Lyle Severson

Designed for both those newly aware of misophonia and long-time sufferers, this interactive session encourages participants to share coping tools, strategies, and personal experiences. Build a stronger toolkit for managing triggers, gain new perspectives from others who understand the challenges, and leave with practical ideas you can apply immediately in your daily life.

Severson will join John Smoot and Adeel Ahmad for this session.

Some people joke that Lyle Severson is the oldest person to live with misophonia. While that may not be true, he has dealt with the condition for more than 60 years—long before it even had a name. It significantly impacted his early relationships and academic life, forcing him to create his own coping strategies, including a therapeutic stint in boxing. Inspired by his late wife, Severson pursued a career in nursing and retired after nearly three decades in the field. He first discovered the term misophonia around 2012 and attended his first Misophonia Association convention five years later. Now a prominent advocate for awareness featured in multiple videos on the condition, Severson has only missed one annual gathering since his first. It simply wasn’t the same without him.