The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie anticipates spending time with her family this Christmas, but notes one of the only ways she'll endure is by using her hearing protection - notably for the main festive feast.
For her, this time of year is a especially challenging period as the noises of people eating, slurping and nose-blowing trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this sensation of instant dread, my whole body will just tense up and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these noises."
Lottie has suffered from this condition since she was 16 and for her that renders the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, particularly those produced by individuals.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. Experts discovered almost one in five people suffer from it.
Often it's noises associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
The sufferer notes: "I face so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the traditionally happy period can transform into a living nightmare for affected individuals.
Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
She, a young adult, who has struggled with sound sensitivity since aged 10, states currently her plan is to use headphones to cope. Typically, she would often retreat in a different room to escape distressing triggers.
She explains her misophonia is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then the stress response will kick in.
"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, according to specialists.
- Visualise Something Else: Creative thinking is essential. Attempt to link the specific noise bothering you with something completely different. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. For example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at mimicking the sound. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. Imagine if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not at their best or could be emotional. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. While the noise remains identical, your interpretation of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
