Christmas Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie anticipates being with her family this Christmas, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by relying on her earplugs - particularly at the holiday meal.
In her case, this time of year often feels like a especially challenging period as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and sniffling cause her profound anxiety.
"I get this sensation of sudden panic, my whole body will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to manage these triggers."
Lottie has experienced this condition for several years and for her that renders the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those coming from individuals.
It is prevalent in the UK. Experts reported almost one in five people suffer from it.
Often it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, including examples such as crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the traditionally happy time of the year can transform into a source of agony for sufferers.
Sounds that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can cause a strong emotional response that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings.
Jenna, a young adult, who has dealt with misophonia since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to escape triggering sounds.
She notes her sensitivity is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to be around loved ones, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience."
Several Strategies to Manage
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Picture a Different Scenario: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with something completely different. For instance, try to envision someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at mimicking the sound. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not feeling well or maybe they're upset. The idea is altering the perception of the sound. While the noise stays the same, your reaction of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
