The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to spending time with her family over the holidays, but notes one of the only ways she'll endure is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - notably for Christmas dinner.
For the 23-year-old, this time of year can be a particularly difficult season as the sounds of other people chewing, slurping and sniffling trigger intense distress.
"There's this wave of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these sounds."
She has suffered from this condition from a young age and for her that renders the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, particularly those made by individuals.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. A study reported a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, including examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "There are so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to guarantee others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous season can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can cause a powerful reaction that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a university student, who has dealt with misophonia since aged 10, explains her strategy is to listen to music to manage the meal. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to minimize problematic noises.
She notes her sensitivity is more intense around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's draining.
"It's like this sudden rage comes over me, 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 overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by specialists.
- Imagine an Alternative: Creative thinking is essential. Work on connecting the particular sound affecting you with an unrelated image. For instance, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain 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 making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not feeling well or are troubled. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise stays the same, your reaction of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
