Apparently she has a disorder called misophonia. This is a disorder in which a person is bothered by certain sounds and has strong aggressive urges or obsessive thoughts. According to the BBC, one in five people suffer from some form of misophonia.
Misophonia is actually a very common disorder. For example, there are unpleasant sounds everywhere, such as the sound of other people eating snacks, biting their nails, sniffling, sneezing, and drinking soup. A characteristic of misophonia is that it is difficult for others to understand, and it appears that there are many people in Japan who suffer from it in secret. Incidentally, when the US journal Medical News surveyed its readers, the most unpleasant sound cited was ”the sound of fingernails scratching a blackboard”.
Unpleasant sounds vary from person to person, but people who suffer from misophonia are said to suddenly have their peaceful lives disrupted just a second ago, and become confused. For example, while you are taking a pleasant walk, you hear a dog howling somewhere. People who find the sound of a dog’s howling unpleasant get confused by it. It’s worrying because you don’t know when or where chaos will strike.
Currently, there is no effective way to alleviate misophonia, and the only thing you can do is play music to drown out the unpleasant sounds. On the other hand, by educating the public that misophonia is a disorder, understanding and empathy may increase, and effective solutions may be created. Sound research is particularly advanced in Japan, so by making full use of cutting-edge technology, it may be possible to help people suffering from misophonia.
I don’t have misophonia, but recently the building next to the small shrine has been demolished and a new one is being built. The pounding construction noise can be heard from morning till night, which is quite irritating. Partly because of being in such a situation, I may have unconsciously become interested in misophonia. (Kei Kitajima)