Yuletide Can Be a Nightmare for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman is looking forward to spending time with her family during the festive period, but says one of the only ways she'll endure is by using her hearing protection - especially during the holiday meal.
For her, the holidays can be a particularly difficult period as the auditory triggers of family members munching, slurping and nose-blowing 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 stop these noises."
Lottie has suffered from this condition since she was 16 and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, particularly those made by individuals.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Researchers discovered almost one in five people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My relatives are understanding, 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 others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the most wonderful period can transform into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can cause a visceral feeling that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a university student, who has experienced sound sensitivity for over a decade, states her strategy is to listen to music to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a quiet area to escape distressing triggers.
She says her misophonia is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There is pressure to socialize with family, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey if you haven't felt it."
Several Strategies to Manage
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, according to clinical psychologists.
- Imagine Something Else: Imagination is key. Attempt to link the specific noise affecting you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a challenge with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt joining in. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not feeling well or maybe they're upset. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the noise stays the same, your understanding of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
