Are you a noisy eater?

It doesn't matter where - sitting on the couch in front of the TV, in an elevator, at the dinner table, or standing in line at the post office - if a person within my field of vision is eating noisily, I find myself going insane. Literally. We're not talking a mild irritation here - an internal silent wish that the person would stop; I have to physically restrain myself from running out of the room, or, in the case of an elevator or bus, where a quick exit is less realistic, from screaming out loud in frustration. I can't think of a habit that annoys me more in a person.

I have been afflicted with this intolerance for as long as I can remember. I am the youngest of four, and I recall as a bratty and spoilt five-year-old, I would threaten to leave the room (and actually acted on it) if my brother didn't stop biting down on the spoon as if his life depended on it every time he ate soup. If I wasn't only five years old at the time, and had greater powers of articulation and persuasion, as well as access to the then-non-existent Internet, I would have told him to take a leaf out of the Chinese book, and breathe in while sipping from his soup. According to the Chinese, this method prevents slurping.

Definitely the worst offences are eating cereal, munching on chips, slurping on soup, and chewing gum. I really thought that my violent reaction against noisy eating would have been something I would have grown out of by now, but no. If anything, I am even MORE intolerant now than I was when I was a child. I have more words at my disposal to lash out against the offender.

I am vaguely aware that this intolerance is not something to be proud of, and it is even quite trivial in the whole scheme of things, yet I wonder what it is that makes people eat as unabashedly loudly as they do. There are times when I even have to tell certain people in my life that I can't watch TV with them if they plan on eating, and that kinda wreaks havoc on your recreational activities.

I'm interesting in hearing from either those who share a similar distaste for noisy eating (if so, do you know of a cure?) or better yet those who are noisy eaters themselves, who can help me understand what lies at the root of noisy eating. Is it your background? Your nationality? (I'm British, after all.) Your religion? (Just kidding.) Is it an emotional attitude towards eating that manifests itself once the food is in your mouth? (I know, I'm a freak.)

Before I sign off, I have to say that an interesting element of all this is that the only two people in the world who don't disturb me when they are slurping or munching are my two little girls. But that's probably because I am just so grateful that they are eating at all - they eat like birds - that I block out the noise. Hmm. 


Amy

18 years ago

I am exaactly the same but worse, i actually cry at meal times i people are making noises and i'm not allowed to leave and eat alone. I'm only fifteen so i get forced to eat with the family. It makes me feel sick and shake, its kind of like a phobia... Isn't it just absolutely horrible. I can't even stand the sound of my own eating, but i can manage to eat quietly by letting the food mellow in my mouth. I don't understand why people can't just refrain from usuing straws, slurping, crunching, opening their mouths and (this one sounds silly but) breathing around me!
Ahhh i'm getting tense just writing this haha. Email back...any luck in finding a cure!?!
Amy

Sorelle

17 years ago

Amy, that's awful. I totally hear you. I guess one approach could be, if you can't beat em, join em, and eat as loud or louder than they do??
Either that, or when you do move out of home one day, invest in a really long table, so that you can be on the other side of the table.
Seriously, though, I really do empathize. People laugh at me when I tell them how much it bothers me, so it's nice to know that I am not the only one:-)

Brian

17 years ago

I agree enirely. When I read your first paragraph, it was great to realize someone has the same feeling. And I beat myself up for it. I think, "I shouldn't care so much about this." I also notice it's worse if I haven't gotten enough sleep or for some reason am more generally irritable.

I don't know if it's something that needs a "cure", which often implies we need a drug or something that can make us not care. I do however want to know why we have this intense irritation with it, and why other people don't even notice. Hell, I'd go for just an effective way to communicate it to people without making them all defensive and offended.

Sorelle

17 years ago

Brian: Thanks for coming by. I too wonder why I am the one who freaks out at the table, while everyone else continues eating, happily oblivious. I feel pretty bad cuz my husband eats loudly, and I KNOW he is not doing it to annoy me, but it drives me insane!

Bobby

17 years ago

Im so glad others feel this too, when it happens to me i feel like slapping the person doing it and punching anything within my reach, it really bothers me and i feel so vicious at times!

ANDRE

17 years ago

THIS IS BY NO MEANS AN UNCOMMON CONDITION.REST ASSURED WE ARE MANY.ITS IRRATIONAL THOUGH! IS IT MY PROBLEM? OR THE PROBLEM OF THE NOISY EATERS? THEY DONT SEEM TO CARE. ITS SO BAD WITH ME THAT EVEN THE SIGHT OF SOMEONES MOUTH GRINDING AWAY OUT OF EARSHOT TURNS MY SOUL TO A CAULDRON OF SEETHING HATE. AND I'M A NICE GUY! HONEST. I HAVE EVEN SUBCATEGORIZED THE VARIOUS SIGHTS SOUNDS ONE ENCOUNTERS IN DAILY LIFE, INCLUDING;
SLURPING-a tight-lippedmouth emmitting a short sharp ripping sound typically from soup eater
THE BLOW N SLURP- as above but with long introductory cooling blow
AQUA GULPING- liquid contents of mouth shooting down gullet at high pressure
THROAT CLUCKING-rare and hard to describe. you'll know it when u hear it though
CUTLERY ON TEETH
FROWNING WHILST EATING
VOCALISATIONS OF ENJOYMENT
INNER SQUELCHING-closed mouth
FINGER SUCKING

I COULD GO ON.
ON THE SUBJECT OF A CURE, THERE AINT ONE. ONCE THOUGH I TOLD MYSELF THAT THE GUY BEHIND ME ON THE BUS WASNT EATING CRISPS BUT TURNING THE PAGES OF A NEWSPAPER- A SOUND I REALLY LOVE. IT WASNT IDEAL BUT IT STOPPED ME GETTING UP AND TWATTING HIM.
THE NEAREST I HAVE COME TO EXPLAINING WHY I HATE IT IS THAT IT IS A BEHAVIOUR THAT DISREGARDS OTHERS AND THE CULPRITS SEEM SO BLIND TO THE REACTIONS OF PEOPLE LIKE US.

Matt

17 years ago

I agree with everything here and hate it with a violent passion. Like Andre I'm a nice guy and will go out of my way to help others but once I detect the slightest hint of chewing I go to 'code red' in an instant.

For me it started at the dinner table with my Dad and brother the worst offenders and my Mum to a lesser degree. I'm not sure how old I was when I first noticed it, maybe 8 or 9 but when I did I took the initiative and told my Dad straight 'Dad, can you close your mouth when you eat as it really bugs me' to which he replied, 'What? I'm enjoying my food!'. [I've just spent a minute clenching my fists thinking about that!!!]and is still an inconsiderate muncher to this day. As for my brother, he got a belt from me at the first opportunity and my Mum was and still is very sympathetic to my issue so 'behaves' nicely when I'm around.

I'm now 35 and my wife and kids are well aware so they are also sympathetic and at work I happened across another sufferer so we share the bond of hate together. There is a coworker who is absolutely the worst offender I've ever heard - he's so bad he even munches water! How is that possible? To be honest he is a hell of a lot better these days after I have told him a thousand times to STFU when eating.

As for a cure I think we are all well aware that this is a psychological issue but feel like we need or have to live with it. I mean, we can all appreciate how it seems like a none issue to none sufferers and that such an incidental, intangible noise should stir such violent, hateful emotions.

The annoying thing (apart from the condition itself lol)is that AFAIK there is no current classification for the 'condition' so where do you start to look for help? It's not a phobia as it instils a feeling of rage rather than fear. I would love to be free of it but what do you do? Go to the doctor? Where do you even start to explain it without him having you sectioned under the mental health act? The other issue is that the usual treatment for phobics is 'de-sensitivity' therapy and that scares the shit out of me as I couldn't be held responsible for murdering whoever tried to de-sensitise me!

A few months ago I emailed a few hypnotherapy clinics detailing the issues and feelings I go through in the hope that was the way forward and received a couple of emails that were quite vague and mentioned being able to help in the inner rage side of things but not enough to make me take any further action down that route although I'm still of the mind that it would probably be the way to go.

Over the years I seem to have become less tolerant and will just stand up and get the hell out of any place I need to. A story about that is when myself and the missus went to one of the kids end of year play and in one scene about 20 kids had to pretend to be eating sweets (!!!I know!!!!!!). Well there they were all making extra loud noise (to get the point across - I know!!!) and my missus looked at me with a 'please contain yourself' look of pleading, dread and sympathy and I looked back with an incredulous look of 'is this for real' rising to 'AAAARGH STFU' and then it went silent and they moved on. So I'm sat there clenched, fuming and shocked that the bloody teachers would write something like that into a play and calming myself down telling myself that it's over and calm down (why is it that after the noise abates you still hear it in your head, over and over?)

Anyway, after a few minutes I'm returning to a calmer state when they do it again! That's it for me I shoot straight up and pace straight out of the building and have to stay out for 10 minutes trying to chill out.

That's me anyway and I hope you can relate to things I've said.

I wish you all peace and quiet.

Matt.

Matt

17 years ago

Apologies for the long ranting comment above BTW but I'm glad to get it off my chest!

Matt.

Double Take › Busy, busy, busy

17 years ago

[...] but that’s record-breaking on Double Take) I still receive about the problem. Here it is again. The people who commented seem to suffer even worse than I do, and I thought I had it bad. One [...]

Gregg Logan

17 years ago

I live in Oshawa Ontario Canada and work in Markham - North of Toronto. There is a major Chinese community here - i work for a very large IT company and there are many cultures in the building. I do not do to the cafe to have lunch anymore as i can't stand the noise they make when they eat!!! I find it so disgusting and they don even care. It’s bad enough that they make no effort to speak English - they slurp, suck, grunt and all other kinds of Godly irritating noise!!!!
Am i racist? I work well with them - just cant be anywhere near them when they eat!!! - I feel so bad! I just want to scream - CLOSE YOUR GOD DAMM MOUTH!

