Christmas Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
One young woman anticipates being with her family this Christmas, but admits one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by using her hearing protection - notably for Christmas dinner.
In her case, the holidays can be a particularly difficult season as the sounds of people eating, drinking noisily and sniffling trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this wave of sudden panic, my every muscle will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
Lottie has lived with this condition for several years and for her that makes the festive season "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, particularly those produced by other people.
It's surprisingly common amongst adults. Experts discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Frequently it's noises linked to bodily functions that trigger a reaction, as well as examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you dread it.
"My relatives are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful period can quickly turn into a source of agony for sufferers.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can cause a visceral feeling that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced misophonia for over a decade, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to minimize triggering sounds.
She explains her misophonia is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"People assume you to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's draining.
"It's like this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Cope
For those affected then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Imagination is crucial. Work on connecting the particular sound affecting you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. As an example, if someone is eating noisily attempt joining in. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Although the noise doesn't change, your interpretation of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
