The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman hopes for spending time with her loved ones this Christmas, but admits one of the only ways she'll endure is by using her hearing protection - notably for the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas often feels like a especially challenging period as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and nose-blowing make her feel profound anxiety.
"There's this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just freeze and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these noises."
Lottie has experienced misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, especially noises produced by individuals.
It is prevalent across the population. A study reported a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Often it's sounds associated with eating or drinking that cause distress, along with things like crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous period can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can trigger a visceral feeling that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
She, a university student, who has experienced misophonia for over a decade, states currently her plan is to put her earphones in to cope. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to minimize problematic noises.
She says her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There is pressure to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then panic will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, 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 a few methods you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by specialists.
- Picture Something Else: Mental imagery is key. Try to associate the specific noise causing distress with something completely different. As an illustration, try to imagine 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.
- Use Humor: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. For instance, if someone is eating noisily have a go at mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your understanding of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
