Christmas Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie is looking forward to being with her relatives over the holidays, but says a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her hearing protection - notably for the holiday meal.
In her case, the holidays often feels like a especially challenging season as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and breathing heavily trigger profound anxiety.
"I get this feeling of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tense up and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to manage these noises."
She has lived with misophonia for several years and for her that makes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to specific noises, especially noises coming from individuals.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Researchers found a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Frequently it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, including examples such as chewing, 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 dread it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to guarantee others enjoy themselves."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous season can rapidly become a source of agony for sufferers.
Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a visceral feeling that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a young adult, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, states currently her plan is to listen to music to cope. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to minimize distressing triggers.
She explains her sensitivity is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then panic will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Cope
For those affected then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Picture an Alternative: Mental imagery is key. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with a neutral concept. So for example, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt joining in. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to create a little story about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise stays the same, your interpretation of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
