Lavender tea consumption shows potential for misophonia symptom improvement in small RCT

Misophonia is a disorder characterized by heightened sensitivity to certain sounds, triggering symptoms such as sympathetic nervous system activation, anger, anxiety, and depression. This study aimed to evaluate the potential role of lavender tea in alleviating these symptoms due to its anxiolytic and antidepressant properties. A single-center, single-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted with 60 participants aged 18 and over, diagnosed with misophonia. Participants were divided equally into experimental and control groups using block randomization. The experimental group consumed 2 g of lavender tea twice daily for 14 days, while the control group received no intervention. Data were collected using the Misophonia Scale, Beck Depression Inventory II, Anxiety Rating Scale, and Trait Anger Scale and analyzed with SPSS 25.0. Baseline characteristics, including age, gender, marital status, education level, income level, and scores for misophonia, anxiety, depression, and anger, were comparable between groups. The mixed ANOVA results suggested that positive changes were observed in misophonia and related psychological symptoms in the lavender tea group, and that these changes may have been more pronounced compared to the control group. The results suggest that the intervention may correlate with enhancements in misophonia, quality of life, and coping strategies. Lavender tea consumption may have helped alleviate symptoms of misophonia, anxiety, depression, and anger. However, due to the lack of participant blinding and the use of self-report measures, the findings should be interpreted cautiously in terms of placebo effects and expectancy bias. REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Number (NCT06785649).