Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie is looking forward to spending time with her loved ones this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her earplugs - notably for the holiday meal.
In her case, Christmas is a especially challenging season as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and sniffling trigger profound anxiety.
"I experience this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to manage these triggers."
Lottie has lived with this condition since she was 16 and for her that renders the festive season "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, notably sounds coming from other people.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. Researchers reported a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Often it's sounds associated with eating or drinking that cause distress, as well as examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you fear it.
"My family are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to ensure the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful period can rapidly become a source of agony for sufferers.
Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a strong emotional response that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings.
The student, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity from childhood, says her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. On any other day, she would often retreat in a quiet area to escape problematic noises.
She notes her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then panic will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Handle It
For those affected then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Picture Something Else: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the triggering sound causing distress with something completely different. For instance, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Have a bit of fun and turn the annoying sound into a game with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at joining in. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Craft a Story: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not feeling well or could be emotional. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise doesn't change, your interpretation of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
