The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie hopes for seeing her family this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for Christmas dinner.
For her, this time of year often feels like a especially challenging season as the noises of people eating, drinking noisily and sniffling cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just tense up and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to stop these noises."
She has suffered from sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to specific noises, notably sounds coming from other people.
The condition is widespread across the population. Experts reported almost one in five people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises connected to bodily functions that lead to discomfort, as well as examples such as crunching, breathing, and pen clicking.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful season can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can cause a strong emotional response that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings.
Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to manage the meal. On any other day, she would often retreat in a different room to minimize distressing triggers.
She notes her sensitivity is more intense around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"People assume you to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Cope
For those affected then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by specialists.
- Picture an Alternative: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the specific noise bothering you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game involving the source. For instance, if someone is eating noisily try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. So if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