Stu

17 years ago

I googled "noisy eater" and found this. I am not usually that bothered by other people's table manners, but I have this Indian man sitting across from me at work who eats like a pig. He takes 5 hours to eat his lunch (yes 5 hours - not an exaggeration), which is usually soup (yes it must be stone cold). I quietly told him once that he is distracting as he eats noisly and he was receptive to my complaint but unfortunately thought it only related to his slurping. Now he still makes loud clucking noises (whilst nodding his head) with every mouthful and this goes on for 5 hours, he takes one mouthful every 5 minutes. What makes it worse is no-one else seems to be bothered by him.

I feel I have been tolerant with the fact he clicks his fingers and plays his music loud enough for me to hear, but this drives me mad. It's the disrespect that aggravates.

He has 7 days left of his contract but I am not sure I can last out - should tell him again?

Chris

16 years ago

I am glad to find that there are other people with this issue. I have been "suffering" from this pet peeve for as long as I can remember. My entire family eats noisily and I am sure that it stems from some sort of irritation with that when I was little. I am a very nice person as well, but I sense extreme rage whenever I am within distance of noisy eaters. It is definately worse if I have no escape root. I think that there is an additional sense of rage added due to the fact that others seem oblivious to what is typically the loudest sound in the room. I get so frustrated that people can not consider the noise that they are making and the distraction that it causes. But, why are others not distracted? The worst instance I can remember happened in a college class that covered spanish art. At one point, the class was treated to an early nineteenth century silent film by Luis Bunuel. During this film, several people ate chips and chewed gum and slurpped coffe at such an astonishingly loud level that I thought my eyes would bug out of my head. It ruined the experience and infuriates me to this day. But my question was, how were others not angered as well? It was like watching an art movie with a score of smacking, slurping and crunching and even a burp. I can understand maybe people not noticing while they are eating as well, but how did they all overlook this? Was that room silent to them? My point is that the most frustrating thing about this pet peeve is that it is hard to realize that it isn't the norm when it feels like it should be. I assume that if I walked around with a chalk-board and some forks and scratched it as people went about their business that they would not be able to drown it out. Even ones that don't mind that scratch sound, would probably start to mind if I did it during that movie. If I had made any other sound, (a banging or a whistle) that loud I would have been asked to stop. But eating and coffee slurping at that level is completely overlooked.

I have also noticed that I can turn on other quiet eaters to the pet peeve, but they do not notice it until I point it out. It will slowly develop over time. I have converted two or three friends. I seriously think that as much as you could say that it is a psychological problem that it exists for me, it is also psychological that others don't notice. I belive that most people would say a room was dead silent if asked because they would look for other sounds other than a person standing there chewing their gum like a cow. Others don't acknowledge it as noise for some reason that I am extremely jealous of.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!

Chris

16 years ago

I am glad to find that there are other people with this issue. I have been "suffering" from this pet peeve for as long as I can remember. My entire family eats noisily and I am sure that it stems from some sort of irritation with that when I was little. I am a very nice person as well, but I sense extreme rage whenever I am within distance of noisy eaters. It is definately worse if I have no escape root. I think that there is an additional sense of rage added due to the fact that others seem oblivious to what is typically the loudest sound in the room. I get so frustrated that people can not consider the noise that they are making and the distraction that it causes. But, why are others not distracted? The worst instance I can remember happened in a college class that covered spanish art. At one point, the class was treated to an early nineteenth century silent film by Luis Bunuel. During this film, several people ate chips and chewed gum and slurpped coffe at such an astonishingly loud level that I thought my eyes would bug out of my head. It ruined the experience and infuriates me to this day. But my question was, how were others not angered as well? It was like watching an art movie with a score of smacking, slurping and crunching and even a burp. I can understand maybe people not noticing while they are eating as well, but how did they all overlook this? Was that room silent to them? My point is that the most frustrating thing about this pet peeve is that it is hard to realize that it isn't the norm when it feels like it should be. I assume that if I walked around with a chalk-board and some forks and scratched it as people went about their business that they would not be able to drown it out. Even ones that don't mind that scratch sound, would probably start to mind if I did it during that movie. If I had made any other sound, (a banging or a whistle) that loud I would have been asked to stop. But eating and coffee slurping at that level is completely overlooked.

I have also noticed that I can turn on other quiet eaters to the pet peeve, but they do not notice it until I point it out. It will slowly develop over time. I have converted two or three friends. I seriously think that as much as you could say that it is a psychological problem that it exists for me, it is also psychological that others don't notice. I belive that most people would say a room was dead silent if asked because they would look for other sounds other than a person standing there chewing their gum like a cow. Others don't acknowledge it as noise for some reason that I am extremely jealous of.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!

Tasha Dawn

16 years ago

I understand fully what you are all talking about and nobody seems to care youre absolutely right and it drives me absolutely mad..! nobody seems to truly understand, rather they say that they are listening to you complaints..BUT! but they dont think that your complaints deserves respect, they dont think that it is something that should be taken so seriously as to be a valid and actual nuisance. Instead, they freak back in your face with just as much irritation on the matter, or they laugh in your face. Even to the point where it actually becomes a full fledged argument. I dont understand why it has to be that way...do i have to seek revenge? NO of course not! I try to seemingly get their attention even if i have to shed tears for them to understand..though usually only works on family members...I wouldnt suggest it in public as to not make your self look like you escaped the looney bin! Know what else actually works... Showing others this site, helping them to realize that we do not stand alone..instead we are all plagued with this undying issue til the day we die! What on earth do we do besides besides rip our hair out and pray that God will take away our anxiety? I really need to learn some coping skills for this because as for now I am certainly on the losing streak..how about you guys?? Hopefully when i get married it will be one of their vows..to be extremely sensitive to my most hopeless pet peeves...:(
Sincerely, Tasha Dawn

Rollo

16 years ago

I suffer to the point that I threaten tea slurping colleges with pens. I have a theory about this which may only apply to me. The key observation is that a) the disproportionately intense heightening of the rage if the noise is done intentionally to annoy you. In fact, by reading the comments on this blog, I can almost feel my problem getting worse. In other words, noticing how angry it makes you makes it considerably worse and is actually the perpetuating force behind it.

The point is that the sound itself is not implicitly the cause of the rage but the association of someone else disturbing you by making it. This seems an oversimple, but by now every time I hear even a recorded or accidental slurp, there are so many levels of repressed rage sandwiched with indignancy that it triggers a reaction without there being any intent at all.

It would be interesting to know how many of the people on this wall have NOT had someone irritate them by making the noise on purpose or have NOT felt indignant that someone might be doing it on purpose.

The more I think about it the more complicated it seems. Maybe its incurable and I should just get a a tee-shirt explaining the risk to those who slurp within stabbing distance of me.

Cece

16 years ago

I really like this guy I have been friends with for about 4 years. We get along really well, and he has asked me out a couple of times.
I have always worried (and still do) that this is such a mean-spirited, shallow reason to NOT be with someone, but the way he eats drives me mad.
It has reached the point where I will make an excuse to leave the room when he's eating.

Unlike a lot of the examples here, he doesn't eat with an open mouth, but still somehow manages to make a LOT of noise. Like he is squishing and squelching the food around in his mouth and then swallows it loudly. I never knew it was possible to hear a person swallowing from across the room until I ate with him....

It's a serious problem because I really like him. He's such a totally lovely person and I know he must have no idea about how much noise he makes (especially since his mouth is closed, he must think he couldn't possibly be making much sound).
He's also a very sensitive person and I have no idea how I could ever tell him how much I hate the way he eats. I have been on the verge of telling him a few times, but always held back because I'm so worried it will hurt him and he will feel humiliated.

I try so hard to just tune it out, or I turn up the TV volume if I can. Another part of the problem is that he prefers not to have the TV on during dinner. Aaargh. So once or twice I've lied and said there is some show on that I really want to see...

Funny thing is, eating sounds never bothered me until I met him. His eating noises are just so strange and awful... they bother me more and more all the time.

Oh well... just venting here. I feel your pain!

lisa

16 years ago

At this exact moment... I am in HELL. This feels like a support group so I'll start from the beginning. It started when I was 9 years old. My family was camping in Monaco in a super crowded parking-lot-like camp ground. So, we all sat in our van and ate the hamburgers my dad got from some local fast food joint. My grandmother has dentures and was making some sort of smacking slurpy noise. I was literally trapped in a van in a foreign country and could not leave. I have never so bad in my life wanted to scratch someone’s eyeballs out. Since then it's been the same old story. If I don't notice I'm fine, but as soon as I take note of it, I get obsessed and listen for it! It's like I want to drive myself crazy!?! I once gave a good friend so many dirty looks, sighs, and snide comments, she felt bad (for my irrational behavior) wrapped up her burrito, put it in the trash, and left the room. Please though - if you can't eat refried beans without smacking, don't even go there. This brings me to right now. I work in a small windowless room with 2 other people. About 2-3 times a day one officemate, an otherwise nice person, will grab a Dr. Pepper and a small bag of chips. While he works he SLURPS his soda, open mouth CRUNCHES his chips and then BURPS. It is driving me crazy! "Slurp, crunch, slurp, burp. And Repeat..." It's like he was suckling off the damn soda! I've tried to replicate this noise and I can't! It's insanely loud!!! How can one person have so much gas? How does his wife live with him? He doing it right now and I needed to focus on something else. This is why I'm here. What do I do? I don't want to hurt his feelings and I don't want to come off crazy. It's just a matter of time till I jump off the roof or shoot him. Any ideas other than a baby bottle cap and some gas-x anonymously placed on his desk (he'll totally know it's me)?

