Christmas Transforms Into a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie is looking forward to spending time with her relatives during the festive period, but says a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during the holiday meal.
For her, Christmas is a notably tough period as the noises of other people chewing, drinking noisily and sniffling make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this feeling of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
She has lived with sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that makes the festive season "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, particularly those produced by those around you.
It's surprisingly common amongst adults. Experts discovered a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Often it's noises associated with bodily functions that trigger a reaction, including things like crunching, breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "There are so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My relatives are supportive, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous period can transform into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
The student, a young adult, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. On any other day, she would often retreat in a different room to avoid distressing triggers.
She notes her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"People assume you to spend time with family, and I wish to, but it's draining.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger takes hold, 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 dramatic, but it's difficult to convey if you haven't felt it."
Several Strategies to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, according to specialists.
- Picture an Alternative: Mental imagery is key. Attempt to link the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. As an illustration, try to picture someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Have a bit of fun and turn the annoying sound into a challenge involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at mimicking the sound. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Craft a Story: One more method is to try to create a little story 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 are troubled. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise doesn't change, your reaction of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
