Christmas Transforms Into a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie hopes for spending time with her relatives this Christmas, but admits a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner.
For her, this time of year can be a notably tough time as the sounds of other people chewing, drinking noisily and breathing heavily cause her intense distress.
"I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just freeze and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these triggers."
The individual has suffered from this condition for several years and for her that renders the festive season "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds coming from those around you.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts found a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Often it's noises associated with bodily functions that lead to discomfort, including examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of managing my symptoms to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can transform into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a powerful reaction that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, says her strategy is to listen to music to cope. On any other day, she would frequently go in a separate space to escape distressing triggers.
She says her condition is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"People assume you to be around family, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"I feel as if this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then the stress response will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Handle It
For those affected then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is key. Work on connecting the specific noise causing distress with a neutral concept. So for example, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a waterfall. The goal 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 competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at joining in. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Craft a Story: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone making the noise is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or are troubled. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the sound remains identical, your understanding of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