Derek Luke

16 years ago

I found this article today because my roommate at college is eating and drinking right now. I have told him that he eats loudly and that it annoys me but to no avail. He started smacking his tongue against his palate and his lips and then he took a drink and slurped it down. I went apeshit and I honestly was about to flip out. I instead put on my noise-canceling headphones...it didn't work so I then turned on the music and I am now blasting music into my head so I don't have to hear that devil sound! AHHHHH!

I either put on headphones or I usually leave the room when I eat with him...my other 2 roommates don't bother me when they eat.

Adrienne

16 years ago

I can't believe I actually found other people with this same problem! I'm so relieved.

After yet another excruciating visit with my parents and in particular my noisy eating father, I have come home and googled "noisy eating" at my wit's end.

I've suffered with this for most of my life -I must have been about 10 years old when I first realised his obnoxious eating habits were grating on my nerves. Since then, it has become much worse. I literally dread sitting a table with him. I sit as far away as possible from him, I even try and have doors and windows open in the vain hope of bringing some extra noise into the room to drown out his eating noise. My mother is strict about the tv being left on, if I could leave that on too believe me - I would!

I'm 41 years old now and I HATE his eating! It just makes me sick and I get so uptight and anxious listening to it I just cannot relax. I spend the entire mealtime avoiding eye contact with him, ignoring him, suffering at the other end of the table and feeling like his noiy chewing and slurping is going to make me sick.

I even had a go at him this weekend about his talking with his mouth full. He always does this but it's gotten worse as he's aged. It's just so disgusting, he doesn't even bother to hide the food, just opens his big mouth with food inside it and talks and chews noisily with his mouth open. I feel sick. I'd had enough, and I asked him to stop talking with his mouth full as it sets a bad example to my young children (who were also at the table). The end result? World War 3 with my mother, who completely lost it with me because "I'm not perfect".

I just hate eating with him because of the disgusting noise. It's really affected my life as I completely avoid family occasions.

If this is a phobia, then why doesn't it have a name?

I think that anyone else reading this page would think we're all mad. I mean, it doesn't make sense? My reaction to noisy eating is plain irrational, yet I can't control the feelings of anger and revulsion that come over me when I hear my dad (or anyone else) eating like a pig.

cate

16 years ago

I can really relate and empathize with all you have said. i too once found noisy eating unbearable to the point of wanting to kill... But i now no longer notice it at all and in fact i have been accused of being a noisy eater myself. I have no idea how i became "cured" and i didnt even realize or know when it happened....but what made me realize i was, was when my daughter developed the same problem....she too now cannot cope with noisy eating and she pointed out that i was a noisy eater, i then realised that i no longer notice people who eat noisily and that i was cured. I wish i could give you an answer to how i became cured but i really dont know how it happened. I wish i had some answers or know where to look for help for my daughter. i can totally empathize with her but i find myself getting frustrated with her because now i try so hard to eat quietly to the point where i cant eat near her for fear i might upset her, i cant even hear myself being noisy but i see her become irritated, cover her ears etc. i am paranoid about eating near her now and when i do eat within her earshot i am trying so hard not to be noisy that i am no longer enjoying what i am eating, so i stop eating what i am eating and i have also had times of nearly choking and painful swallowing whilst i try to change even the way i eat. i dont know what to do, i dont know how to be even quieter and i dont know how to help her.....noone else in the family can hear that i am eating noisily she is just so sensitive to even the slightest of noise at all which is completely difficult to totally erradicate, its not humanly possible to be completely silent while eating because there is movement of the mouth and jaw. i know how hard it is to tolerate but please be aware that people arent necessarily trying to be rude when they eat noisily, its just something that they arent aware of, you dont even realize you are doing it, and its not always easy to change the way or habit of the way in which you eat so you do slip back into old habits of being noisy at times, until you learn and remember not to be noisy. people arent necessarily intetionally trying to make your life a living hell. i have lived both sides of the fence and i have no answers....but maybe if i can be cured, then there is hope for you all.

Emily

16 years ago

I myself also hate noisy eating. I don't point it out to people for fear of hurting their feelings. I have pointed it out to my mother though, and now she is trying hard to eat quietly but I can still here her. Yes, the person called Cate is my mother. I have been on another site as well as this one and found that on both websites, people tend to fill with rage and start arguments unintentionally. I'm 13 and have suffered, or in better terms, been in tune to and annoyed with the noise since I was nine.

I don't have any answers but I can point out somethings that I have noticed.
firstly, I noticed that we tend to feel violent and want 'scratch their eyeballs out'. Some people choose to show our annoyance in a polite way by asking them to eat quietly or telling them that it annoys you, or you don't want to hurt the persons feeling and make excuses to have the TV turned on, or to leave the room. Arguments are also another consequence of telling someone you don't like the way that they eat.
Secondly, this can quite possibly be a phobia, and so possibly can be cured with phobia treatments. A phobia is strong fear or dislike: an irrational or very powerful fear and dislike of something, for example spiders or confined spaces. The description doesn't relate to us exactly by the terms of the strong fear, but we do have a strong dis-like for the way certain people eat. It's the closest thing I have actually come to.
Thirdly, some may not notice it at first, but as soon as someone points it out, or you realize or remember, you instantly start to listen for those noises that annoy.
I can't think of anything else at the moment but if I do I will try and post it here.

Emily

16 years ago

Sorry I also forgot to mention that the people who are trying hard for us to not eat noisily is would also be having a hard time as they may be used to eating noisily and people not noticing.

Also, I don't know how it's possible but I seem to hear things others can't. If you notice this for yourself or in other people post it here so I can research in to it a bit more. I don't know whether it's just that I/we have a higher sense in hearing, therefore we can notice the others around us that eat so noisily, or unless if I/we just notice things more.

Melissa

16 years ago

Oh wow. Here I thought I was the only one who had this problem! I wont get into details because frankly my story sounds like many of the ones above. I've been annoyed by noisy eaters for as long as I can remember and it never gets better. I am amazed by the sounds people are able to make, eating all sorts of things, even things that shouldn't make any sound at all. It gives me anxiety and I obsess over it. Also, I feel guilty about being so nit picky about it. Where did this phobia come from?

np

16 years ago

I have the same problem. Have had it since I was a kid. I have learned to deal with it by carrying those waxy earplugs in my purse. Anytime I go to a mexican restaurant or a movie theater I will put them in my ears. It blocks out all unecessary noise. Hope this helps. they are 6.99 at the drugstores and comes with 4 pairs which last throughout the month. On the plane, I travel alot I actually just listen to my ipod. But most def. the earplugs are hidden and no as rude!

Melissa

16 years ago

There is a support group for this problem on Yahoo message boards - here is the link. It's called Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome (4S) or Misophonia. The group is run by a doctor who named the disorder. It's a very helpful group for people who suffer from this sound sensitivity. The group has over 800 members.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Soundsensitivity/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1#ans

Fiona

16 years ago

I am so relieved to read that its not just me. I never really had issues with this until I got together with my husband. The first time I ate with him I thought he was a bit uncouth at eating. But there is so much I love about him, I feel this is too small to make a big deal of. But I find its much worse when we have salad. The crunching and swallowing and slurping are much more noticable. Trouble is, he shovels food in without swallowing his previous mouthful first, which means opening his mouth while eating. He fills up and then has to sit back and rest a moment while he chomps all the food he's accumulated. He's a noisy, mouth open, gum chewer too. I get embarrassed for him because it must be noticable to others, surely! My daughters have also commented on it, without me raising it at all, so I don't think its a phobia actually. I try to be kind and just tell him to slow down, but really the problem is the noise, exacerbated by the shoveling approach. What I want to know is how to tell him, without him feeling picked on or terribly hurt, because I really do love him. The fact that I've googled it today points out to me that I can't keep quiet much longer. I sometimes spend hours pondering what to do, which, while this isn't a marriage threatening problem, I know very soon he will notice my preoccupation and ask what's wrong, as he's so sensitive to my moods, and we're usually so honest with each other, and good talkers. This one, though, is doing my head in! Any suggestions?

Barry

16 years ago

Hey I am with you guys. I live in Sydney and suffer terribly from being irritated by eating noises in the office place. What peeves me off the most are these people that insist on slurping their breakfast cereal at their desks in the morning, plus the incessant clang clatter clang noise of spoons on bowls as they slurp up the last remains of their milk and whatever the heck they are finishing off.

I work in the marketing industry and I think they see it as "cool" that they are so busy that they "only have time to eat breakfast" at work. I see it as slightly arrogant and wanting to be seen as putting the hours in. From my observations this behaviour is particularly prevalent in younger Gen Y women, but I could be wrong...

venkat

15 years ago

all these sounds made by people around us and these sounds come from from acts of self-assuredness and confidence.since people with anxiety and low self esteem dont have self-assuredness,they hate when they see or hear other people act with self assuredness.
i have gone overboard and hate myself,when i make same sounds wile eating .. i even hate others sighing,typings loudly in keyboard..in childhood, i remember, i had cried in am big family function during meal time.i also dont like salivating,and for this reason,i just dont brush,and only use mouthwash..after very long time,at my age 26 or so, i realised that i lack self-esteem.it continues to this day...i hate even when people give out that "ahhh.." - thinking sound..

jodie

15 years ago

I too have this problem and it has always been there. I have had arguments in banks in shops on buses when people eat loudly near me. I am now so intolerant that i no longer eat with my family. This is hard as I am a grown women with 4 children. There is no answer as far as I know I cant even stand it when people hold a glass to there lips for longer than you need to. or those people who hold there hot drinks with two hands while they drink it. arghhhhhhhhh. I have passed this hatred on to my son now who is 11 I hate myself for this but there is just no way i can contain it. it sucks

Simon

15 years ago

GRRR im same i have a step brother who really pisses me off wen he is eating but i cant tell him because he has ADHD and will go mental and its fucking stupid even now he is crunching on crisps :@ and even with soft foods he somehow still makes a squelching noise ,, ive told him before but he never seems to listen he just argues back

good to see other people sufer it too

Loud, noisy, eaters: they simply drive me crazy | Drop it like it’s lukewarm

15 years ago

the kid

15 years ago

It's so great to find out that I'm not alone in this. All of these descriptions sound so close to what I'm trying to cope with. I too read about Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome, and it sounds identical to this problem and I figure it's what people like us must "have" or whatnot (http://www.tinnitus-audiology.com/softsound.html).

