Yuletide Transforms Into a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie is looking forward to being with her family over the holidays, but notes a primary method she'll cope is by relying on her hearing protection - notably for Christmas dinner.
For her, Christmas can be a especially challenging period as the noises of other people chewing, sipping loudly and sniffling cause her intense distress.
"There's this sensation of instant dread, my whole body will just freeze and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these sounds."
Lottie has suffered from misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, especially noises coming from other people.
It's surprisingly common across the population. Researchers reported nearly 20% people experience it.
Frequently it's noises associated with eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, along with things like chewing, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a source of agony for affected individuals.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can trigger a powerful reaction that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a university student, who has experienced sound sensitivity from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to manage the meal. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to avoid problematic noises.
She notes her condition is more intense around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to be around family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will activate.
"It may seem as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
Several Strategies to Manage
For those affected then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise Something Else: Mental imagery is crucial. Try to associate the specific noise bothering you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not in good health or are troubled. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your reaction of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
