Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old anticipates seeing her family this Christmas, but says a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner.
For the 23-year-old, this time of year can be a particularly difficult period as the sounds of people eating, drinking noisily and breathing heavily trigger intense distress.
"I get this feeling of instant dread, my entire being will just tense up and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to manage these triggers."
She has lived with sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds coming from those around you.
The condition is widespread across the population. Experts reported almost one in five people suffer from it.
Frequently it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and pen clicking.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to make sure the event goes smoothly."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful time of the year can transform into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can trigger a strong emotional response that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. On any other day, she would frequently go in a separate space to minimize problematic noises.
She notes her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard".
"People assume you to socialize with family, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Cope
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Imagine an Alternative: Creative thinking is crucial. Attempt to link the specific noise causing distress with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. As an example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at mimicking the sound. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not feeling well or could be emotional. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise stays the same, your interpretation of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
