The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to being with her loved ones during the festive period, but notes a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, the holidays often feels like a notably tough period as the auditory triggers of family members munching, slurping and sniffling make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this wave of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to manage these noises."
The individual has suffered from misophonia for several years and for her that renders the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, especially noises produced by individuals.
The condition is widespread across the population. A study reported nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Typically it's noises connected to eating or drinking that cause distress, including examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
Lottie says: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you fear it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the most wonderful period can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can cause a visceral feeling that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia for over a decade, says the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to manage the meal. On any other day, she would frequently go in a different room to escape problematic noises.
She says her condition is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"People assume you to be around family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then the stress response will activate.
"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Cope
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is crucial. Attempt to link the specific noise bothering you with something completely different. For instance, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. For example, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or are troubled. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. While the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
