Allow myself to introduce...myself

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I was a latch-key kid growing up, so I assumed that my inability to cope with

hearing people eat had to do with my lack of family dinner experiences. However,

now I can clearly see that this is not the case having read the heart-breaking

experiences that some of you had with family dinner problems.

I'm not sure how much comfort a clinical diagnosis can give us in regards to

dealing with the sensitivity to the sounds -- however, since seeing that so many

people have this issue it has helped me understand my own problems a little

better.

Now, when my wife's eating bothers me, I tell her I'm having an " episode " and we

have a laugh about it. It diffuses the rage I have building inside of me through

an outlet (self deprecating humor) and letting her know also lessens the

anxiety.

Also, my cousin (female) suffers from this too, in much the same way (eating

sounds, sucking sounds, chewing, heavy breathing). I'm beginning to think this

might be mostly genetic, with external factors being only a minor contributing

factor.

-Rob.