Misophonia Thought Patterns and Beliefs

Our thought patterns are ways that we think over time. For example, a person who is prone to catastrophizing will jump to conclusions such as “because I am triggered right now, the entire day is ruined,” or a person experiencing all or nothing thinking may think that “because this feels bad right now, nothing will ever feel good again.” Persons with misophonia may also attribute their triggers to malice regardless of actual known intent. For example, a person with misophonia may believe that “they are clicking their pen on purpose” when experiencing a triggering moment.

Our thought patterns are a useful way to categorize how our automatic thoughts normally occur. Automatic thoughts can follow a specific pattern such as catastrophizing, all or nothing thinking, mind-reading and assuming intent, and more. By recognizing our automatic thought patterns, we can then identify whether or not these types of thinking are adaptive or maladaptive ways to respond to the precipitating event (the misophonic trigger moment). The following worksheets are meant to help persons with misophonia identify their patterns and beliefs related to the condition.

The cognitive distortions described in the included image are a key component of Aaron Beck’s work in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). They are essentially biased or irrational ways of thinking that can lead to negative emotions, unhelpful behaviors, and a distorted view of reality. Understanding these thought patterns is the first step in learning to challenge and change them.

This distortion involves thinking in absolute, black-and-white terms without any room for shades of gray. You see yourself as either a complete success or a total failure, with no middle ground. For someone with misophonia, this might manifest as “I cannot go to that movie theater; if I hear even one popcorn crunch, my entire evening will be ruined, and so there is no point in going.” This thought pattern prevents you from seeing a situation as having both positive and negative aspects.

Catastrophizing is the act of predicting a dire, worst-case scenario for a future event. It involves exaggerating the consequences of a situation and assuming that a difficult event will be completely unbearable. For a person with misophonia, this could be thinking “This person is chewing their gum so loudly that I just know it is going to drive me so crazy that I will have a panic attack right here in the office and I will wind up getting fired.” The severity of the anticipated outcome is far beyond the reality of the situation.

This distortion involves holding rigid, unbending rules about how you or others should behave. When these rules are broken, you feel angry, frustrated, or disappointed. A misophonia sufferer might think that “People should know not to slurp their drinks in a quiet library. It is so rude, and they must be doing it just to be annoying.” This kind of thinking leads to feelings of resentment and makes it difficult to accept imperfections in others.

This is a thought pattern where you take a single negative event and assume it will happen again and again, across all situations. It is like using one bad experience to paint a broad, negative picture of everything. Someone with misophonia who overgeneralizes might have one difficult airplane flight where someone loudly crunched on ice and then conclude that “I can never fly again. Every flight will be filled with irritating noises that make me miserable.”

Personalizing is the tendency to believe that you are the cause of an external event, especially a negative one, even when you are not responsible. It is a form of taking things personally. For misophonia, this can lead to the belief that the person making the sound is doing it to intentionally bother you, rather than just being unaware. For example, “My neighbor is drilling at this late hour just to get on my nerves.”

This distortion involves picking out one negative detail in a situation and dwelling on it exclusively, to the point that your vision of reality becomes clouded by that one negative. It is like having a mental filter that blocks out all positive information. A person with misophonia might be at a wonderful party, but if they hear a single person chewing loudly, their mind will fixate on that one sound, making them unable to enjoy the conversations, food, or company.

Dismissing the positive is a way of neutralizing or invalidating positive experiences. You might receive a compliment, but you immediately brush it off. When applied to misophonia, this might look like someone at a beautiful beach who is so bothered by the crunching of the sand under someone’s feet that they ignore the calming sound of the waves and the beautiful sunset.

This distortion involves applying a broad, negative label to yourself or others based on a single action. It is an extreme form of overgeneralizing. Instead of thinking “That person is slurping their coffee,” you label them as “a disgusting, inconsiderate person.” This makes it hard to see people as complex individuals and instead reduces them to a single perceived flaw.

This is a common cognitive distortion that involves making an assumption without having all the facts. It often includes two sub-distortions: mindreading and fortune-telling. When you jump to conclusions with misophonia, you might hear a sound and immediately create a story about the situation and the person involved, even though you have no evidence.

This is a form of jumping to conclusions where you assume you know what another person is thinking or feeling. With misophonia, you might hear someone sniffling and automatically think that “They are doing this on purpose to annoy me,” without considering other possibilities such as allergies or a cold.

This is the second form of jumping to conclusions, where you predict that an event will turn out badly without any evidence. For someone with misophonia, this could be thinking that “I am going to a dinner party tonight. I know someone will be a loud chewer, and it is going to ruin my entire night.” This thought can cause anxiety and stress before the event even starts.

This distortion is the belief that your feelings are an absolute truth about who you are. Instead of recognizing that emotions are temporary states, you believe that how you feel at a given moment defines you. For a person with misophonia, this could mean thinking that “I feel so angry and out of control when I hear that sound, so I must be an angry, out-of-control person.” This makes it difficult to see that you can manage your reactions and that the emotion does not define your entire personality.

Instructions: Read the statements below and identify the black-and-white thinking. Then, reframe each thought to include a more balanced perspective.

All-or-nothing thought: “I can’t go to the movie theater because if I hear even one person crunching on popcorn, my whole night will be ruined.”

Reframed thought:

All-or-nothing thought: “I made a mistake at work, so I’m a total failure and will probably be fired.”

Reframed thought:

Instructions: For each scenario, write the catastrophic thought that might arise from misophonia. Then, write a more realistic and grounded outcome.

Scenario: You hear someone loudly slurping their soup at a restaurant.

Catastrophic thought:

Realistic outcome:

Scenario: A co-worker is chewing gum loudly at their desk.

Catastrophic thought:

Realistic outcome: NEW: 10 Week Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Misophonia ProgramThis excerpt is from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Misophonia