The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman hopes for being with her relatives over the holidays, but notes one of the only ways she'll endure is by wearing her earplugs - particularly at the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, this time of year is a particularly difficult period as the sounds of people eating, slurping and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety.
"I get this sensation of instant dread, my entire being will just freeze and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these noises."
Lottie has experienced sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that causes the festive season "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to specific noises, notably sounds produced by other people.
It is prevalent in the UK. A study found nearly 20% people experience it.
Typically it's sounds linked to eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, including examples such as crunching, breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you fear it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to ensure everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful season can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a strong emotional response that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. Typically, she would often retreat in a quiet area to avoid triggering sounds.
She says her sensitivity is worse around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then the stress response will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey if you haven't felt it."
Several Strategies to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Try to associate the particular sound bothering you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to picture someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the noise stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
