Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie is looking forward to spending time with her relatives this Christmas, but admits a primary method she'll cope is by using her hearing protection - notably for Christmas dinner.
For her, Christmas often feels like a notably tough time as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and nose-blowing cause her intense distress.
"I experience this sensation of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tense up and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to stop these noises."
The individual has lived with misophonia from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, notably sounds made by individuals.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. A study found a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, including things like crunching, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you dread it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of managing my symptoms to make sure the event goes smoothly."
So it's clear why the most wonderful season can quickly turn into a source of agony for sufferers.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can provoke a strong emotional response that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
She, a young adult, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, explains her strategy is to use headphones to get through dinner. Typically, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid triggering sounds.
She explains her misophonia is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to be around loved ones, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Cope
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Picture Something Else: Creative thinking is key. Attempt to link the particular sound causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly attempt copying the noise. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. While the noise remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
