Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman hopes for spending time with her relatives during the festive period, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, this time of year is a particularly difficult time as the auditory triggers of family members munching, slurping and breathing heavily make her feel profound anxiety.
"I get this feeling of instant dread, my whole body will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
She has lived with misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, especially noises coming from those around you.
It's surprisingly common across the population. Experts discovered a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Typically it's sounds associated with bodily functions that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to ensure the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful period can rapidly become a source of agony for sufferers.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can trigger a visceral feeling that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
She, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to escape distressing triggers.
She explains her condition is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Manage
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is essential. Try to associate the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. For instance, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at mimicking the sound. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Craft a Story: One more method is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not at their best or could be emotional. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
