An Interview with Noa Meinzer: Managing being a teen with misophonia.

“Many people struggling with misophonia feel isolated, because it is a difficult condition for others to understand” ~Noa Meinzer

Noa Blue Meinzer developed misophonia when they were 12 years old, an experience that would later shape their passion for helping others with similar struggles. Noa was born and raised in Los Angeles, and started to encounter the challenges of misophonia at the beginning of high school. They were motivated to take action. 

In 2023, Noa helped create soQuiet’s peer support program for adults and teenagers with misophonia where they currently volunteer as a peer guide. They are also soQuiet’s Clinician Captain, where they help to find clients their best fit clinician who is familiar with misophonia and equipped to support them. 

What is your background in education and what drew you into this field?

Noa knew from a young age that they wanted to be a therapist due to their personal experiences with therapy, which began when they were 5 years old. They went on to receive a bachelor of arts in psychology from Lewis and Clark college. During their time there, they researched and wrote a 20 page paper about misophonia for their capstone project. 

 “I linked what we know about misophonia and compared it to other disorders for which dialectal behavioral therapy (DBT) has been proven to be helpful,” Noa said. 

Noa is currently in graduate school at Campbellsville University to get their masters and is working as a trainee in marriage and family therapy. 

How has misophonia impacted your school experiences?

Noa learned a lot through the experiences they endured while at school, such as having to deal with their misophonia triggers. 

“Especially in higher education, I feel sometimes like I’m wasting my time and money. I will be in school blasting my headphones to drown out trigger noises and then go home and have to spend however many hours I was in class teaching myself the material and doing the homework,” Noa said. 

They also note that not everyone's school experience is the same depending on who they are and what conditions they have. There are individualized educational plans available that can help reduce some of these struggles.

How do you feel your experiences with misophonia compare to with other mental conditions?

In Noa’s personal experience, misophonia is one of the most limiting conditions they face. Other conditions feel more manageable when compared to misophonia. 

“It’s hard [with other conditions], [but] I can do the necessary things to make sure I can do it anyway,” Noa said. 

On the contrary, misophonia acts as a more limiting barrier in their life. Even though the other conditions are still difficult, Noa knows they are still capable of doing something, even if it may take them longer or be more challenging, whereas misophonia acts as a definitive boundary.

Do you think misophonia acts as a catalyst for anxiety and depression, or do these conditions share an underlying cause?

Noa has dealt with anxiety since the age of 5, but only developed misophonia when they were 12. They feel their anxiety is not related to misophonia, but they do experience an anxiety related response to misophonia triggers. They experience anxiety when exposed to their triggers rather than anger, but anger is also another possible response. 

It is also possible to experience the symptoms of anxiety and depression without having it fully diagnosed or being impacted every day. This can make aspects of other disorders appear coinciding with or as part of the symptoms of a condition like misophonia. 

If you could shift one misconception in the mental-health field about misophonia, what would it be?

Misophonia can be so severe that it functions as a disability for some people, yet not for others. There is no definitive categorization of the condition, yet.

Noa wishes there was less stigma associated with determining if something is a disability, because a disability is simply a limitation on life. They wish more people were accepting of classifying misophonia as a disability, because if it impacts their life to the same extent a disability does, then it should be classified as one. 

If you could give a person who recently found out they have misophonia a piece of advice, what would you tell them?

Noa would tell them to find community, and that there are many resources available to help in different ways.  Many people struggling with misophonia feel isolated, because it is a difficult condition for others to understand. Talking to others in similar situations could help to decrease this loneliness.

When anxiety or depression enter the picture alongside misophonia, how does it affect general mental health? 

Misophonia is a complex disorder that could make a person feel safe only when they are away from their triggers, which ultimately can lead to isolation. Other disorders that impact mental health are similar in this way, so having multiple conditions can amplify this result.

Noa notes that there is a normal amount of isolation that comes with being a teenager, but if a parent is worried about their child, the best thing to do is let them know they are there if they need anything without pressuring them. 

Additional information: 

Noa describes misophonia using a metaphor. If a person is in the woods and sees something on the ground, they know it is probably just a stick. Yet, there is a small possibility that the object could be a snake. Our brains momentarily would always assume the worst (that it is a snake), even though they have seen a stick before and “should” recognize it as harmless.  

“And I think it's the same thing with trigger sounds,” said Noa. “Like no matter how much I try to desensitize or expose myself to them or say I know this isn't something that could hurt me, my body's still having the reaction that I should be scared.”