Christmas Transforms Into a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old anticipates seeing her loved ones this Christmas, but admits one of the only ways she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner.
For her, the holidays is a notably tough period as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and sniffling make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this feeling of sudden panic, my every muscle will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these noises."
Lottie 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 certain sounds, especially noises produced by those around you.
The condition is widespread across the population. Experts reported almost one in five people suffer from it.
Frequently it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with things like chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful time of the year can quickly turn into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can cause a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity from childhood, states the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to get through dinner. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to minimize problematic noises.
She says her sensitivity is worse around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to be around family, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then the stress response will take over.
"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Imagination is crucial. Attempt to link the triggering sound affecting you with a neutral concept. For instance, try to picture someone's slurping is just a waterfall. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not feeling well or maybe they're upset. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
