Yuletide Can Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
A 23-year-old hopes for seeing her loved ones this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at Christmas dinner.
In her case, Christmas often feels like a especially challenging time as the noises of people eating, drinking noisily and sniffling trigger intense distress.
"There's this sensation of sudden panic, my entire being will just freeze and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to manage these noises."
The individual has lived with sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, notably sounds coming from those around you.
The condition is widespread across the population. Researchers reported a significant portion of people experience it.
Typically it's noises linked to bodily functions that lead to discomfort, including things like chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a source of agony for sufferers.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can provoke a powerful reaction that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a young adult, who has struggled with misophonia for over a decade, says her strategy is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. Typically, she would often retreat in a quiet area to escape distressing triggers.
She explains her condition is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"People assume you to be around family, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then the stress response will take over.
"It may seem as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
Several Strategies to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, according to clinical psychologists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Attempt to link the particular sound bothering you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. This technique is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at copying the noise. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is having to make that sound. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
