The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie is looking forward to spending time with her family over the holidays, but admits one of the only ways she'll cope is by wearing her earplugs - particularly at the main festive feast.
In her case, the holidays often feels like a especially challenging time as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her intense distress.
"I get this feeling of instant dread, my every muscle will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to stop these sounds."
She has suffered from this condition from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds coming from those around you.
The condition is widespread across the population. A study discovered a significant portion of people experience it.
Often it's noises linked to eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, including things like chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the traditionally happy period can quickly turn into a living nightmare for those with the condition.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a strong emotional response that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings.
She, a young adult, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, explains currently her plan is to use headphones to manage the meal. Usually, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid distressing triggers.
She explains her condition is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then the stress response will activate.
"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Imagination is key. Try to associate the specific noise causing distress with a neutral concept. For instance, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at joining in. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help distract your brain 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 having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not feeling well or maybe they're upset. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise doesn't change, your understanding of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.