Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman hopes for being with her loved ones this Christmas, but says a key strategy she'll endure is by using her hearing protection - notably for Christmas dinner.
For her, Christmas is a particularly difficult season as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and sniffling trigger intense distress.
"I experience this sensation of instant dread, my whole body will just freeze and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to stop these sounds."
Lottie has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the festive season "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to specific noises, particularly those made by other people.
The condition is widespread in the UK. Researchers reported a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Frequently it's sounds connected to bodily functions that lead to discomfort, including examples such as chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous period can transform into a source of agony for sufferers.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a visceral feeling that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity from childhood, states the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to get through dinner. On any other day, she would often retreat in a separate space to escape distressing triggers.
She explains her misophonia is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then panic will activate.
"It may seem as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Handle It
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, according to experts.
- Picture Something Else: Creative thinking is key. Try to associate the particular sound causing distress with an unrelated image. For instance, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. For example, if someone is eating noisily try copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or are troubled. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
