Melissa Gilbert, famous for playing Laura Ingalls on “Little House on the Prairie,” revealed she suffers from the neurological disorder called Misophonia.
The famous actress said she “sobbed” when she learned that her intense reactions to certain sounds had an actual diagnosis and part of a treatable condition. Gilbert admitted that ever since she was very young, she found it challenging to cope with sounds such as chewing, clapping, gum popping or nails clicking, which would lead her to anger, according to a recent interview by People published Aug. 20. “If any of the kids chewed gum or ate or tapped their fingernails on the table, I would want to run away so badly,” she said. “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,” she told People.
“I sobbed when I found out that it had a name and I wasn’t just a bad person,” 60-year-old Gilbert said.
She’s now working alongside the Duke Center for Misophonia and Emotional Regulation at Duke University’s School of Medicine to create awareness about the disorder and help others that are suffering the way she did.
She told fans her condition led to “a really dark and difficult part of my childhood,” and now that she understands what she is suffering from, she is finding ways to cope. Gilbert explained misophonia is a condition in which people suffer from strong emotional, physiological responses to sounds and visual triggers, but her family didn’t understand her when she was young.
“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 really isolating disorder,” she told People.
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 05: Screen Actors Guild President Melissa Gilbert poses in the press room at the 11th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Exposition Center on February 5, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)
Over the years as she became a mother to her own children, who were also affected by her behavioral responses.
“I had a hand signal that I would give, making my hand into a puppet and I’d make it look like it was chewing and then I’d snap it shut — like shut your mouth!” she said. “My poor kids spent their whole childhoods growing up with me doing this. They weren’t allowed to have gum.”
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Little House on The Prairie Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
The famous actress discovered there was a way to treat her condition in 2023 when she discovered Duke’s Center for Misophonia.
“I wrote in just randomly and said, ‘I need help. Please help me,’” Gilbert admitted.
She has undergone CBT therapy. (RELATED: Colin Farrell Starts Foundation To Help Others Struggling With Same Neurological Condition As Son)
“I realized I could ride out these waves but that they’re not going to go away. They never go away. But now I have all these tools to enable me to be more comfortable and less triggered. It made me feel in control,” she said. “Everyone around me doesn’t have to walk on eggshells. It’s changed my whole life.”
