The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old hopes for being with her family this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by using her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a notably tough period as the noises of other people chewing, sipping loudly and nose-blowing cause her intense distress.
"I experience this sensation of sudden panic, my whole body will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
She has experienced this condition for several years and for her that renders the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, notably sounds made by individuals.
It's surprisingly common across the population. Experts discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Typically it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, including examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "I face so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid 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 ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful season can transform into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a powerful reaction that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a young adult, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, says her strategy is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. Typically, she would often retreat in a different room to avoid distressing triggers.
She says her sensitivity is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
Three Ways to Manage
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is essential. Try to associate the particular sound bothering you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at joining in. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not feeling well or maybe they're upset. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the sound remains identical, your understanding of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
