Musical anhedonia? I hardly knew her.
What?
Never mind. Before this week, I believed that there was music for everyone out there. With so many genres and so many types, there’s just gotta be some kind of music that everyone’s ears can love, right?
taps mic… RIGHT?
Wrong.
Apparently, there are people who walk amongst us who could not care less about music of any kind. It’s called musical anhedonia and it affects about three to five percent of the world’s population. It’s basically just pure indifference to music. Can you imagine listening to Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” and not getting goosebumps at the 3:15 minute mark when the sax drops for the second time?
At the neurological level, people with musical anhedonia don’t receive pleasure center responses in their brain like the rest of us. They’ve never experienced chills from a song. They’ve never sang at the top of their lungs in the car and most likely don’t listen to music in the car to begin with because it’s more of a distraction than anything else.
On the other side of things, there’s something called misophonia, which is musical anhedonia’s second cousin, once removed. It’s also known as “sound rage.” But not the kind of raging that you’d want to do at a party. It’s all about specific sounds bothering people. It’s the technical term for not liking nails on a chalkboard but can create a much more intense reaction. At low levels of misophonia, specific sounds can make those affected anxious or uncomfortable. At high levels, it can bring panic, fear, and even suicidal thoughts.
So, as a tip for all you beautiful people, the next time Karen makes that weird chewing noise in the office, just tell her you’ve got diagnosed misophonia and you’d really appreciate it if she could shut her mouth when she’s eating her yogurt. For your health.
Go out tonight, and any night. Jukely is a concert subscription that gives members guestlist access to hundreds of music events – for one price. Whenever you want to go out, you’ll always have something to do. Learn more and sign up at jukely.com.