For me, I've had this problem since I was young, but it has grown incredibly bad in the past year or so. I can only attribute it to two things:

(1) A coworker I sit *kind-of* near smacks his food incredibly loud, for several hours over lunchtime each day. Maybe this particular person has finally turned this condition of mine from strong annoyance to pure torture? Naturally it's not only worse hearing this eater, but around everyone else too. I've also noticed my sensitivity to related-sounds ('attacking the spoon' and jaw cracking while yawning) has intensified. I was strongly annoyed before (angry, obsessed, etc), now I feel violent, physically ill, and the very strong desire to flee.

(2) I have less overall stress in my life, so maybe now I'm more open to this particular stress? Things were particularly bad, and now that those issues are pretty much resolved, I noticed my sensitivity to eating sounds grew much worse than they have been for the past 25 years...

Maybe it's a combination of all of the above.

Anyway, I found this blog post after noticing visitors to my own blog post on this topic using the same search terms, and it's a nice answer to some of the questions I was posing about whether or not I was alone (I only have one comment! So this feedback is awesome, what I was looking for). Thanks to the original poster and all the commenters for sharing your stories.

Amanda

14 years ago

I am the same way. I actually found this website by googling "how to tell your co-worker to stop eating like a pig".
Don't get me wrong, it's not the constant eating that bugs me... it's the chewing with your mouth wide open, eating crunchy nuts all day, scraping her teeth against the fork every single time she takes a bite of food, scraping the fork/spoon against the bottom of the glass bowl, making sure she got every last, loud, obnoxious bite out of the way. I don't know what to do. I'm running out of patience. This girl sits in the cube right behind me, so this isn't something I can just walk away from. She's not a fat girl, she eats healthy, but she eats ALL day long...and I'm not exaggerating. I have came very close, many times, to saying to her what I say to my friends..."that sounds really disgusting" "is that good?!" "chew with your mouth closed"...etc. I don't know what to do. She's fairly new at work so I'm too nervous to say anything to her, worried that I may offend her. But I can not take this any longer. Any suggestions...anyone?

Jen

14 years ago

I'm SOOO glad to find others who share this irritation! My partner is the worst eater I have met. You name it he does it - like someone else previously commented I cannot stay in the same room as him when he eats. I purposely choose restaurants that are busy and have loud music so that I don't have to hear his extremely loud eating noises. It drives me insane that I feel this way. It drives me insane!

Mon

14 years ago

Finally...I am not alone, what a relief!!!I don't even remember having this problem, it just came and now i'm stuck. Everyday, I suffer with this problem and my family doesn't get it. I just get so angry everyday and scream and bang walls(the one up the staircase) and slam the door of my room. It's so upsetting, but now every time it happens I will think of you gyus, my fellow "haters of the annoying noises" group. Thanks gyus, i'm now smilling, knowing i'm not alone! :):):)

Mon

14 years ago

To relieve my anger I play my flute, blast music, or go for a run...hope you can find an outlet too.

monaco

14 years ago

Haha! This thread was started in 2007 and it is still receiving comments---and it's 2010! I suppose I'll add my two cents. I had to laugh at a number of these posts (b/c this topic can be quite humorous when you focus on how annoying it is!). My father is the greatest offender I've been around (no disrespect) except for some of my cousins. It drives my brother and me nuts, and during times when we've just been through the noisy chewing mill and were venting our frustrations, we even attempt to replicate some of the annoying sounds--without success. Even our best fully intentional efforts have fallen short of the sounds we tried to imitate; it is beyond either one of us how anyone can make so much noise just eating!!! It must be a special talent, because I can't make nearly as much noise even when I try my hardest (just replicative venting of frustration)--if it's genetic, at least I don't have the genes for the inconsiderate behavior. The most annoying part of it is that my father doesn't just make the noises when he eats (which is bad enough). He makes lip smacking-heavy breathing sounds while idling; they drive me insane! I have to get up and leave sometimes because I can't stand it! Watching movies is sometimes unbearable; every five seconds--smack---smack---smack. . .(scream)! I could go on, but I've felt the same was as the 101 posters before me, so there wouldn't be much point saying the same thing. The only other thing that is a co-irritant is when I don't receive any sympathy/understanding (my sister/mother). I guess their immune to impolite inconsiderate table manners. Not me!

Luke

14 years ago

Ugh. I am 14, my brother is 12. He eats SOO noisily, it makes me feel really sick and i cant stand it.. i just want to run out the room, if i cant, id jst smack him to make him stop eating and get out the room. i hate it. I want to know a way to block it out.. but i can hear it over music through headphones, i cant eat in the same room as him.

Tenzin

14 years ago

I have this bad! ive had it as long as i can remember when i wanted to violently attack my mum for making noises when eating when i was 5. The violent impulses are still there but once the anger builds up, and it does...VERY quickly, i have to get up and leave before i fly into a rage.

As you say its small in the scheme of things but at the time it doesnt feel like that

jaydee

14 years ago

HEEELP! My toddler is driving me insane! It is a comfort to know l am not alone in the STFU catagory for noisy eaters and this has affected me since childhood to the point where l have fallen out with friends cos of their disgusting eating habit, Although l do understand not everyone is affected by this awful syndrome l have no idea why it winds me up so much it is nice to know l am not alone. It is only recently l have noticed my toddler eating with her mouth open and making noises simular to an animal and cannot understand why l havent noticed it before and it isnt every mealtime that it bothers me l occasionally put the Tv on to drown out the noise but She is so fixated on watching She forgets to eat! PROBLEM SOLVED! lol Maybe the suggestion of hypnotherapy would work and might look into this if the relationship with my daughter begins to suffer l would hate to pass this snydrome onto Her Thankyou everyone for your comments l really thought l was crazy its a comfort to know l am not alone but then again maybe were all mental!!!! xxxx

Nerves Grated

14 years ago

A co-worker and I have to put up with a crunch-munching bog-trotter troll all week; and one thing he does that actually adds to our hatred of his eating habits is that he eats the SAME thing at the SAME time EVERY day. I jest not, every f**king day at 10.35am he chomps and slurps his way through a manky, rat-like turkey breast, followed by an apple (which he irritatingly peels the label off - even that's eardrum-shattering!) and a yoghurt. It all makes for a disharmonious, stomach-churning and nerve-grating schlop-a-thon. He nibbles at his turkey breast like a weasel on a corn cob, then he takes gnashing swipes at his apple like a shark - his record is TWELVE successive chomps in one go! Apple dispatched, he makes a start on his yoghurt. He peels the lid back an inch, SLURPS on the tiny hole, rips the lid off and just slobbers his way to the bottom of the pot, squelching and felching all the way. Dirty, scrubby oaf.

12.45pm rolls around; out comes the roadkill baguette. I'm actually gagging inbetween seeing the red mist descend as I type this!

Picture this nauseating concoction rotting in his stomach, because we get it first-hand...he farts and burps with relish for the rest of the day. Indeed many people have commented on how the office smells like a stable.

It is revolting and enraging. He's a disgusting excuse for a human. He's more animal than humanoid. Ignorant as the day is long, like all noisy b@stard eaters!

Horrendous, washing-machine-sounding chomp-gimp. DIE!!!!

There is NO excuse.

Noisy eaters belong in a zoo.

Aaaaand…relax!

Salim

14 years ago

Okay, *deep breath* now that I've calmed down somewhat ['calmness': an illusion I have to force myself to believe in due to variables that are tragically out of my control and I really don't want to go to prison] I've decided to revise my original rant so it's no longer a primordial display of Satanic rage, but rather a succint yet detailed account justifying, in part, why I absolutely detest my parents.

There are two guilty parties to this crime - my mum and my dad. They are both vile people who disgust me, certainly when they eat. They snarl, they burp, they gulp, they gasp, they lick their fingers, they dribble and wipe their whole faces with dribble, and they make all kinds of unhumanly noises that science has no knowledge of.

When they drink any liquids, especially soups, it's as if they chew and gargle whatever's in front of them in their mouthes before letting the 'river' go downstream to be sucked into a vortex situated in the throats, before finishing the show with a bang* [*a huge burp]. They are repulsive and do not know what good manners are. They are every restaurants' worst nightmare.

Whenever meat is on the menu which happens to be often you can be sure a musical will follow. Them chewing flesh can challenge the tranquility of anyone's phyche, pushing them to commit unspeakable horrors upon fellow man and that's what I call being friendly these days *maniacal laughter*. No really, if I could strangle their souls I would...

Naturally or otherwise, the musical instruments that are my parents' mouthes come with backing vocals - their backsides. They have horrible flatulence and they openly let rip as if it's nothing, even my mum! There are no words to describe how repugnant they are! I don't mind farting quietly, but they amplify their farts and find it funny. They have no shame or dignity.

Whoever invented tooth-picks needs to die...fast ->

Step one: drive me insane by trying to dislodge pieces of meat stuck in-between your teeth with your tongue.

