The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman hopes for spending time with her loved ones during the festive period, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - particularly at the main festive feast.
In her case, the holidays often feels like a particularly difficult period as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just tense up and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to manage these sounds."
Lottie has suffered from misophonia since she was 16 and for her that causes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, notably sounds produced by other people.
It is prevalent in the UK. Researchers discovered almost one in five people suffer from it.
Frequently it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, as well as examples such as chewing, breathing, and pen clicking.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful period can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can cause a visceral feeling that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia for over a decade, explains currently her plan is to put her earphones in to cope. Usually, she would frequently go in a different room to avoid problematic noises.
She says her condition is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"People assume you to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then panic will kick in.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Cope
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Picture a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is key. Try to associate the specific noise bothering you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. For instance, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected.
- Craft a Story: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise doesn't change, your understanding of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
