Melissa Gilbert has revealed she was diagnosed with rare neurological disability, misophonia. In an interview with People , the 60-year-old Little House on The Prairie actor explained she was secretly struggling behind the scenes of the show, grappling with a condition she didn’t understand. When faced with everyday noises - including the sounds of chewing, hands clapping, and gum popping— her anger would be triggered.
“If any of the kids chewed gum or ate or tapped their fingernails on the table, I would want to run away so badly,” Gilbert explained. “I would turn beet red and my eyes would fill up with tears and I’d just sit there feeling absolutely miserable and horribly guilty for feeling so hateful towards all these people - people I loved.” The actor noted it was “a really dark and difficult part of my childhood.
” She was diagnosed with misophonia, a neurological condition that causes those suffering from it to experience strong and unpleasant emotional, physiological, and behavioral responses to sound, and at times, visual triggers. “I sobbed when I found out that it had a name and I wasn’t just a bad person,” Gilbert added, noting that she’s partnering with Duke Center for Misophonia and Emotional Regulation at Duke University’s School of Medicine. “I really just thought that I was rude.
And I felt really bad. And guilty, which is an enormous component of misophonia, the guilt that you feel for these feelings of fight or flight. It’s a .