Christmas Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
One young woman anticipates spending time with her loved ones over the holidays, but notes a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by relying on her hearing protection - particularly at the main festive feast.
In her case, the holidays often feels like a especially challenging period as the noises of people eating, drinking noisily and breathing heavily make her feel intense distress.
"I experience this feeling of instant dread, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to stop these noises."
Lottie has suffered from this condition from a young age and for her that causes the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, particularly those produced by other people.
It is prevalent in the UK. A study discovered almost one in five people suffer from it.
Typically it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, along with examples such as chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
The sufferer notes: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the traditionally happy time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a strong emotional response that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with misophonia from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. On any other day, she would often retreat in a separate space to avoid distressing triggers.
She explains her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to spend time with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."
Three Ways to Cope
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Imagine Something Else: Mental imagery is crucial. Attempt to link the triggering sound causing distress with an unrelated image. So for example, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a game with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
