Misophonia: evolution, diagnosis and treatment; a systematic review. Monographic: Use of information and communication technologies in mental health and psychosomatics: Expansion during and after the pandemic

ABSTRACT
Introduction. Misophonia is a condition characterized by a disproportionate psychophysiological and emotional reaction in response to specific auditory and/or visual stimuli, which may cause functional impairment in several vital areas.

Objective. Conduct an updated search of recently published scientific literature on misophonia, specifically  its conceptualisation, epidemiology, comorbidity, neurobiology and neuropsychology, assessment, diagnosis and treatment.

Method. Systematic review of scientific articles from 2017 to 2021 in the Pubmed database in English and Spanish. The search included the term misophonia in the title, as well as the terms treatment, therapy, psychotherapy, intervention, psychology or mental health. Of the 45 articles found, 41 were selected according to the determined inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results. Symptoms of misophonia are usually produced by triggers, being oral and nasal triggers the most frequently informed, the emotional response can range from discomfort to severe anger. There are recently  designed assessment instruments with good psychometric properties, overcoming the limitations of earlier measures. Diagnostic criteria for misophonia have been proposed, although these are not included in  classification systems and reference manuals. There is high comorbidity between misophonia and anxiety,  depressive, post-traumatic stress and obsessive-compulsive disorders, among others, so there is no consensus on whether or not it is an independent entity. Cognitive behavioural therapy shows good results,  as well as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing and dialectical behavior therapy, in case studies or small sample sizes.

Discussion. Misophonia is a condition of growing interest. There is a conceptualization of it, however, although diagnostic criteria have been proposed, they have not been validated and it is not yet included in international classification systems.