Fundamentals of Mental Health

Fundamentals of Mental Health

Misophonia and psychiatric comorbidities in patients referred to psychiatric clinic

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Mehran Zarghami 1
Fereshteh Aghabarari 2
Ensiyeh Babaei 3
Abbas Alipour 4
1 Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
2 Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
3 Payam-e- Nour University, Tehran, Iran.
4 Department of Community Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
10.22038/jfmh.2025.87673.3317
Abstract
Introduction: Misophonia is a type of neurophysiological-behavioral phenomenon characterized by increased stimulation of the autonomic nervous system. The affected people experience emotional distress in response to sounds with specific patterns. This study investigates the frequency of misophonia and its related factors in the patients with a history of hospitalization due to psychiatric disorders.
Materials and Methods: This randomized descriptive study was performed on 291 patients, using a demographic and psychiatric history checklist and Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ). The descriptive and regression analysis statistical methods were employed to analyze the data.
Results: The MQ was completed for 213 patients including 41.3% men and 58.7% women. Nineteen% of the patients had hatred of some sounds out of whom 9% were diagnosed with Misophonia Syndrome (MS) and 10% suffered from SubSyndromal Misophonia (SSM). Among the misophonic patients, the most common annoying sound was others’ eating sound (36.8%) and in 53% of them, the reaction to the aversive sound was anger. There was a significant relationship between suffering from MS and marital status (P= 0.004), the type of psychiatric disorder (P< 0.001) and personality disorder (P< 0.001), as well as between SSM and gender (P= 0.02), education (P= 0.04), marital status (P= 0.001) and the type of psychiatric disorder (P< 0.001).
Conclusion: The prevalence of MS and SSM in patients with severe psychiatric disorders is noteworthy. Due to the distressing effect of misophonia on patients, it is necessary to pay attention to it in the diagnostic examination and treatment.
Keywords
Misophonia
Misophonia questionnaire
Psychiatric disorders
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Fundamentals of Mental Health
Volume 28, Issue 3
May and June 2026
Pages 161-168