The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman is looking forward to spending time with her family this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll cope is by relying on her hearing protection - notably for the main festive feast.
For her, the holidays is a particularly difficult season as the noises of people eating, drinking noisily and breathing heavily make her feel intense distress.
"I get this feeling of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tense up and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
Lottie has suffered from misophonia since she was 16 and for her that renders the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, particularly those coming from other people.
It is prevalent in the UK. A study reported almost one in five people are affected by it.
Frequently it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with things like crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
Lottie says: "There are so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a source of agony for affected individuals.
Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can cause a visceral feeling that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, explains currently her plan is to listen to music to get through dinner. Usually, she would frequently go in a separate space to minimize distressing triggers.
She notes her misophonia is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There's an expectation to spend time with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then the stress response will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
Several Strategies to Manage
For those affected then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists.
- Visualise Something Else: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound affecting you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to envision someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try copying the noise. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Craft a Story: Another technique is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is doing it. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound stays the same, your interpretation of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
