Christmas Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie hopes for spending time with her loved ones this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at the main festive feast.
For her, this time of year often feels like a particularly difficult period as the auditory triggers of family members munching, slurping and sniffling trigger intense distress.
"I get this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just tense up and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
Lottie has lived with misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the festive season "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, especially noises produced by those around you.
The condition is widespread in the UK. Experts discovered nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Typically it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"Those close to me are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to ensure everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the traditionally happy time of the year can transform into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can trigger a powerful reaction that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, says the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a different room to escape triggering sounds.
She explains her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There's an expectation to spend time with family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will kick in.
"It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Cope
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Picture Something Else: Mental imagery is key. Work on connecting the specific noise causing distress with something completely different. So for example, try to picture someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. As an example, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. While the noise stays the same, your reaction of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
