Yuletide Transforms Into a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman hopes for spending time with her family over the holidays, but notes one of the only ways she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - notably for Christmas dinner.
In her case, the holidays often feels like a notably tough season as the sounds of family members munching, sipping loudly and breathing heavily trigger profound anxiety.
"I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tense up and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these sounds."
Lottie has experienced this condition since she was 16 and for her that makes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds coming from other people.
It is prevalent across the population. A study found almost one in five people suffer from it.
Often it's noises associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, as well as examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you fear it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can transform into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can cause a visceral feeling that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a young adult, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, states the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. Typically, she would often retreat in a different room to avoid distressing triggers.
She explains her condition is more intense around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard".
"People assume you to be around family, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then the stress response will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Cope
For those affected then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, according to experts.
- Picture Something Else: Imagination is essential. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. For instance, if someone is eating noisily have a go at copying the noise. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not at their best or are troubled. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. While the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
