Yuletide Transforms Into a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie hopes for seeing her loved ones during the festive period, but admits a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by using her noise-cancelling devices - especially during the holiday meal.
For her, the holidays can be a notably tough season as the sounds of people eating, drinking noisily and sniffling trigger profound anxiety.
"I experience this wave of sudden panic, my every muscle will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these triggers."
Lottie has experienced sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that causes the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, particularly those produced by other people.
The condition is widespread across the population. Researchers found nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Frequently it's sounds connected to bodily functions that trigger a reaction, including things like chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
The sufferer notes: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My family are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to guarantee others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful period can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a strong emotional response that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a young adult, who has dealt with misophonia from childhood, states her strategy is to use headphones to get through dinner. On any other day, she would often retreat in a different room to minimize problematic noises.
She says her misophonia is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience."
Three Ways to Manage
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Picture an Alternative: Imagination is essential. Attempt to link the triggering sound bothering you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or could be emotional. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the noise stays the same, your understanding of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
