Though no one enjoys the sound of someone else chewing on their food, for a small group of people the sound can be torturous. It provokes extreme anger and deep discomfort when you have misophonia.

Chewing, knuckle-cracking, even breathing can become huge triggers for someone with this condition. Suffering from misophonia really isn’t a joke. If someone slurping their soup in a restaurant or the person next to you in the movie theatre breathing loudly is enough to make your blood boil, then you’ll probably recognize yourself in the following things too.

ARGH: Slurping, chewing and more!

1. Going out for dinner isn’t as relaxing and joyful to you as to others. You just pray the music over there is loud enough so you won’t go mad when you hear your friend munch on his bread.

2. You bring your earplugs to lunch at work because Brenda chewing on her salad drives you insane. Which always guarantees good conversation (‘SORRY? WHAT?!’)

3. In fact: you don’t wear your headphones because you’re listening to music, but because you can’t stand the sound of your colleague stamping on his keyboard.

4. In fact: people probably think you’ll sleep with those headphones on. Which possibly isn’t that far from the truth when your partner is a legendary mouth breather.

5. As a kid you once stormed to your room, raging in anger. Not because you didn’t want to finish your plate of sprouts, but because your sister was chewing way too enthusiastic on hers.

6. Every birthday your parents love to tell the story of how you once got send home from a field trip because you hit your classmate Sandy to the ground for cracking her knuckles.

7. Usually, you’re really cool and collected, but everybody who dares to say you’re overreacting get hits to the ground too.

8. You love your friends, but you also know exactly which one makes the most noise during dinner so you really make a point of not sitting next to them. For the sake of friendship.

9. Your earplugs are like brushing your teeth and probably one of the most precious things you carry with you. Losing your earplugs would be a bigger deal than losing your keys. Or the love of your life (kiddin’) (sort of).