Christmas Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman anticipates spending time with her relatives this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at the holiday meal.
For the 23-year-old, the holidays is a particularly difficult period as the sounds of other people chewing, slurping and nose-blowing cause her profound anxiety.
"I experience this sensation of instant dread, my every muscle will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to manage these sounds."
The individual has experienced misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the festive season "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, particularly those produced by other people.
The condition is widespread across the population. Experts found almost one in five people suffer from it.
Frequently it's noises associated with bodily functions that lead to discomfort, including examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you fear it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can transform into a living nightmare for those with the condition.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a powerful reaction that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to get through dinner. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to minimize distressing triggers.
She notes her misophonia is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"People assume you to be around loved ones, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then the stress response will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists.
- Imagine an Alternative: Creative thinking is essential. Attempt to link the particular sound bothering you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a waterfall. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a game with the person. As an example, if someone is eating noisily attempt mimicking the sound. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy 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 making a nasal sound, maybe they are not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
