Celebrities Who Have the Neurological Disability Misophonia and Suffer From Extreme Sensitivity to Sounds

Many people find chewing or slurping noises quite annoying — but for some, these sounds can be debilitating.

The technical term for the condition is misophonia, and it’s defined as a severe sensitivity to sounds like chewing, coughing, yawning and more. Those suffering from it experience strong and unpleasant emotional, physiological and behavioral responses to sound, and sometimes visual triggers.

In extreme cases, people with misophonia may need cognitive behavioral therapy to manage the condition.

Here are some celebrities who have publicly shared their experiences with the condition and how it’s impacted their lives.

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Melissa Gilbert

The Little House on the Prairie actress told PEOPLE that she was secretly struggling while filming the beloved TV series.

“If any of the kids chewed gum or ate or tapped their fingernails on the table, I would want to run away so badly,” Gilbert said. “I would turn beet red and my eyes would fill up with tears and I’d just sit there feeling absolutely miserable and horribly guilty for feeling so hateful towards all these people—people I loved.”

It was, “a really dark and difficult part of my childhood,” she added.

Kelly Ripa 

“As early as I can remember, certain sounds of eating bothered me,” Kelly revealed during a 2012 interview on ABC’s 20/20. “The sounds of people chewing gum can really enrage me.”

The mom of three explained that if one of her children is chewing or even swallowing too loudly, “my gut reaction is to yell, but I control that,” she said. “If my husband eats a peach, I have to leave the room.”

A longtime friend of Ripa added, “It may sound funny but it’s not! Kelly can be­come enraged at anyone for something as simple as chewing with their mouth open. Mark has to remain calm and explain to the people that Kelly isn’t really mad at them. It’s something she just can’t control, but it’s led to yelling and screaming… and tears.”

Christina Applegate’s Daughter Sadie

During a June 2024 appearance on MeSsy, the podcast hosted by Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler, the 13-year-old revealed that she suffers from misophonia.

“My misophonia is so awful. I hate it so much, it’s one of my worst struggles in life,” she explained, noting that she wasn’t able to focus earlier in the day because of the buzzing from a household vacuum cleaner.

It also causes her to struggle in school. 

“I think my two worst [sounds] are breathing and chewing. I cannot deal with breathing and chewing, not even my own,” Sadie said, telling the listeners that she often wears noise-canceling headphones when her condition is bad.

Kelly Osbourne

Osbourne revealed that she was diagnosed with misophonia after her brother Jack told her about the condition.

“For years, the sound of other people chewing, chomping, slurping and gurgling has made me feel really anxious and uptight,” she said during the 2015 Woman of the Year gala lunch for Friendly House. “People told me I was crazy but now I have actually been diagnosed with a condition and it’s a real medical phobia called misophonia.”

“I’ve walked up to people I don’t know and ripped the gum out of their mouth,” Osbourne also said on the U.K. talk show Loose Women. “It makes my knees buckle and makes me sweat. Don’t ask, it’s another tick on my box of insanities. I can’t handle it, it drives me nuts.”

Melanie Lynskey 

During a 2018 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the actress’ husband Jason Ritter revealed that she suffers from misophonia, explaining that the worst sound to make around her is smacking your lips.

“They hear it 20 times louder than you do and it drives them insane,” he said. “It’ll turn someone with misophonia off. Just blank stare, inner rage, if you do it.”

Ritter also noted that “gum chewers drive her crazy” and she often struggles to eat at restaurants due to loud chewers.

Lynskey later explained that “it’s a brain condition when you can’t comprehend anything else when you hear a gross noise.” She also praised Ritter because “he has never been annoyed by my weird condition.”