Christmas Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
One young woman hopes for seeing her loved ones during the festive period, but says one of the only ways she'll endure is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at the holiday meal.
In her case, Christmas can be a notably tough season as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just freeze and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these noises."
Lottie has suffered from misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to specific noises, particularly those coming from those around you.
It's surprisingly common across the population. Experts discovered a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Often it's sounds linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as crunching, breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of managing my symptoms to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a source of agony for affected individuals.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can cause a visceral feeling that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced misophonia for over a decade, explains the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid distressing triggers.
She says her condition is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, according to specialists.
- Imagine an Alternative: Imagination is crucial. Try to associate the triggering sound causing distress with an unrelated image. So for example, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a waterfall. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at mimicking the sound. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your interpretation of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
