Hello!
I’ve also had misophonia since I was a child, like most of you, and my parents were my first trigger-makers. I had to make excuses to leave the dinner table and beg them to play music while we ate. TV dinners were the best. I’m 32 now, read about the condition a lot, I’m an neurologist myself, but even though I feel very educated about misophonia, it still hits me hard. My partner tries to be understanding, but is hurt every time I have to leave the room or put in earphones when he eats crunchy food.
I’ve realized, though, that it helps a lot when he himself acknowledges his sounds and even apologizes. It kind of “shares the load”. When he is alarmed, my alarm doesn’t go off as badly. Same goes for my parents: when my mom reprimands my dad for chewing too loudly (“you know she doesn’t like that!”), I not only feel less frustrated and angry, but it’s easier to grasp onto my logical side (“this is a nonsense reaction, he doesn’t mean bad”) and fight off the alarm.
The worst is when you get the feeling somebody is triggering you on purpose or just doesn’t care.
I hope this helps somebody.
Best,
E.