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What's that noise?

Working most of my adult life in a newsroom, it makes sense that I would hear a lot of fingers tapping away at keyboards. When I started, I enjoyed the sound -- it was the sound of important work getting done.

Then one day the click, click, clicking of a room full of fingers on keyboards sounded much louder than usual.

It was all I could hear.

Suddenly, a sound that I had come to look forward to hearing was making my skin crawl.

What was happening?


A little research and I found that what was happening probably falls into the category of misophonia, a heightened sensitivity to certain sounds that has been linked to OCD and other forms of anxiety.

Give me a barking dog any day. But someone chewing food? It unnerves me.

Want to crack your knuckles? Go for it, I'll do it too. But a lip-smacking sound -- even a very quiet one -- can cause my anxiety to skyrocket.

None of this makes much sense to me. And I certainly would never ask someone not to chew food.

It's just an OCD-related part of my life that has impacted me way more than I would have imagined. 

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