I used to beat myself up because I couldn't stand to listen to other people's chewing . . . especially when eating crunchy foods like chips or apples. Recently I found out that there's actually a name for this tendency, and it's called misophonia. Here's Wikipedia's definition: "Misophonia is characterized by selective sensitivity to specific sounds accompanied by emotional distress, and even anger, as well as behavioral responses such as avoidance."

I believe my misophonia had its genesis in my early childhood,hearing my father---whom I hated--- nosily consuming his dinner each evening. I also had an older cousin who'd evidently never been admonished for chewing with his mouth open, and he, too, disgusted me. My misphonia is so intense, that if I'm in a movie theater and someone near me is munching popcorn (especially if they're chewing in a rhythm like "crunch, crunch, crunch" --pause-- "crunch, crunch, crunch" --pause, etc.), I have to move to another seat!

Any other misophonics out there?