The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
A 23-year-old hopes for spending time with her relatives over the holidays, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas can be a notably tough period as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety.
"There's this wave of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
She has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that makes the Christmas time "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, notably sounds produced by individuals.
It is prevalent across the population. A study found nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Often it's noises connected to bodily functions that cause distress, along with examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to ensure the event goes smoothly."
So it's obvious why the traditionally happy season can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for those with the condition.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a powerful reaction that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity from childhood, 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 different room to avoid triggering sounds.
She says her condition is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to be around family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Visualise Something Else: Creative thinking is crucial. Attempt to link the triggering sound causing distress with an unrelated image. For instance, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a waterfall. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. For instance, if someone is eating noisily try copying the noise. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Craft a Story: One more method is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. So if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the noise doesn't change, your interpretation of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
