Keara’s pulse quickened as the incessant click-click-click of pens in the lecture hall felt like nails on a chalkboard. Each tap-tap-tap of typing in the library sliced through her focus, and even the faintest crack of knuckles or rustle of food seemed to pierce her nerves. Every noise, from the clinking of silverware to the crunch of snacks, turned her quiet study time into a relentless slap to her senses.
“I struggle daily with misophonia,” Keara Watson-Laird, ArtSci ’26, said in a statement to The Journal.
“People with misophonia are affected emotionally by common sounds—usually those made by others, and usually ones that other people don’t pay attention to,” author James Cartreine, PhD, said in Harvard Health Publishing.
Anything from breathing, yawning, or chewing can create a fight-or-flight response, triggering anger and a desire to escape, Cartreine said.
In March 2023, a study conducted by the University of Oxford revealed misophonia is a much more common phenomenon than most people realize, where one in five people struggle with tolerance of everyday sounds.
A June 2018 study conducted by the National Institute of Health investigated the incidence, correlations, and impairments associated with misophonia in a student population. Results indicated out of 483 undergraduate students, 22.8 per cent were always sensitive to, or annoyed by specific sounds.
Misophonia has a presence in education institutions more than some might realize.
“Based on my experience, I would define sound misophonia as auditory elements that agitate or upset the listener,” Watson-Laird said. “My instinct is to flee, to try and get as far away as possible from the sound.”
Watson-Laird reflected on her challenges, such as doing poorly on in-person tests. With small, distracting sounds often breaking her concentration, she struggles to regain focus.
In a meeting with her Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) advisor back in her first year, Watson-Laird was given the option to write exams in smaller rooms so triggering sounds wouldn’t be as prominent. However, she struggles more with everyday life outside of exams.
Every sound feels like a personal invasion, turning the world into a battleground where silence is the only refuge, she said. Lecture halls and campus libraries serve as primary catalysts.
“I sometimes wear noise cancelling headphones in class because I can still hear the professor’s voice but not the provoking sounds—I’ve been told to remove them multiple times,” Watson-Laird said. “A lot of people don’t understand how upsetting and psychologically distressing having misophonia is—where people often don’t treat it seriously.”
Watson-Laird is no stranger to having friends, and even professors chuckle when she tries to explain how awful misophonia can be.
The negative experiences faced by students with misophonia have had weighing consequences on other aspects of their mental health. For Watson-Laird, the irrational anxiety that develops from being subjected to such uncomfortable sounds can be serious.
“It’s not a joke,” she said.
“In the last four or five years, there’s been more emphasis on mental health and there’s been more people suffering from mental health probably because of all the things that have been going on—at least in the States—in of the pandemic, our political turmoil, economy and all those things,” Dr. Lousie Goddard said in an American Medical Association publication. “There’s more of that going on and with more awareness, misophonia becomes more visible.”
As libraries echo with laughter and conversation, the struggle for students with misophonia is a poignant reminder that silence can be a privilege. The daily struggles faced by students with sound-triggered sensory issues akin to Watson-Laird reflect a bigger picture of what universities could be doing to better students through their battles with sounds.
“Other than the opportunity to write my exams in smaller classrooms, not much aid has been offered—with my personal aids having been rebuked,” Watson-Laird said.
Nonetheless, the third-year student contends smaller classrooms aren’t always the solution.
Watson-Laird echo’s Dr. Goddard’s sentiment on how the empirical prevalence of misophonia as a mental health phenomenon calls to action the possibility of universities adjusting and developing better resources to accommodate students.
The QSAS Vision & Mission statement focuses on creating universally inclusive and accessible educational experiences that foster independence and autonomy for all students with disabilities through developing ongoing partnerships with students, faculty, and staff.
QSAS s students with sound sensitivity by providing individualized academic accommodations depending on the student’s specific functional impacts arising from their diagnosed disability, and the essential requirements of the course.
“Queen’s University Library has designated quiet areas, including the Adaptive Technology Centre, that also provides services, assistive devices, computer hardware and specialized software to students with disabilities,” the University said in a statement to The Journal.
On the other hand, the scope of mental health services in respect to Queen’s Student Wellness Services (SWS) is a limited, short-term care provided for students needing to access mental health services.
The more restricted range of SWS care means it’s unable to provide accessibility solutions for misophonia, as well as regular appointments with a psychiatrist, treatment for complex mental health diagnoses as these require specialists, care plans, and supervision.
Watson-Laird suggests that a potential solution for her and other students struggling with misophonia is to allow school-approved noise-canceling headphones as accessibility aids during exams which can be “so helpful for people with auditory difficulties.”
Technological institutions are in the process of working to individuals with misophonia. The researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle have developed Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted headphones with real-time sound filtering capabilities, the Centre for Accessibility Australia reported.
This technology, known as semantic hearing, is designed to help individuals with sensory conditions like misophonia by enabling s to selectively filter out specific sounds while allowing others to remain audible.
“The innovation of AI-assisted headphones opens up new possibilities for managing Misophonia and similar sensory issues—by leveraging advanced algorithms, these headphones can identify, isolate, and suppress trigger sounds in real-time, providing s with greater control over their auditory environment,” the Centre said.
These AI-enhanced headphones “hold promise” for further applications, such as customizable solutions to mitigate sensory overload and enhance comfort. Conventional coping mechanisms like earplugs may offer people with misophonia “limited relief.”
Students are becoming increasingly aware of the challenges faced by individuals with misophonia. An author at the University of Toronto’s Newspaper, The Varsity covered a story on how the popcorn you eat in class is their personal horror movie.
“In a case like mine, accommodations are more than just helpful—they’re necessary for my survival,” Lina Fourati reported in The Varsity.
“For days when I was on campus for hours on end, I’d need some privacy, some space to myself where I could feel isolated enough to eat properly. In high school, I was provided that space, and it was one
of the few places I felt like I could breathe,” Fourati said.
When Fourati arrived at U of T, she immediately approached Accessibility Services to request a private space, similar to what her alma mater had provided. The response, however, was no. Registrars and libraries would refer the student back to Accessibility Services, saying they didn’t have enough space, or simply saying there was nothing they could do.
“With misophonia, the person struggling with it is often aware of how irrational their anger or irritation can be, so, at least for myself, clenching my fists is a tool to remind myself I’m present, physically okay, and that it will be over soon,” Watson-Laird said.
The Queen’s community, along with many other education institutions, need to begin acknowledging the need for silence that many students crave.
Fourati finds themselves being “brave out of necessity,” where they typically give presentations in their classes at the start of each semester to inform students about their struggles with misophonia and possible triggers to be mindful of. At the end of each presentation, Fourati leaves her information so their fellow peers can leave questions she can answer.
“The usual questions were there, about whether bubble tea is okay—it is, as long as you don’t chew on the tapioca and if lozenges are fine—again, just avoid chewing,” Fourati said. “I had a couple of people tell me I was brave for standing up like that and giving a speech about something so personal. All somewhat expected—nothing out of the ordinary. What I didn’t expect were a few kindred spirits.”
While there’s not a single, linear path to navigating a solution to accessibility needs in relation to misophonia, Waston-Laird and Fourati both suggest that education and awareness are starting to make students with the the disorder feel safer in educational environments.
For Waston-Laird, a simple act of mindfulness—a soft voice, a closed snack—can create ripples of consideration that make the campus experience more inclusive for all.
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