Yuletide Can Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie anticipates being with her loved ones over the holidays, but notes a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by using her hearing protection - notably for the holiday meal.
In her case, the holidays can be a particularly difficult time as the sounds of people eating, drinking noisily and breathing heavily trigger intense distress.
"There's this feeling of instant dread, my every muscle will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these noises."
The individual has lived with misophonia since she was 16 and for her that renders the Christmas time "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, notably sounds made by other people.
It's surprisingly common across the population. A study found almost one in five people suffer from it.
Frequently it's noises connected to bodily functions that cause distress, including things like chewing, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy period can transform into a living nightmare for those with the condition.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a strong emotional response that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, says her strategy is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to escape problematic noises.
She explains her misophonia is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"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 uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then the stress response will kick in.
"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience."
Several Strategies to Manage
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, according to clinical psychologists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is crucial. Try to associate the specific noise bothering you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly attempt copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason 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 are troubled. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your interpretation of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
