Dog-barking Misophonia - why your neighbour's dog barking triggers your ANGER!

Why do you feel SO angry when you hear your neighbour's dog barking? I often hear from people who feel embarrassed, even guilty, when they feel this upset and distressed. Maybe they actually like dogs! They may even have a dog of their own. So, why do some dog barks send us apoplectic with rage?

This is a common problem. Picture the scene : you are working from home. More people are doing this now, and we enjoy certain aspects of it. Less commuting, more flexibility, less expense. But there's a flip side - you are now more likely to be exposed to noise in your neighbourhood, noise that you may not otherwise have heard because you were out at work all day. The noise of the neighbours doing renovations to their homes. The noise of heavy lorries thundering past your window. And - DOGS! Yes, many of them are left at home all day long and they have a tendency to bark. It might even go on for long periods - they are bored, restless or jumpy when people walk past. Some dogs might even have access to the garden - so they bark at birds, cats and passers by.

There is nothing more jarring than the sound of a loud yappy bark when you are trying to focus. It's not such an issue in the evenings because the owners are home and they are being entertained. You may even have spoken to your neighbours about it who, whilst very apologetic, simply shrug their shoulders and say "well, there's not much I can do about it". You might have tried earplugs. You may have just tried to ignore it. You might have tried white noise, music, TV - and none of these things help. One of the most frustrating and upsetting things about misophonia and sensitivity around dog barking is the lack of control - and the fact that you feel triggered even when you THINK about the dog barking, when it will bark again, how long it will go on for, will you fall out with your neighbours, are they guilty of animal cruelty etc.

Before you know it, you have worked yourself up into such a state that even just a few barks will set you off. You dread it, you feel the tension in your whole body, the anger taking over. Sometimes it even feels like panic. You cannot escape and it feels like there is nothing you can do.

Dog-barking misophonia has many layers. First, the sound, the acoustic properties : it's loud, provocative, unpredictable. Dogs bark because they want to communicate something and it's designed to get attention. Secondly, you cannot control it. There is no end point in sight. Thirdly, it is unpredictable. You cannot plan your day around it. And finally (and even most importantly), the sound itself has triggered not just your anger but layers of underlying beliefs. Common beliefs might be "my neighbours are selfish", "my neighbours are cruel". Or "I am entitled to my peace, how dare they?". Once you realise how attached you are to your peace, and your beliefs, another layer of resistance is added.

All this resistance and loss of control makes your nervous system feel unsafe, it thinks of the barking as being a threat. That's why your fight or flight mechanism is triggered - run away! Hide! Start a fight! But none of these things are satisfactory solutions. Your nervous system was not designed to help you with constructive thinking, calm reflection or logical alternatives. That's where hypnotherapy can be helpful. And it's what I do with all my clients who are desperately looking for answers.

The help I offer is not designed to make you suddenly believe that barking is okay - or that you should suddenly approve of your selfish neighbours. I can help you figure out WHY your nervous system feels the intensity of anger that ruins your day, and help you train it to respond in a more helpful way. I can help you navigate control (or lack of) when your options are limited. I can help you find peace in a world that is increasingly becoming more noisy, more demanding and less predictable.

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