The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to being with her family during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll cope is by using her noise-cancelling devices - especially during Christmas dinner.
For the 23-year-old, the holidays is a particularly difficult season as the sounds of other people chewing, drinking noisily and breathing heavily cause her intense distress.
"There's this wave of instant dread, my whole body will just freeze and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these noises."
She has suffered from this condition since she was 16 and for her that causes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, particularly those coming from other people.
It is prevalent in the UK. A study reported nearly 20% people experience it.
Often it's sounds associated with eating or drinking that cause distress, including examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you dread it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous period can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Sounds that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a powerful reaction that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, explains her strategy is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. Typically, she would frequently go in a different room to escape distressing triggers.
She says her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There's an expectation to be around loved ones, and I wish to, but it's draining.
"It's like this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
Several Strategies to Cope
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Imagine Something Else: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with something completely different. So for example, try to picture someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the culprit. For instance, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise stays the same, your reaction of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
