The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old anticipates being with her loved ones during the festive period, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at Christmas dinner.
For her, this time of year can be a notably tough period as the noises of people eating, sipping loudly and sniffling cause her intense distress.
"I get this sensation of sudden panic, my entire being will just tense up and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these noises."
The individual 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, notably sounds coming from individuals.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts 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, as well as examples such as chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread 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 sacrificing my own sanity to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Sounds that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can trigger a powerful reaction that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings.
Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, states her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to escape distressing triggers.
She says her misophonia is worse around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There's an expectation to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by specialists.
- Imagine an Alternative: Imagination is crucial. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with an unrelated image. For instance, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a game involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at mimicking the sound. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise stays the same, your reaction of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
