Does the mere presence of your colleagues irritate you? The way they drink their tea, tap on their keyboards, swing their legs under their desks, touch their hair to emphasize their thoughts—it's a veritable physical ballet, and it's far from to your liking. If your colleagues' actions and gestures make you bristle internally, you might be suffering from misokinesis .
What is misokinesis?
While misokinesis might sound like a fictional superpower from "Stranger Things," in reality, it's a very debilitating disorder in everyday life, especially in the workplace when colleagues fidget with their fingers on a desk, frantically press the end of a pen, or rub their chin over a complicated file. In open-plan offices, which can quickly lead to sensory overload, misokinesis can develop rapidly.
This explains why your tolerance level drops drastically when you see a colleague improvising jump rope moves with their pen or constantly tapping their foot. People with misokinesis struggle to look away and focus on these repetitive gestures, produced assembly-line style by others. They aren't simply distracted; they experience an internal agitation that is very difficult to control.
Misokinesis falls into the same category as misophonia, the aversion to loud mouth sounds, mouse clicks, keyboard clicks, or even slightly audible breathing. "It affects people's ability to enjoy social interactions, work, or learn," explains Dr. Handy. This disorder, still relatively unknown to the general public and poorly documented, is estimated to affect 33% of the population, according to a study conducted by the University of British Columbia.
How does misokinesis develop?
If you can no longer stand that colleague who constantly fidgets in their chair and takes a perverse pleasure in swiveling it from side to side, you might not be "on edge," but simply suffering from misokinesis. As the study reports, this negatively charged disorder can range from mild annoyance to debilitating anxiety. Feelings of frustration, unexplained irritability, or uncontrollable spikes in stress—misokinesis manifests itself differently from person to person. This colleague, who monopolizes your thoughts with their contagious OCD, bothers you where others see nothing more than a focused worker.
Misokinesis, sometimes confused with attention deficit disorder , is not a sign of a distracted mind but of excessive empathy. According to Dr. Handy, a psychology professor who conducted this insightful study, misokinesis may be triggered by our mirror neurons, brain cells that govern empathy and allow us to "understand the intentions behind the actions of others," he explains. In short, your brain is taking shortcuts.
A twitching leg, frantic fingers, a hand gnawing at the bone between two important tasks… These movements are the physical manifestation of stress, and they quickly rub off on your mind. "Our mirror neurons help us understand the emotions of others, but can also make it difficult to ignore repetitive movements perceived as bothersome," adds Sumeet Jaswal, co-author of the study.
What can be done to combat misokinesis?
No, you're not doomed to seethe inwardly every time your colleague transforms their pen into a conductor's baton. While misokinesis can be particularly distressing, there are ways to minimize its impact on daily life.
- The first step is simply to put a name to what you're feeling. Understanding that it's neither gratuitous intolerance nor excessive irritability helps to alleviate guilt. Your brain is reacting to a specific stimulus, often automatically. It's not a passing whim or an office tantrum.
- Next, the environment plays a key role. If you work in an open-plan office, try slightly altering your field of vision. Changing your seat, adjusting your screen's angle, or installing a discreet partition can significantly reduce your exposure to these distracting movements. Sometimes, a few centimeters of shift can save an entire day.
- Some people also find comfort in "counter-stimuli." Listening to soft music through headphones, playing white noise, or wearing earbuds, even without sound, can create a kind of protective bubble. This helps the brain divert its attention from the repetitive actions that monopolize its vigilance.
If the mere sight of a twitching leg is enough to raise your blood pressure, it doesn't mean your colleagues have suddenly become unbearable. It might simply be that your brain is picking up on the movements of the world around it a little too intensely. A subtle form of hypersensitivity, sometimes annoying, but very real.