Step two: Get a tooth-pick, sit down and flick the pieces of meat onto the floor after digging them out of crevices.

Step three: Have a cigarette.

Step four: Eat nuts with your mouth open and leave crumbs all over the place.

Step five: I think my shotgun's just come through the letterbox...

Step six: ...have a cigarette.

You think that's it? No, no my friends, that's far from 'it'.

My mum and dad love to drink tea. Did I say drink? I meant slurp and after every slurp comes the every so popular "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" which also follows every bite of food being swallowed. You can only put up with so much before you explode, just saying.

Crisps, those lovely little oodles of crunch! Don't laugh, that wasn't meant to be funny and not is it ever funny. Watching my parents eat crisps is like watching a worm trying to stand on its end. They are so clumsy, they drop more crisps than they manage to get in their gobs! Their eat with their mouthes open, that's a given, but then they go and make sounds with their throats [like a duck almost] to push back bits of crisps that need further chewing before digestion. It's vile.

The worst thing is that whenever I've showed my annoyance I've been labelled as anti-social and "not normal" [I thought I murdered irony before I stumbled across this site], someone who can't get along with anyone and I just get sworn at and threatened so now I don't say anything at all even though my face looks like a pissed off Spanish bull.

Anyone else in my position would have done something they'd later regret by now, I'm sure of it.

Salim

14 years ago

Ummm crap, that's a bit long. :S

THERESA

14 years ago

I feel the same way as some of you do. Maybe not so harshly but...it's rude. I have a coworker that answers the phone while eating and talks to customers and tech's. I can't believe she doesn't think it's rude. Anyhow...I see a lot of complaining but no solutions...Is it ok for me to say something and if so, how do I say it. I have to work with this person. I think now it's more that she is being rude then the noise itself that bothers me. Like who the hell does she think she is. Any suggestions?

Billy

14 years ago

So what do you do when it is your wife? What do you do when you've told her about it at least a dozen times and it is only worse now? Why does she get so OFFENDED when I bring it up? I don't bring it up anymore because she gets so upset. Why is it such a big thing to have manners?

I can't eat with her. I have to leave the room, or I try to eat really quickly and get away from the open mouth slurping, crunching and talking with food in her mouth.

I have no answers for anyone. The annoyance has just grown with time, and I have no ability to help even my own family understand that it is disgusting.

D Money

14 years ago

I too have an irrational annoyance of loud eaters. Mainly crunching. And it's usually only directed at people I'm close to (relationship-wise). I actually have to leave the room if my wife or dad is eating potato chips or crackers. I feel like a psycho.
I've been this way as long as I can remember. I hate it that it irritates me so bad...but it does.

ArrowSmith

14 years ago

Whatever the hell happened to good manners? Did it disappear after 1955? The problem is not with us, it's with the society that has no more rules.

Mimi

13 years ago

OH MY GOD. I am so glad I'm not alone on this! I've been reading all of your stories and most of them sound very similar to my own! I have had an issue with loud chewing since I was probably around 7. I have no idea what triggered it, but one day my father's chewing- mouth closed- began to bother me so much I just could absolutely not handle it. I tried to contain my rising rage about the subject, because he was somehow managing to chew loudly without opening his mouth and it was driving me bonkers. One day I confronted him about it. It was in the middle of a meal so I politely said something like "Dad, could you try to chew a little quieter, it's bothering me a little bit," and he replied with an immensely hurt look and began talking about how he knew he was talking quietly, his mouth was closed, after all! So for the next few years I tried to cope with mealtimes by putting tight headbands over my ears and constantly wearing hats, even in the summer- note, I was about 10 at the time. This went on for a few more years. When I was 12, it started driving me insane with lots of people other than my father, including a few of my friends at school and all of my grandparents. I first got the idea of using earplugs and making sure my hair always fell over my ears. Later, though, because earplugs weren't always avalible, I started wetting small pieces of toilet paper or tissues and sticking wads of them in my ear. It works fine and is pretty inconspicuous because people rarely look at other's ears. I am currently in my teens and have been using thus method for a rather long time. But when a restroom isn't available, I just have to deal with it. When I'm around most people that are loud eaters I honestly feel like I'm going to start crying. It is the most aggravating thing and I cannot understand how others in my family don't notice too. On top of that, even when my ears are clogged, even the site of certain people chewing can make me feel queasy. I never considered the fact that it could be a problem others dealt with- at least, to such an extreme- also. Also, I've found one of the only issues with the ear clogging with toilet paper is that I often cannot hear people and talk unusually quiet, so if you do use this method, make sure to speak up. Hang in there, everyone!

Mimi

13 years ago

Ah, sorry my comment was so horribly illiterate! I'm typing all of this on my phone.

steve

13 years ago

god thought i was one my own ! hate noisy eaters to i have got of buses becausew of people eating and crisps packets and the rustlers i could scream !!!! my present girlfreind is such a polite eater ie keeps here mouth closed immpecable manners but she seems to make such i noise bless here is there any faults in the human mouth that can course such noises a low palate our simalar ? i want to live with here this is such a stubbling block ! can any on help ? please e-mail me nikkcit@yahoo.co.uk

Joan

13 years ago

Such a relief to find everyone here! I found this website after googling "noisy eaters" and for the first time in 30 years I feel understood.

I am sitting across from a co-worker I have nicknamed "Piglet" who is an otherwise charming fellow - but for the fact that he slurps his way through every meal then follows with an hour of gum chewing, open-mouthed tongue twisting and bubble blowing.

I have terrible neck pain as the tension of listening to this makes me seize up. I feel physically sick with the anger it causes. I cannot say anything because I was brought up in the custom that the only thing worse than bad manners was to comment on them. But I could throttle him?!

I am destroying my hearing with my iPod turned up to try and tune it out. But of course that slapping, slurping, clacking noise he makes with his wide-open-mouth-gum-chewing is audible through everything.

I know I make noise when I eat. We all do. I wish was not afflicted with this hatred of all things slurping - but I am. If anyone finds the cure please post it! I would do anything to get past this.

Paul

13 years ago

Hello everyone. The relief I have to know that I am not the only one taht has this issue.

When I was living at home, I would get hassle for not sitting at the table, but the truth is that a certain member of the family not only eat load but there jaw locked everytime they ate. Another member of the family, every bite, they banged their teeth together. It drove me insane. The sad thing is that I have had disagreements with them, and they still dont know that the only reason I got annoyed was before of the noisy eating.

Now my latest scenario is work. Only in my area of the office do people stay at there desk EVERYDAY for lunch, and the food they eat is sooooooooo load. One guy after he is done with his curry or whatever from dinner the night before, and this is the truth, has a full bowl of raw veg and its it like candy, chucnks of carrots, peppers, cucumbers, raw, and you can only imagine the noise. Its probably as load as your going to get. Then another guy eats with his mouth open and smacks his mouth every bite. And all of them at lunch and outside lunch hours eat APPLES. My god, the noise of APPLES. There has to be employment rules about noise made in the work place. As a solution my latest trick is to listen to my ipod, but then I cannot consentrate fully on work I want to do at luch time.

Has anybody had this issue at work, and has anybody said anything to the employer or upper managment.

Tymbeaux

13 years ago

I am a so-called "noisy eater" according to a niece who has the syndrome you describe. How do I be considerate to some one who cannot even watch me chew from a distance? I have even over compensated for an entire meal to not make even the slightest noise. One scrape of the fork to tooth and I have failed as she will retire to another room to eat. We have tried MP3 therapy with her favorite music, but she knows I am making noise and that is enough to cause a reaction. I would love to help her, but it seems to be everyone else's problem, not hers. Does any one know of a name for this?(besides bad manners or purposefully trying to irritate the crap out of her, which I seriously am not) She shudders at the thought of a dinner date or the theatre..I truly want to help and am considering sending her to a Pschotherapist.The world is full of wonderful people and rich robust cultures that eat noisily, I would hate to see this isolate her from society.

Ricardo

13 years ago

I have a similar problem, although it seems to be slightly milder. Being from Brazil, my family was very strict at the table. From a very young age I was taught not to make any noise and to eat with my mouth closed, as people here tend to be very strict in general when it comes to eating. Once, I remember one of my friends getting very irritated at my other friend when we were kids because he could hear him eat.

That all changed when I moved to Ottawa, Canada. I remember sitting at the school cafeteria with my friends and having to make up excuses to leave for the washroom because one of my friends kept making "om nom nom" sounds while eating pizza. Although the worst scenario happened while at a trip abroad with one of my friends, who remained my roomate for such trip. It was all going very well until one day he decided to buy some of those Cup - noodles. He slurped so loudly I bet the rooms surrounding us could hear us. I could maybe be more understanding of this if he was from China or similar countries where slurping on noodles is a custom, but he wasn't. The slurping was simply unnecessary. Not only that, but he also ate like a dog, with his face so close to the damn cup and neck creating a 90 degree angle with the rest of his body, making him hunchback while he ate.

I just couldn't take it and said that I wasn't feeling too well and That i was going to go for a walk.

Rod Maughan

13 years ago

I've suffered from this over-sensitivity 'affliction' since around age 8 or 9 as far as I can remember (I'm now almost 40 and my sensitivity is ever-increasing, drives me crazy!), and other stuff too which I now feel is related. Till recently I had no name for it, but it is a revulsion and so I did think of it as a phobia... Noisy eating is like the audio equivalent (for me) of looking at a swarm of wasps, or cluster of holes or bumps, eg, a beehive, or frogspawn or similar, and this condition I discovered is known as Tryptophobia - which is loosely, the fear of holes... It is not widely known about, and as far as I know is not very well recognised by psychologists. My skin is crawling even as i write this paragraph alluding to the 'yuck'... but the revulsion we feel towards chomping, sloshing and smacking noises of people eating I feel is related to that phenomenon... I dunno whether this helps anyone, maybe putting a name to it, or even if I'm (scientifically) correct - but that's my two-pennies worth.

