Sounds that make you want to scream ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute

English from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil and I'm Phil.

Oh, what's that awful noise Phil?

Sorry, Neil. I was biting my nails.

I know it's a bad habit.

Urgh! It sounds terrible.

Sorry Neil. Actually.

It's not only you who finds certain sounds irritating, unpleasant

or even unbearable.

Whether it's someone biting their nails,

rustling a crisp bag or scraping a knife on a dinner plate,

some everyday sounds have the power to make us angry or upset

There's even a name for it:

'misophonia' also known as sound rage

and it's more common than you might think, according to some estimates

one person in five is affected emotionally by the coughing,

slurping, sneezing and snorting sounds made by the people

around them.

  In this programme,

we'll be finding out more about the medical condition 'misophonia'.

And as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

But first,

I have a question for you, Phil.

According to a recent survey by the American journal,

Medical News,

which of the following did their readers find the most unpleasant sound?

Is it a) bicycle brakes

squeaking, b) nails scraping a blackboard or c) a baby crying.

Hmmm.... I'll guess it was squeaky bicycle brakes.

I really hate that!

OK, Phil. We'll find out the answer later in the programme.

For people suffering from misophonia

the specific sounds which cause them to become emotionally upset,

also known as 'triggers' often involve food

and eating. Just sitting down for dinner with their family

can feel like torture.  

Olana Tansley-Hancock is

a British clinical researcher who also suffers from misophonia.

Here she explains some of her triggers to BBC

World Service Programme 'The Food chain':

It's just any kind of inescapable, repetitive noise

will potentially cause a misophonic-type response in me, that fight-or-flight.

And, yeah,

it's that immediate, uncontrollable reaction that you get to the sound

that is the most hard to explain and unusual,

I think because I don't think in modern day

you don't get many instances where you get a fight-or-flight response.

It's not like we're frequently chased down by wild animals and

then to feel those from pretty innocuous everyday sounds

is the thing that takes its toll.

Certain sounds trigger a fight-or-flight response in Olana. 'Fight-or-flight' refers

to the way the human body responds to stressful or dangerous situations,

either by physically running away or staying to deal with the threat.

Normally, these would be life-threatening dangers,

things like a fire or an attacking wild animal.

But for misophonia

sufferers even 'innocuous'

or completely harmless sounds create problems.

That's right. Olana,

for example, gets disturbed by helicopters flying in the sky and

the fact that other people don't seem too bothered also takes its toll -

a phrase meaning 'causes suffering or pain'.

So, what does it feel like to actually experience this kind of stress

in everyday life?

Here's Olana again,

explaining her feelings to Ruth Alexander,

presenter of BBC

World Service Programme, 'The Food Chain'.

It's not the same feeling,

but it's the same response in terms of the immediacy

and an inability to control it as when someone tells you that

someone close to you has passed away that feeling of utter sudden reaction.

You can't control it,

and then it lingers and carries on for you

that immediate emotional response.

Almost like a shock to the system.

Yeah.

Olana describes her misophonia,

as an uncontrollable and sudden emotional reaction as if finding out

that a loved one has passed away.

'Passed away' is a polite, euphemistic way of saying 'died'.

She also describes it as a 'shock to the system' - a sudden and unpleasant change.

Fortunately, misophonia sufferers have developed

some tricks to help. Playing background music can disguise the sound

of people sipping and slurping their food and clearly,

honestly, explaining

what the condition is, also helps people sympathise and understand. But

But of course, some sounds simply are disturbing -

for example, you biting your nails, Phil.

OK, I said I was sorry.

Maybe it's time to reveal the answer to your question

Neil, before you get more upset. You asked me which sound was voted

the most irritating for readers of the journal,

Medical News. Right. And you guessed

it was bicycle brakes squeaking, which was the wrong answer

I'm afraid, Phil. In fact, nails scraping a blackboard

was voted the most distressing noise and I completely agree.

Right, let's recap the vocabulary.

we have learned from this programme on misophonia,

starting with 'trigger' - something that causes people to feel

emotional distress or fear.

'Fight-or-flight' refers to the natural human response

to a threatening situation of either running away

was staying to face the danger. The adjective

'innocuous' means completely harmless. If something 'takes its toll',

it causes suffering, damage or death.

'Passed away' is a polite way of saying 'died'.

And finally, the phrase a 'shock to the system' means a sudden

and unpleasant change. Once again our six minutes are up.

Join us again next time for more trending topics

and useful vocabulary, here at 6 Minute English.

Goodbye for now. Goodbye.