The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie is looking forward to spending time with her family over the holidays, but notes a primary method she'll endure is by using her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast.
In her case, this time of year can be a notably tough season as the auditory triggers of family members munching, slurping and breathing heavily make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this feeling of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tense up and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to manage these noises."
She has lived with sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that makes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, particularly those coming from individuals.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts reported a significant portion of people experience it.
Typically it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, along with things like crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My relatives are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy time of the year can quickly turn into a living nightmare for affected individuals.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can cause a strong emotional response that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings.
Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would frequently go in a different room to escape triggering sounds.
She explains her misophonia is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then the stress response will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, according to experts.
- Visualise Something Else: Mental imagery is crucial. Attempt to link the particular sound causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to envision someone's slurping is just a waterfall. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a competition involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily attempt 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.
- Craft a Story: Another technique is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not feeling well or maybe they're upset. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the noise stays the same, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.