The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to spending time with her relatives over the holidays, but admits a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner.
For her, the holidays often feels like a notably tough period as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and breathing heavily make her feel intense distress.
"I get this feeling of instant dread, my every muscle will just freeze and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises."
The individual has experienced misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, particularly those coming from those around you.
The condition is widespread across the population. Experts discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Often it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, including examples such as chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "I face so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you fear it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, opening presents, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a visceral feeling that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a university student, who has dealt with misophonia since aged 10, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to get through dinner. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to minimize problematic noises.
She says her misophonia is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There is pressure to be around loved ones, and I want to, but it's draining.
"I feel as if this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
Three Ways to Handle It
For those affected then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is essential. Try to associate the specific noise causing distress with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a challenge with the person. For example, if someone is eating noisily attempt mimicking the sound. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. While the noise stays the same, your interpretation of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
