Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie is looking forward to being with her loved ones this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at the holiday meal.
For the 23-year-old, the holidays can be a particularly difficult period as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
She has experienced misophonia since she was 16 and for her that causes the festive season "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those coming from those around you.
It is prevalent in the UK. Researchers reported a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Typically it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, along with examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can cause a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, states the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to get through dinner. On any other day, she would often retreat in a separate space to minimize problematic noises.
She notes her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"People assume you to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"The sensation is this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then panic will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, according to clinical psychologists.
- Imagine Something Else: Creative thinking is key. Work on connecting the specific noise affecting you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly attempt mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not feeling well or are troubled. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. While the sound stays the same, your interpretation of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
