Hello? Is this thing on?

Hi I'm Rachel, mum to three teenage kids, wife, business owner, part time farmer. Flusher of toilets, washer of pants, feeder of cats, driver of the Teen Taxi, all the usual stuff. I was looking forward to an easier, quieter life as the kids grew more independent. But then the Misophonia Monster moved into our house and everything changed.

My teenage daughter developed this horrible, cruel condition; now instead of sitting in coffee shops laughing together we're sitting in separate rooms dealing with this unwelcome guest in our own ways. For my part, I've been reading as much as I can about misophonia and linking up with other miso parents on social media. Someone shared this paper by Dr Ezra Cowan and I was struck by the title, "like Hugging a Cactus" - oooh, I'm having that, I thought. It describes perfectly how it feels to love someone with misophonia, when getting close to the very person you want to be closest to causes you pain and distress.

I started the blog as a way of helping me and my teenage Cactus make sense of it all and to share some of what we've learned in the hope that it will help other families. Care to join us? #misophonia #teenmentalhealth #schools #family #teens #FEcolleges #education