Yuletide Can Be a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman anticipates spending time with her family during the festive period, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by using her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the holiday meal.
For her, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult period as the sounds of people eating, drinking noisily and nose-blowing trigger profound anxiety.
"There's this wave of sudden panic, my whole body will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these triggers."
Lottie has experienced misophonia since she was 16 and for her that causes the festive season "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, notably sounds coming from other people.
The condition is widespread across the population. Experts found a significant portion of people experience it.
Frequently it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, as well as examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
Lottie says: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"Those close to me are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the traditionally happy period can transform into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can provoke a powerful reaction that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
The student, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. On any other day, she would often retreat in a different room to minimize problematic noises.
She explains her misophonia is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"People assume you to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Handle It
For those affected then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by specialists.
- Picture an Alternative: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. For instance, try to picture someone's slurping is just a waterfall. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a challenge with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Craft a Story: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Although the noise remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
