Christmas Transforms Into a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old hopes for seeing her relatives this Christmas, but says one of the only ways she'll endure is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, the holidays can be a especially challenging period as the auditory triggers of family members munching, sipping loudly and nose-blowing cause her profound anxiety.
"There's this sensation of instant dread, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these noises."
Lottie has lived with sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, especially noises made by those around you.
The condition is widespread across the population. A study found a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Often it's sounds associated with eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, as well as examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you dread it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful time of the year can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for those with the condition.
Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a strong emotional response that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a young adult, who has struggled with sound sensitivity from childhood, says her strategy is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. Usually, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid triggering sounds.
She says her condition is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I wish to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then the stress response will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
For those affected then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Picture Something Else: Imagination is crucial. Attempt to link the triggering sound affecting you with something completely different. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. For instance, if someone is eating noisily have a go at mimicking the sound. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or are troubled. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
