I'm just really glad there's a group like this

[Guest guest]

So, I actually don't remember when I first got this problem, but it was some

time when I was very young. My brother used to smack his lips so loud at the

dinner table. I used to say " stop smacking " and it used to get on my parents'

nerves to the point where I would get into trouble for even mentioning the word

" smacking " . This caused me to go into full avoidance mode whenever I was around

somebody like my brother.

I'm now 30, and while I consider my social life pretty reasonable, I still get

so irritated and panicky whenever I hear somebody smacking their gum or eating

to the point that I don't know what to do. I lose my train of thought and I

become weak in the knees. I finally told one of my friends about this problem

earlier last year when she kept smacking her lips after taking a sip of her

drink in my car. Because I couldn't just leave the car (I was driving!), I

finally fessed up and told her. I was surprised at how understanding she was and

that she didn't lash out at me for saying something incredibly silly.

Well, while that made me feel better that somebody else knows that this is such

a problem with me, I still am frustrated. My supervisor that sits next to me at

work has been sucking air through his teeth and smacking for the last 2 weeks.

He has some sort of tooth infection. This has been the biggest challenge of my

life, having to deal with him because I can't just ditch my work, and i can't

put on earphones with the kind of work I do. This lead me to do some research

online on whether this is a known condition, and I can't even tell all of you

how thrilled I was when I discovered that I am not alone.

Now, I'm wondering whether I should tell my doctor and show him the information

I've found online and whether anyone has had any success stories with their

doctors.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd share.

--