The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman anticipates spending time with her family over the holidays, but says a primary method she'll cope is by using her earplugs - notably for Christmas dinner.
For her, this time of year is a especially challenging time as the sounds of people eating, drinking noisily and sniffling trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these triggers."
She has experienced this condition from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, particularly those made by individuals.
It is prevalent amongst adults. Researchers reported a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Typically it's noises associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, including things like crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to ensure the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can cause a powerful reaction that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a young adult, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, states currently her plan is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. On any other day, she would frequently go in a separate space to escape triggering sounds.
She notes her condition is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I wish to, but it's draining.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then the stress response will kick in.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
Several Strategies to Cope
For those affected then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by specialists.
- Picture a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is essential. Attempt to link the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: 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, perhaps they're not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
