Christmas Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman is looking forward to seeing her family this Christmas, but says a primary method she'll cope is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during the holiday meal.
In her case, this time of year often feels like a particularly difficult period as the auditory triggers of other people chewing, drinking noisily and breathing heavily cause her intense distress.
"There's this feeling of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just tighten and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these triggers."
The individual has lived with this condition for several years and for her that renders the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, particularly those made by other people.
It's surprisingly common amongst adults. Experts discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises linked to bodily functions that cause distress, including examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy season can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can provoke a powerful reaction that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with misophonia from childhood, states her strategy is to listen to music to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a different room to avoid distressing triggers.
She says her condition is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to socialize with family, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"I feel as if this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then the stress response will kick in.
"It can come across as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
For those affected then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is key. Try to associate the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not in good health or are troubled. The idea is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the noise doesn't change, your reaction of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.