Yuletide Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman is looking forward to spending time with her loved ones during the festive period, but admits a primary method she'll cope is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at Christmas dinner.
In her case, Christmas can be a especially challenging season as the auditory triggers of people eating, sipping loudly and breathing heavily trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to stop these sounds."
Lottie has lived with misophonia from a young age and for her that renders the festive season "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, especially noises made by those around you.
It is prevalent amongst adults. Experts reported almost one in five people suffer from it.
Frequently it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, along with things like crunching, breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you dread it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to ensure everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous season can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a powerful reaction that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity since aged 10, states the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would often retreat in a separate space to minimize distressing triggers.
She notes her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There is pressure to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Cope
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is key. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is doing it. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. While the noise doesn't change, your interpretation of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
