She suffers from a disorder where sounds drive her mad

Bridget and her father Mike Sharkey are trying to raise awareness about misophonia, an understudied condition in where noises such as chewing, sends a person into flight or fight mode. Photos: TNS

Bridget Sharkey set down the letter on the couch. The words, written in the near-perfect handwriting of a 14-year-old who is serious about her studies, seemed alien coming from this soft-spoken girl.

“I sat there with my insides burning, hearing the sounds that bothered me the most: chewing and swallowing,” she wrote. “More and more sounds bothered me, and this time it gave me a new reaction. It made me angry.”