Man left family because they chewed too loudly

A man hasn't spoken to his family in four years because he was enraged at the sound of their chewing.

Derrol Murphy, 41, suffers with misophonia, a mental disorder which causes certain noises to trigger heightened emotional responses and cut off all communication with his family due to their throat clearing, has walked out on dates with noisy eaters and come close to attacking co-workers who click pens.

Derrol, from San Diego, US, said: "I thought I was crazy for many years. Little noises would make me just fly into a rage.

"People don't understand it and I can't explain it. It's affected relationships, especially people I've been dating and family members, because you take it out on the people closest to you because you think they should understand.

"I'm not an aggressive person, noises just anger me. I've had to walk out on dates if they are chewing really loudly, my face gives it away - I pull a look of disgust I can't hide.

"Chewing is a big one and specific voices. I hear everything all the time."

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.