I agree with mostly everything everyone else has written here, and wonder if there's a group around online I could join to vent with like-minded, sensitive souls 🙂

My very best to you all,

Rod

mdhr24t

13 years ago

I came to this post after a loooooong search, just to vent like some of you, but I'm on the other end of the balance - I am someone accused of eating noisily and wanted to see if someone had success understanding WHY they make noises while eating.

While I was a little girl, my family told me to quiet down. In college my friends made fun of me. Now my husband is completely irritated. I eat my lunch at my desk now and for the last year or so I've had a growing phobia of what you phobic people are thinking! I positively love food (which is probably one of the underlying causes of my eating heartily or noisily)

I know I open my mouth wide while taking in food. I've been told to close my mouth while eating but it just makes it SOOO hard for me to eat and obviously within a few minutes I'm back to eating like I usually would. Crunchy foods like apples, carrots and chips are obviously noisier when I'm eating, but hey, one eats what one loves! I've tried imagining what my tongue is doing that it makes noises but I can't for the life of me visualize or correct that. I've spoken to a dentist about what my jaw might be doing and he just laughed me off.

I'm amazed at the amount of raging that even adults are doing. You have a phobia of something, others have other issues. While I understand people want to scream/run out/scratch eyeballs out, to be so venomous after the fact amazes me.

This is a lot more than manners - I don't think it's lack of awareness or manners in most cases, it's just how some people eat. And I know it's not a cultural thing, because while some cultures do tend to act ultra-stiff about manners, mine is not all that stiff and my own people have told me off. And even if you preface your rant with a "I don't know if this is racist", if you talk about Indians or Chinese, that is being respectful. They eat loudly, you shoot off your mouth!

All in all, the life of the noisy eater is probably just as miserable as yours. Only, the world would be a lot nicer if everybody didn't act the exclusive victim.

mdhr24t

13 years ago

^^I meant disprectful.

Mike

13 years ago

I KNOW WHY NOISY EATERS MAKE LOUD NOISE!

It is simple really, they suck in air and blow out air with their MOUTHS! AS! they eat.

Us quiet eaters eat quietly because when we eat we breath in through our NOSE and breath out through our NOSE!

Science: Sound travels through air, hence noisy eaters can only be noisy eaters if they have EXCESS air in their mouths as they eat. Chewing food ALWAYS makes noise if their is AIR to carry the soundwave out of the mouth. But I discovered, No Air = No Sound similar to how in Space there is no sound cause there is no air to carry soundwaves.

I am a silent eater and I have been able to make my brother STOP MAKING LOUD NOISE as he eats by telling him, "Please, breath through your nose ONLY as you eat." I have to remind him cause he does it uncousciously. But once he obeys my advice it decreases his Loud Eating Noise by 90%. I tell him about loud eating and how DISGUSTING it sounds.

I still have to suffer his contant Ahhhs after drinks something and suffer his dreadful depressing continous SIGHS which are horribly annoying, but at least I can kill his loud noise eating.

Lesley Walton

13 years ago

I feel like I've come home...its so good to know that its not just me who is driven mad by people who sit slowly crunching their way through bags of crisps on trains, or next to me in public places!! Not only that, the CRACKLING of the packet! I can't bear it - it makes me want to scream, but I just move away. How can people be so insensitive?? I can't bear to watch / hear people eating in general. I also have a work colleague who habitually rrrubs her fingers over pages of customer's letters to see if there is another page there- that drives me nuts too. I just have to get up and walk away.

simon lampard

13 years ago

Just left the room in a hissy fit. Am now downstairs eating on my own.

Neighbors daughter is over and she a mouth open lip smacking one hell of a noisy eater.

AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHH

Carole Heath

13 years ago

I agree with many of the comments on this site about some people and their eating habits. The slurping of tea or other drinks, and people who eat with their mouths wide open so you can see everything it contains horrible. There is no need for it especially in adults,
sometimes it is true some elderly people can't always help it, i once went into Macdonalds and a man sat opposite me with a burger he must have finished it in a few minutes flat he nearly put the whole of the burger into his mouth in one go and the contents inside went all over the table and he chewed loudly with his mouth open to be quite honest it made me quiet feel sick and put me off my meal.

Irritable

13 years ago

I too suffer an affliction with others audible mastication. I only recently began to have serious issues where I desperately need to leave the room if someone is slurping, chewing or banging utensils on dinnerware. I realize how nonsensical it appears to others but I have a theory as to why such sounds are so disgustingly distracting and it is so simple I dare others to dispute it. The lips and mouth are sexual organs. The sounds produced while eating such as sucking and slurping are very distinct in that regard. As well gutteral swallowing, gulping along with moaning "mmm" in the back of throat. We recognize this subconciously and the end result is the terror of listening to members of your family essentially fellate their food. I notice it seems much worse with family or loved ones as the psychological implications of even hearing your parents is freudian nightmare fuel by itself. But in our case they're doing at the dinner table and lo you wanting to flee for sanity! Food for thought.

I'm not the only one?!?!?!?!!?

13 years ago

My Dad feels the need to do the following when eating:

-slurping up his soup loudly
-chewing with his mouth open making disgusting sounds
-talking with food in his mouth
-even when he opens his mouth to have another bite he feels the need to make the loudest disgusting noise possible!
- if he's eating something hot, he doesnt blow on it, he feels the need to eat it while its piping hot, making even more disgusting sounds
- plus many more

Austin

13 years ago

YES!I can't believe this post was started in 2007 and has lasted 5 years! My dad's chewing is out of control. I think the problem is that he takes HUMONGOUS bites. He eats bananas in 2-3 bites, with it sticking out of his mouth like a lollipop or something while he chew the end in his mouth. I first noticed it when I was 10 and I asked my dad why he was chewing with his mouth open,and he said because the food was hot. But one day I saw him doing it with cereal, and then I started noticing it with EVERYTHING HE EATS. Omg it's like SLAPSLAPSLAPSLAP PLOPPLOP SMUSH. I be around him when he eats. Once I was sitting in the car in a parking lot with him and he was eating. I got out really quickly and he was like "What is it cuz I'm chewing?" And it just irritated me because he made it sound as if that was the normal way to chew. THe only time I ever chew with my mouth open is when I'm sick and can't breathe through my nose,so my mouth must be open, but even then I eat alone so as not to offend anyone.

ems

13 years ago

I am so glad to find people who share the same sentiments. Ever since I was a child, I have always told my older sister to try to eat less loudly. Unfortunately, she was very stubborn. She would always tease me with the nerve-wracking eating sounds she makes whenever she notices my annoyance. When I went to college I felt relieved thinking that I would finally be spared from enduring the vexing habit of my sister. But! who would've guessed that my roommate was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more irritating when it comes to bad eating habits. Now that we're already in med school, I still put my headphones on whenever she eats. I wish she would stop.

Vipin Labroo

13 years ago

Thank God, there are real people out there who feel like me on this subject. And I remember that I always found noisy eating and eaters unbearable: ever since I was a little kid.
Consider also that I am from India where eating noisily and indulging in the worst display of table manners possible seems to be the national past-time; my trying to drill sense into people around me-relatives, friends, colleagues, et al, has been met by offensive force. I am glad that there are other members of the homo-sapien species who feel the same way.

MightBeGiants

13 years ago

OMG! I am not insane after all. I found this site while desperate for help to prevent me from attacking my husband. Who was eating toast. Complete with the "harch, harch, harch" vocalisation on every, single, endless, bite.

I actually worry that one day I will hurt him because he is eating. The sound of people eating bothers me generally, but I am particularly aware of his many, many eating noises- the throaty gulping, the satisfied "ahh" complete with mouth wipe, the open-mouthed deliberate crunching, vacuuming tooth sucking, the lip smacking, and my very very favorite .. The "harch, harch, harch"..

He finds it somewhat ironic that I scream at him for eating again so soon after dinner - after all, I am the fat one, not him. He can't comprehend that I feel set upon by him eating - I had relaxed, congratulating myself on making made it through another dinner without charging at him wielding weapons of cutlery, and here he is EATING AGAIN!

I swear he does it on purpose. I really think so. Not to intentionally annoy me, but because he gets so deeply engrossed in eating, he becomes oblivious to the revulsion and irritation of his companions. I think he really enjoys making loud noises when he eats. It is like it is part of the package deal. He always looks somewhat surprised that we find his eating so deeply irritating. To him, making those noises is a big partvof him enjoying the food - the noises are always loudest when he is eating something he really likes. He crunches and harches much more loudly on toast than on carrot sticks, and sucks and slurps a spoonful of sugar and cream sweetened porridge with much greater gusto than, say,vegetable soup.

OK. I have to stop listing foods because I am hearing and seeing the eating of each one and am feeling rage even though it is in my head. Now I am imagining crackers and dip.

I cannot believe that at 45, after 20 years of being married to someone who has told him to eat more quietly and to eat with his mouth shut at least 3times a week for the last 21 or so years, he still has not found a way to prevent the loud disgusting noises or to keep his mouth shut. He tries for about three minutes and then relapses into piggery.

And it is not just me - I remember his flatmate saying "Dude! Shut your mouth! You mixing cement in there?". Back then, I wasn't as hyper-aware and thought I could reeducate him. Wrong!

