Published: August 23, 2024
The star of “Little House on the Prairie” says this diagnosis “changed her whole life”
By Movieguide® Contributor
Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert talks about her misophonia diagnosis.
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the actress said that even small noises could upset her as a child.
“When one of the kids was chewing gum, eating, or tapping their nails on the table, I wanted to run away,” Gilbert said. “I would turn red like a tomato and my eyes would fill with tears. I would just sit there and feel absolutely miserable and terribly guilty because I felt so much hatred toward all these people – people I loved.”
She called it “a really dark and difficult part of my childhood.”
It was only years later that Gilbert was diagnosed with misophonia, “a disorder in which tolerance to certain sounds and associated sensations decreases,” according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The Cleveland Clinic added that “misophonia may affect about one in five people during their lifetime.”
“I cried when I found out it had a name and I wasn’t just a bad person,” Gilbert said, explaining that for years she had thought she was just “rude.”
Since then, she has been receiving treatment at the Duke Center for Misophonia, an organization that, according to its website, “actively conducts clinical research on misophonia, educates the public, and evaluates adult patients with misophonia treatment and care recommendations.”
“Given how little is known about misophonia, the opportunities for discoveries and improved treatment are virtually limitless,” the center added.
At the Duke Center for Misophonia, Gilbert underwent cognitive behavioral therapy to help her cope with her condition and encourages other people with misophonia to do the same.
“It’s an emotional issue. It’s about self-regulation and self-control,” she explained. “Now I have all these tools that allow me to feel more comfortable and less irritable. I feel like I have everything under control… It’s changed my whole life.”
Movieguide® has already reported on Gilbert’s life after “Little House on the Prairie”:
“Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert shared details about her new book, “Back to the Prairie,” and her penchant for a simpler life.
The actress and her husband, actor and director Timothy Busfield, left Hollywood behind and settled in the Catskills to enjoy nature.
“I grew up on a farm,” says Gilbert laughed. “I was able to try it out quite a few times and then go to our beautiful house in Encino at the end of the cul-de-sac with all our modern conveniences. But I’ve always loved being outside. I’ve always loved being around animals. I think that’s always been my core personality. I just grew up in big cities.
“When we got here, when we got our land and started looking at all the things we could do with it, and then when the lockdown came, it unleashed all of that in me,” she continued. “There was a person who longed to have this (new life). I still can’t believe my life is like this now. It’s heaven. I’m just so blessed.”
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