Christmas Can Be a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old hopes for spending time with her relatives this Christmas, but notes one of the only ways she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - especially during Christmas dinner.
For her, Christmas is a particularly difficult time as the auditory triggers of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this sensation of instant dread, my every muscle will just tense up and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these triggers."
She has experienced this condition since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, notably sounds coming from individuals.
It is prevalent across the population. Researchers found nearly 20% people experience it.
Often it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, including things like chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you dread it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful period can quickly turn into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can provoke a visceral feeling that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
She, a university student, who has experienced sound sensitivity for over a decade, says currently her plan is to listen to music to manage the meal. On any other day, she would frequently go in a quiet area to avoid problematic noises.
She says her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"People assume you to be around loved ones, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this sudden rage comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Manage
For those affected then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise Something Else: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the specific noise affecting you with something completely different. For instance, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. As an example, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not feeling well or maybe they're upset. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your interpretation of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
