The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman hopes for seeing her relatives over the holidays, but admits a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her earplugs - particularly at the main festive feast.
For her, the holidays often feels like a notably tough time as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and breathing heavily make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this wave of instant dread, my every muscle will just tighten and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to manage these sounds."
The individual has lived with misophonia for several years and for her that renders the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, especially noises made by those around you.
It's surprisingly common across the population. Researchers found almost one in five people experience it.
Often it's sounds associated with eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
Lottie says: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you dread it.
"My family are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the traditionally happy period can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can cause a powerful reaction that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains her strategy is to use headphones to get through dinner. Typically, she would often retreat in a quiet area to avoid problematic noises.
She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard".
"People assume you to spend time with family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then the stress response will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, according to experts.
- Imagine an Alternative: Mental imagery is crucial. Attempt to link the specific noise affecting you with something completely different. As an illustration, try to envision someone's slurping is just a waterfall. This technique is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at joining in. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not feeling well or could be emotional. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. While the sound stays the same, your understanding of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.