Mike's post about excess air carrying the sound wave makes sense so I have hope that it can change if he really wants to. Mind you, we never have a family meal without someone having to ask him to chew with his mouth shut so I doubt he does want to change. Our family eats every night at the table, and sometimes I know he must feel something akin to hatred radiating towards him; the eminity I feel about his noises is so strong and my children have caught it too. Not good.

I nearly broke down when we ate out and there was a buffet carvery with roast pork ..... And crackling. I had to make an excuse to leave the table before he returned with his plate full and wait in the toilets until I thought he would have finished eating. I still saw and heard the crackling eating though - it was like a 4 second movie spooling through my head.

I find myself selecting recipes based on the anticipated sound, rather than flavour, coscan triton. I hear the sounds in my head exactly the same way as I see images on the ingredients in my head.

Is there a way to desensitize ourselves because noisy eaters are everywhere and the rage and irritation I feel has to be having physical effects. I fear it will be the death of me (or him!).

Kmekm

13 years ago

Grateful to know I'm not alone but it doesn't help that we don't know why...I have also been disturbed by loud chewing, gulping, slurping since I was a child. I used to sit at the table with one elbow (my left one) on the table so I could plug my ear and not hear my dad. My children are the same as me. We ALWAYS had the radio playing during dinner to drown out each other's noises, especially my husband. I have a boss who sounds like there is a microphone in his mouth and he has this annoying habit of bringing his 'treats' into MY office and noisily eating and chewing and gulping his precious hot tea--why? can these people not hear themselves? I also hate hearing other people text or type...literally makes me crazy. WHY???

Tanya

13 years ago

I think Mike's right-- it is excess air. I mean, for those people who are still noisy even with their mouth shut. I just tested it with my noisy-eating husband.

After reading Mikes Dec.16, 2011 post, I popped right up, grabbed a bag of crackers from the kitchen, and stuffed one in his mouth (unexplained) to watch him chew. He was conscious of my unusual behavior and thus eating slower and keeping his lips sealed, but he was still pretty noisy. I think he just has a big, cavernous jaw. But then I tried it with a few more crackers and I noticed it was definitely significantly quieter when he ate in a slow, controlled way and didn't open his mouth to breathe. Then I popped a cracker in my mouth and though I can obviously hear myself chewing, I noticed its mostly quieter because I close off the back of my throat and only breathe through my nose.

It so clear to me now! For him, chewing and breathing both happen together in his mouth, which explains why he usually coughs when he eats spicy soup! Because he's essentially passing his air through his mouth as he breathes!!

Well, I just checked and he doesn't agree. I think he just believes that its his big, cavernous mouth, thus allowing him to drop all responsibility for his noisiness and absolving him of any necessity to change. That's a bummer for me. It will just force me to do what I really must do anyway: learn to cope. I know, consciously, that its so tremendously trivial. But in the past, I just haven't been able to understand how a person could POSSIBLY be so freaking noisy with their mouth shut. But *maybe* now that I can understand how it IS possible for him to make so much noise (even if its negilgent), maybe I can forget about it more easily. Before I was just fixated: WHY the EFF is he so goddamn loud??? Now I know... I hope I can get over this. I believe I can... 🙂

Kimmi

13 years ago

Hello there my name is Kimmi & I am a noisy eater.. I really dont know how to fix this that's why im on this forum Im looking for a cure

I close my mouth when eating yet my boyfriend says he can still hear me, I can hear myself but dont know how to stop it :/

It's terrible at dinner because we have a strict eat around the table rule at my new home.

I never got pulled up for it by my family
perhaps because they do it too

I hate it and want to stop it, but dont know how to. im scared to eat around my boyfriend because he really hates it and it upsets me when he's upset..

Any advice how to fix this AWFUL habit?

Kimmi

13 years ago

Also when i open my mouth my jaw clicks and it's uncomfortable & doesn't help my noisy eating problem :/

Deena

12 years ago

I seem to be a noisy eater, my husband freaks out when I start eating, I can't seem to help it. I close my mouth, but somehow find it hard to breath through my nose and this seems to exaggerate sounds coming from my mouth. I don't know how to change it but he freaks out when I eat and this upsets me because I can't help it even though I try.

sally

12 years ago

I am not glad to find other sufferers, coz that means there are more RUDE BEASTS out there! May God help us all. I could not read all these entries coz I started to get semi-livid. Anyway, I have every phobia/pet peeve on this page, and more, including (but not limited to) sounds of: chomping gum, food being eaten (crunchy or not, open or closed mouth), knuckles cracking, fingernails or skin being bitten, breathing, speech by a dry.mouthed individual, saying a word with a hard C starting too high in the throat... And that's just a few. I hate ringing and vibrating phones, tv, voices echoing on hardwood floors. I have struck and yelled at relatives and close friends for their transgressions, and fly into a rage and walk out of a building where some bovine WENCH is chomping her gum like a fatted calf! No, I am not happy about my outbursts, which were when I was a teenager. Now I'm 30something and have secluded myself in order to avoid these stressors.
I am a professor and have sent students out of the room for breaking my no food or drink or gum or candy rule. Oh, and hard candy rolling around on teeth-Hell on earth! I think I'm mad or something... Even the sound of my beloved dogs licking their paws makes me almost homicidal, though I have never harmed them. The male one is shameless about it, but his sister hath learned to leave the room to do so, and stops immediately when I turn my head to look at her. I've literally been awakened from sleep by the sound of her 'grooming' two rooms away. (I live in a small flat, tho). Anyway, my phone batt abt to go but wanted to say hi and wish all the best to each of the dear, beleaguered friends on this page. May God protect us from the rude hellions and the people who are truly unaware and the people who don't know how to stop... But may God protect the peeps who DO know and DO enjoy tormenting us, ahem.

Gill

12 years ago

I'm the parent of a teen with this phobia. The problem is that we try really hard to eat as quietly as possible but she still can't stand it - even though she can also make the same noises.

There are noisy eaters and I hate it too, but I really need help on how to help my daughter deal with this as it's causing real problems at home

Josh

12 years ago

You might get your daughter checked to see if she has SPD (sensory processing disorder). Our middle one has it and it is hellish.

MCFL

12 years ago

I feel the same as most of you. The two worst offenders are my husband who wants to chew ice and my mother-in-law who not only makes loud chewing noises but chooses the loudest foods. Her meals are noteals is they don't include fresh apples, celery, lettuce, etc. I hate it when she chooses fresh cherries with pits inside them. And no meal is finished until she has beat up the bowl or plate in order to scrape off all the "yummy goodness". (her phrase). When I complain I am told it's all my problem. I think it's a combination of breathing through the mouth and being so in love with food that personal enjoyment of food is more important than those that one is eating with.

MCFL

12 years ago

Typo: her meals are not meals if they don't include the list of foods mentioned.

Charlotte

12 years ago

It is so irritating. My dad eats like that and it makes me sick, most of my friends eat like that. My brother agrees with me that it is annoying. We have been taught manners but it doesn't stop my dad from eating like that. I felt that I was going to throw whatever was In my hand (my phone). Glad I am not the only one. We have told my dad several times!!!

Charlotte

12 years ago

I forgot to mention that every thing he eats is noisy in some way. Crunch food is the worst!

Mike

12 years ago

Aaaargh its driving me insane.

I have a colleague who I sit next to day in, day out and he eats like a tramp. Come to think of it, if he didn't have food he'd most likely eat a tramp.

He's obese, yes, but its not just junk food that he eats with such gusto that it threatens to bring the ceiling in.

apples, even salad leaves, all of it is eaten so loudly that it hurts my eardrums let alone my sensibilities.

if there was ever a recourse to justifiable homicide then this must be it...

LISA

12 years ago

I googled to find this site, as I spent a weekend in hell listening to a new aquaintance lip smacking and chomping her food with her mouth wide open for three days. I know I find this habit incredibly disgusting, but this isn't an auditory perception problem - it is a rudeness problem. For some reason, today's society feels that everyone should simply tolerate everyone else's bad manners, or we're just being too uptight. It is a disgusting habit, and over the years I've noticed that the perputators usually have little regard for any manners and not just the chewing with your mouth open bad habit. It is rude in Western culture, full stop. I won't comment on other cultures, but needless to say, it is not something that NEEDS to be done - you simply have manners and do it; or you don't. You respect the culture that you are in.

I know nobody is perfect, and we all slip sometimes. Maybe some people aren't taught this as children, and now with our "anything goes, never hurt anyone's feelings" society, it ends up that the agreived person with manners is cast as the villian and the ill-mannered are cast as the ...what? disabled?

If there is food in your mouth, keep your lips closed. It's as simple as that. I am not overly sensitive, I just have respect for the people around me and expect the same.

Tania

12 years ago

The first post for 2013 on this subject.

I too am enraged by noisy eaters. Currently, the worst offender being a colleague I sit opposite who gnaws and gnashers his way through a multitude of crunchy fruit and veg at regular intervals (he's a vegetarian). The worst of it is at lunchtime - out comes the lunchbox and the contents are literally poured out onto his disgusting, sticky desktop. On a good day these will consist of carrots (whole ones - extra crunchy!), celery (also the whole variety), cucumber (slurped and crunched), strawberries (yes these are mixed in with the veg and slurped with great gusto). At this point I have to leave the room. He munches and crunches his way through a multitude of apples every day and can't even suck a sweet quietly.

I have felt this way about noisy eaters for as long as I can recall and think it stems from my Father who wore dentures. He loved peanuts and the nut crunching combined with the clicking dentures is a sound I would not wish on my worst enemy. He clicked his way through dinnertime whilst I quietly seethed, as my sister and I were not allowed to leave the table until everyone had finished their meal. Hmm!

