One of the things that my aunt would say, whenever we'd have discussions about my misophonia, is how creative I am in so many different media: music, sculpture, writing... I know that part of it is because she's trying to be very supportive and encouraging of who I am and how much creative work I've done throughout my life. The more I learn about misophonia, the more I wonder how much of my creative abilities have been supplemented by my hyper-sensitive senses of hearing, touch, sight, and even a bit of smell and taste. (I've been very creative in the kitchen of late.) I don't think it's such a far-fetched idea, especially considering what I recently discovered while doing some more informal misophonia research.
I belong to a couple of misophonia discussion groups and every now and then, someone will pose a question that inspires me to try to look for an answer. So when a person asked if anyone knew about a recent National Geographic report on misophonia, I'll admit, the thought of such a report piqued my interest to know what the report would say. Of course, I tried googling "National Geographic report on misophonia" but didn't find the report. I even went to the National Geographic channel website but searches of "misophonia" and "sound sensitivity" came back with no results. What I did find from the initial Google search was an artist who did an album cover for the Danish heavy metal band called Misophonia on a website called deviantArt. I'll admit, the artwork really captured the emotion of what it sometimes feels like to be exposed to triggers - the rage created by a little needle jabbing at the ear. Although the image is unsettling, it is powerful and familiar at the same time.
I looked at some other images on the site, not all of which focused on the subject matter of misophonia. One other that caught my attention was a comic strip (page) illustrating a student with misophonia being bombarded by triggers during class. Even though it was a much simpler visual work than the album cover, in the back of my mind I could hear the various triggers conveyed in the various frames.
Between the visual artistry of these artists and the musician Paul Tabachneck, whose song "Misophone" I mentioned in the "Video and Audio Clips" page in the "Other Resources" section of this website, and my own experiences, I started to think about how many other artistic people are out there who might also suffer from misophonia...
Who knows, perhaps the creative Van Gogh cut off his ear to try to lessen aural misophonia triggers with which he may have been bombarded. Okay, that one may be a stretch, but it is and interesting thought to consider... I kinda like that possibility over what has been noted as the real account of how Van Gogh lost his ear. I can't tell you how many times I've lamented my excellent hearing and wished I could give some of my aural sensitivity to someone needy with hearing difficulties. (To warp a quote by a famous comedian, "Take my ear... PLEASE!") :-)
I belong to a couple of misophonia discussion groups and every now and then, someone will pose a question that inspires me to try to look for an answer. So when a person asked if anyone knew about a recent National Geographic report on misophonia, I'll admit, the thought of such a report piqued my interest to know what the report would say. Of course, I tried googling "National Geographic report on misophonia" but didn't find the report. I even went to the National Geographic channel website but searches of "misophonia" and "sound sensitivity" came back with no results. What I did find from the initial Google search was an artist who did an album cover for the Danish heavy metal band called Misophonia on a website called deviantArt. I'll admit, the artwork really captured the emotion of what it sometimes feels like to be exposed to triggers - the rage created by a little needle jabbing at the ear. Although the image is unsettling, it is powerful and familiar at the same time.
I looked at some other images on the site, not all of which focused on the subject matter of misophonia. One other that caught my attention was a comic strip (page) illustrating a student with misophonia being bombarded by triggers during class. Even though it was a much simpler visual work than the album cover, in the back of my mind I could hear the various triggers conveyed in the various frames.
Between the visual artistry of these artists and the musician Paul Tabachneck, whose song "Misophone" I mentioned in the "Video and Audio Clips" page in the "Other Resources" section of this website, and my own experiences, I started to think about how many other artistic people are out there who might also suffer from misophonia...
Who knows, perhaps the creative Van Gogh cut off his ear to try to lessen aural misophonia triggers with which he may have been bombarded. Okay, that one may be a stretch, but it is and interesting thought to consider... I kinda like that possibility over what has been noted as the real account of how Van Gogh lost his ear. I can't tell you how many times I've lamented my excellent hearing and wished I could give some of my aural sensitivity to someone needy with hearing difficulties. (To warp a quote by a famous comedian, "Take my ear... PLEASE!") :-)
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