The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman is looking forward to spending time with her relatives over the holidays, but notes one of the only ways she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - particularly at the holiday meal.
In her case, this time of year is a notably tough period as the noises of family members munching, slurping and breathing heavily trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this feeling of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just tighten and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
Lottie has suffered from this condition since she was 16 and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, particularly those produced by other people.
It is prevalent across the population. Experts reported nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Often it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with examples such as crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "There are so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you dread it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to make sure the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy period can quickly turn into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can trigger a strong emotional response that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
The student, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains her strategy is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to escape problematic noises.
She notes her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There is pressure to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this intense irritation 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 unreasonable and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Handle It
For those affected then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Visualise Something Else: Imagination is essential. Work on connecting the specific noise causing distress with something completely different. For instance, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and turn the annoying sound into a game with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt mimicking the sound. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. While the noise remains identical, your reaction of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
