Yuletide Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie is looking forward to spending time with her relatives during the festive period, but admits a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by relying on her hearing protection - notably for the holiday meal.
In her case, this time of year can be a especially challenging period as the noises of family members munching, slurping and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety.
"I experience this wave of sudden panic, my whole body will just freeze and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to stop these sounds."
The individual has suffered from this condition from a young age and for her that causes the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, particularly those coming from those around you.
It is prevalent in the UK. Researchers reported nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Often it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that cause distress, as well as things like chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays 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 make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful season can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a powerful reaction that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a separate space to minimize problematic noises.
She says her sensitivity is worse around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"There's an expectation to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"I feel as if this sudden rage comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then the stress response will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, according to specialists.
- Picture a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is essential. Attempt to link the specific noise affecting you with something completely different. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. For instance, if someone is eating noisily have a go at mimicking the sound. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not feeling well or are troubled. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