Kinny

12 years ago

Please, please somebody help me. I am seriously thinking about seeking professional advice: my husband irritates me with his slurping. I think he produces too much saliva and he breathes in through his mouth. When he does, it produces a slurping sound which makes me feel anxious, tense and annoyed. I sometimes avoid talking to him as I can't stand the sound. We have been together 20 years and I have only noticed this in the last 2 or 3 years. He had an operation on his nose 3 years ago, and it seems to have started after that. I still love him, but this is a real issue for me. I haven't told him, but I'm findng it difficult to be with him. thanks

serafina

12 years ago

Why do you think I eat at a separate time than my DH? His loud noises (all the above ones mentioned) are revolting to me. The thought of food being squished around in the mouth and teeth scraping each other and saliva mixing around by the tongue makes me physically ill. Yes, I had an aversion to food as a teen and this is probs a holdover. I wish I could be more tolerant of this stuff but for now ... separate tables please!
I should add that he doesnt eat loudly in restaurants tho.

serafina

12 years ago

Edit. Sally, do you send students out of the room for BREATHING?

Jess

12 years ago

I really wish you would take the bit out of your article about Chinese culture... it is SO FAR from being true.

I live in Beijing, China and just left a restaurant, leaving my lunch on the table because I forgot my ipod headphones and physically could not sit there and eat with all the noise around me.

This was a small restaurant, only about 15 people in the room, all the other patrons were Chinese. The noise of Chinese people eating is only comparable to that of pigs or starving dogs.

They revel in the noise they can make with their food. They hoover rice with the loudest of sucking and shovel massive quantities into their faces while inhaling.

They slurp soup with such a deafening noise that it sounds like when you let the plug out of a bath tub.

They exclusively eat with their mouths open and smack loudly with every flapping, gaping mouthful.

They laugh in wide, cackling roars, exposing semi-masticated slop to everyone around, they spray food over the table and talk without pause to swallow.

They spit unwanted food back onto their plates without any thought of covering the process with a napkin and in the cheapest food-holes they spit mucus right on the floor and grind it into their piles of cigarette ash.

They make constant guttural grunts, sounds of choking and trying to cough up a wad of phlegm at the same time as they clank their chopsticks into their bowls over and over again while simultaneously screaming at the waitress.

None of this is generalizing, yes, there are some Chinese people who have developed a few more table manners but even my educated Chinese friends still participate in the thrice-daily feeding frenzy that is, meal time.

No, I don't hate China, I have lived here for years and love it most of the time. Without an iPod I would have murdered hundreds of people by now and I will never get used to their lack of table manners and loud eating, this is not a "cultural thing" this is a straight-up NO DAMN MANNERS thing.

Loud-eater-phobes, a warning, do not come to China.

Ann

12 years ago

I can't believe I came across this site. Unlike some of you, I don't recall this issue bothering me as a child, but that certainly makes sense to me. I DO know that I'm getting to the point that I can't stand eating in the same room as my husband anymore. This breaks my heart because I love to cook and enjoy what I've made with him but I literally have to restrain myself from screaming at him to stop eating like a PIG!!!!! He sucks food loudly from his teeth over and over again during a meal and I literally want to throw up. Along with the squishing, vile sounds of the food churning in his mouth, the audible "sucking in" of air before he takes a sip of anything, the SCRAPING of cutlery across his plate and teeth with every bite, ... and on and on. I literally could rip his face off. I gently mentioned the tooth sucking thing to him "once" and naturally HE got offended, so now I find myself forced to eat alone/rush to finish before he eats/find an excuse not to be there etc. I don't want to argue about it, yet bringing it up again would do just that, and makes ME look like a fool. I agree with many of you that this is NOT a phobia, it is, I believe, a valid concern for those of us who respect others enough to eat QUIETLY. Coversely, I CAN tolerate this from people who are cognitively impaired, and therefore unaware of what they are doing. It's those who clearly ARE aware yet still persist in this disgusting and selfish habit I will never understand. What is SO HARD ABOUT IT????STFU!!! To add further insult to injury, I have noticed that he refrains from the tooth sucking in the company of others, which further infuriates me because it proves that he IS AWARE OF THIS BEHAVIOUR. I don't know what to do. MY meals are no longer enyoyable, which is so unfair as I'm trapped most of the time obviously, but hearing that I'm not alone helps a lot. Thanks for listening, and thanks for this forum.

Mary

11 years ago

I have a roommate who is great in all ways but when she eats, it actually makes me feel a combination of rage and nausea. It is so visceral. I hear all kinds of wet smacking noises, saliva, slurping, her tongue mushing her food around- and it kills my appetite. I wish there was something I could say to her to alert her to it. She generally eats in our common area and I have to leave when she does because it makes me feel like I am going to vomit. It also just really makes me angry, like I want to hit someone. Her.

K

11 years ago

I would like to say to Ann I found this post after searching because my husband was doing exactly the same thing and I feel exactly the same way, except I tell him and he still does it. I searched the Internet to release some of my tension instead of ripping his face off. The swishing of food in his mouth and that crunch a crisp loud enough to break glass. It makes me so disgusted and angry I could cry. I don't know which one of us isnt normal.

Melissa

11 years ago

I found this out of desperation while sitting at the table with my sister who refuses to drink anything other than scalding hot coffee out of a lidless travel mug, bothers me to start with. But because of this combo, she feels she must loudly slurp any liquid out of the cup without even tipping it back, until it gets to the point where she is literally creating a vacuum with her mouth to get the drink out!! This is the main thing thing that drives me up the wall, and despite playing loud music, when ever I have asked her to tip her cup a bit more she has been outraged, it's really very awful. So glad to have found this post!!

John

11 years ago

I work for a small location as an administrative assistant. One of my co-workers is decidedly horrible about anything remotely obnoxious.

I'm busy with work a lot of times; handling billing, training, or paperwork. However if there isn't much to do for our mechanics, they often just sit in the office. My aformentioned obnoxious co-worker can't seem to go five minutes without making odd sounds, muching on chips / sunflower seeds (which by the way, seems always been open mouth acompanied with smacking), or whisling an off-tune song.

I've worked with him for about six months, and only recently have we needed to work side-by-side more often. However today I'm trying to fix a paticularly confusing problem while I get to listen to him sit in the break room muching on chips.

I ask him to give it a rest, explaining my pet peeve. My boss then informs me I am "messed up" and cannot tell someone not to eat. This isn't break time or lunch hour, it is nearly an hour before the end of the shift. So how am I in the wrong here?

Trish

11 years ago

I have the same problem. I feel for my husband as he tries to be quiet; and probably is by most standards. But, I swear there is a loudspeaker in his head magnifying every little sound he makes while eating. In general, any sound that comes from the human body (except for speech and even that is often bothersome), sends me in to a tizzy. I was unaware of the cultural habits of making noise while eating amongst the Chinese when we agreed to host an international student. Good God, I've never heard anything so soul destroying in my life. I am very fond of the young man but could send him packing just over the slurping, sucking and smacking he does at table. Most nights I either don't eat till later or make up an excuse to eat in another room. I wouldn't dream of offending him as in all other respects he is a lovely young man and is completely unaware of how miserable he is making me. My husband is quite deaf and in this instance I truly envy him.

Fiona

11 years ago

I am exactly the same, I've always found it infuriating. Sometimes I feel quilt because i'll be sitting with friends just feeling totally enraged at them for something that i know logically is silly. It sends shivers through me and i just want to scream, especially when I am trying to watch something or read etc... I never know how to approach the subject either, even with close friends - so i usually just leave the room in a bad mood.

I'm Scottish and have wondered if maybe it is a British thing - though upon moving to London I seem to be around people way more often who do eat ridiculously loudly and eruhferh I can't even describe the noises and it's currently making me angry.

I read online that it is a condition called Misophonia?

Chris

10 years ago

I found this page because my eating occasionally irritates my wife. She had the same visceral reaction you guys are describing. The key thing is that I don't change the way I eat at all... but her sensitivity does change. I haven't pinned down what it is exactly, but I think its when she's annoyed with me for some other reason. It pains me to see something I do every day sometimes drive her crazy, even after I very carefully try to minimize the sound.

Jena

10 years ago

My mom is a noisy eater. Sometimes i actually run out of the room, or turn my cd player on
High.now i hear everyone eating, and sometimes i get annoyed with myself because i feel i am a noisy eater. I dont eat at friends houses anymore because i dont want to make them angry.

Jena

10 years ago

My mom also bites down on her fork along with my brother and sister. I am so annoyed. Unfortunately, i do not know of a cure.

Jay

10 years ago

Chris, probabely your wife is always annoyed with the eating noises but when she is not in a good mood she does not manage to hide her annoyance from you.

Johanna

10 years ago

Jase

10 years ago

My girlfriend is the worst for sound making when eating... She can't keep her mouth close ...from eating candy to eating popcorn or chips... But the worse of all is when she eats sunflower seeds... She breaks them apart seed by seed with her mouth open. It so bad that i am boiling inside myself...it so unberable that i can't stand it and i usualy leave the room or i am going to have a meltdown! I sometime tell myself i really have problem!!!lol

Clearlyblue

10 years ago

Finally! I feel at peace here because I know I am not alone. I have the unfortunate luck to be married to a slurpy, sucking, teeth clacking, mouth breathing, annoying, sickening, life sucking man. He was not like this early in our marriage. It has only been the past 7 years of our marriage. I honestly have thought about divorcing him because of it. I have to leave the room every time he starts eating or drinking anything. I make excuses after I prepare a meal so I won't have to eat at the same time he does. When he drinks coffee he sucks it into his mouth and swishes it around. It makes me want wretch. While he is eating he will sniff loudly because he says his nose runs. I only live in peace when he is not eating or drinking something. Just telling you about it makes me feel sick and I dread spending time with him.

Keith Blume

7 years ago

I believe this is called misophonia?