What is mysokinesia and why does it occur?

If you notice that someone near you is fidgeting and distracting you, even creating nervousness, this may indicate the presence of a phenomenon called mysokinesia.

According to a 2021 study, stressful sensations caused by watching others fidgeting are an incredibly common psychological phenomenon, affecting as many as one in three people, reports Science alert.

This phenomenon, called mysokinesia, which means "hatred of movement," has been little studied by scientists, but has been noticed in research on a related condition, misophonia -- a disorder in which people get irritated when they hear certain sounds repeated.

Mysokinesia is somewhat similar, but the triggers are generally more visual rather than auditory, the researchers report N1.

"Mysokinesia" is defined as a strong negative affective or emotional response to the sight of someone's small and repetitive movements, such as seeing someone fidgeting, making constant hand or leg movements," explained the team of researchers, led by author and psychologist Sumita Jaswal, with University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada.

As there is a lack of scientific research on this topic, to improve understanding of this phenomenon, researchers conducted what they called the "first major scientific study" of mysokinesia - and the results show that increased sensitivity to constant movements is something that many people deal with.

In a series of experiments involving over 4.100 participants, researchers measured the prevalence of mysokinesia in a group of university students and people from the general population, assessing the effects it had on them and investigating why these sensations might manifest.

"We found that approximately one-third self-reported some degree of mysokinesia sensitivity to the repetitive, nervous behaviors of others they encountered in their daily lives," the researchers explained.

"These results support the conclusion that susceptibility to mysokinesia is not a phenomenon limited to clinical populations, but is a fundamental and, so far underrecognized, social challenge shared by many in the wider, general population."

According to the analysis, misokinesia sometimes goes hand in hand with sensitivity to sound - misophonia, but not always.

This phenomenon appears to vary considerably between individuals, with some people reporting only low sensitivity to the stimuli, while others feel highly affected.

"They are negatively affected emotionally and experience reactions such as anger, anxiety or frustration, as well as reduced enjoyment in social situations, work environments and learning environments," explained UBC psychologist Todd Hendy in 2021.

He added that "some of them are even less engaged in social activities because of this condition".

Handy began researching misokinesia after his partner told him he fidgeted and admitted that she felt stressed when he fidgeted, but not just him, but anyone else.

"As a visual cognitive neuroscientist, I was very interested in learning what was going on in the brain," Handy said.

So the million dollar question is: Why do we find someone's fidgeting so stressful?

In the study, the researchers conducted tests to see if mysokinesia in humans could stem from an increased sensitivity of visual attention, leading to an inability to block out distracting events occurring in their visual periphery.

Results based on early experiments were inconclusive on that front, with researchers finding no strong evidence that reflexive mechanisms of visual attention contribute significantly to susceptibility to mysokinesia.

While we're still in the early stages of researching where mysokinesia might come from on a cognitive level—besides, ​ disturbing people who are bothered by it—researchers have some hypothetical clues they want to look for in future research.

"One possibility we want to explore is that their 'mirror neurons' are in this situation," Jaswal said.

He explained that these neurons fire when we move, but they also fire when we see others move.

"For example, when you see someone hurt, you may also flinch because their pain is reflected in your brain," he said.

In addition, it is possible that people prone to mysokinesia unconsciously sympathize with the psychology of "restless people". And not in a good way.

"The reason people fidget is because they are anxious or nervous, so when individuals with mysokinesia see someone fidgeting, it reflects on them and they feel anxious or nervous," Jaswal said.

Whether this is really happening here with mysokinesia, only further research into the phenomenon will be able to say for sure.

One thing is certain though. The results clearly show that this unusual phenomenon is much more common than thought.

"For those who suffer from mysokinesia, it is important to know that they are not alone," Handy said, adding that the phenomenon is real and quite common, and that it is little talked about.