It is
not surprising then that, as such a young diagnosis, there
are currently only a handful of references to misophonia in
the research literature. Phonophobia, now said to be an
extreme form of misophonia, has a longer pedigree. It has
traditionally been associated with migraine, rather than a
condition worthy of research in its own right. Whether the
phonophobia of migraine has any connection with soft
sound sensitivity remains to be seen.
Reaction
Academic reaction to the Jastreboff’s seminal paper in 1991
has been muted. Continued on page 2.

The online forums have also sustained a heated debate, with

some users being barred from posting if they continued a usage
which happened to fall foul of the particular editorial policy.

Unlike phonophobia, misophonia has not yet made it into the

OED. Eyebrows might be raised when one considers that
continued on page 2

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1 What’s In a Name: The Battle Between Misophonia and
4S.

1 View from the Ivory Tower: scouring the literature.

2 Introducing Misophonia UK.

NEXT TIME

▪ Will MEG shed any light on misophonia?

▪ Our guest columnist contributes from the aural frontline

Misophonia Matters Published by Misophonia UK, SW20 9HY © Misophonia UK 2010. All rights reserved. ISSN applied for.