Phonophobia, also called ligyrophobia or sonophobia, is a

fear Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...

of or aversion to loud

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

s (for example firecrackers)—a type of specific phobia. It is a very rare phobia which is often the symptom of

hyperacusis Hyperacusis is an increased Hearing, sensitivity to sound and a low tolerance for environmental noise. Definitions of hyperacusis can vary significantly; it often revolves around damage to or dysfunction of the Stapes, ''stapes'' bone, stapedius ...

. Sonophobia can refer to the hypersensitivity of a patient to sound and can be part of the diagnosis of a

migraine Migraine (, ) is a complex neurological disorder characterized by episodes of moderate-to-severe headache, most often unilateral and generally associated with nausea, and light and sound sensitivity. Other characterizing symptoms may includ ...

. Occasionally it is called acousticophobia. The term ''phonophobia'' comes from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

φωνή - ''phōnē'', "voice" or "sound" and φόβος - ''phobos'', "fear". Ligyrophobics may be fearful of devices that can suddenly emit loud sounds, such as computer speakers or fire alarms. When operating a device such as a home theater system, computer, television, or CD player, they may wish to have the volume turned down all the way before doing anything that would cause the speakers to emit sound, so that once the command to produce sound is given, the user can raise the volume of the speakers to a comfortable listening level. They may avoid parades and carnivals due to the loud instruments such as drums. As festive occasions are accompanied by music of over 120 decibels, many phobics develop

agoraphobia Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no way to escape. These situations can include public transit, shopping centers, crowds and q ...

. Other ligyrophobics also steer clear of any events in which firecrackers are to be let off. Another example is watching someone blow up a balloon beyond its normal capacity. This is often an unsettling, even disturbing thing for a person with ligyrophobia to observe, as they anticipate a loud sound when the balloon pops. When balloons pop, two types of reactions are heavy breathing and

panic attacks Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, otherwise defined as a rapid, irregular heartbeat, sweating, chest pain or discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, con ...

. The sufferer becomes anxious to get away from the source of the loud sound and may get headaches. It may also be related to, caused by, or confused with

, extreme sensitivity to loud sounds. Phonophobia also has been proposed to refer to an extreme form of misophonia.

References

External links

{{Diseases of the ear and mastoid process Phobias Sound Noise Psychoacoustics

See also

References

External links