Christmas Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie hopes for spending time with her loved ones over the holidays, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by using her hearing protection - particularly at the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, the holidays can be a especially challenging time as the sounds of other people chewing, sipping loudly and sniffling make her feel profound anxiety.
"I get this feeling of instant dread, my every muscle will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these sounds."
She has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that causes the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, notably sounds coming from those around you.
It's surprisingly common amongst adults. A study found nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Typically it's noises connected to bodily functions that lead to discomfort, including things like crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you fear it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to ensure everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a strong emotional response that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to minimize distressing triggers.
She says her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There's an expectation to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then panic will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Imagination is essential. Work on connecting the particular sound bothering you with an unrelated image. For instance, try to picture someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly attempt copying the noise. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the sound remains identical, your reaction of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
