The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie is looking forward to being with her loved ones over the holidays, but says one of the only ways she'll cope is by using her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the holiday meal.
In her case, the holidays can be a especially challenging time as the sounds of family members munching, slurping and sniffling trigger profound anxiety.
"I get this sensation of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these sounds."
The individual has experienced misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the Christmas time "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, especially noises made by individuals.
It's surprisingly common across the population. A study reported nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Often it's noises connected to bodily functions that cause distress, along with examples such as chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "There are so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful period can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can cause a powerful reaction that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a young adult, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, says her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. Typically, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid distressing triggers.
She notes her condition is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"People assume you to be around loved ones, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Cope
If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, according to experts.
- Picture a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is key. Attempt to link the particular sound affecting you with something completely different. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a challenge with the culprit. As an example, if someone is eating noisily attempt 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 shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not feeling well or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound remains identical, your reaction of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
