Christmas Transforms Into a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie anticipates spending time with her family this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her earplugs - especially during the main festive feast.
For her, the holidays can be a notably tough time as the noises of people eating, sipping loudly and breathing heavily make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises."
Lottie has experienced this condition since she was 16 and for her that causes the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, particularly those coming from those around you.
It is prevalent across the population. Researchers found a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Often it's noises associated with bodily functions that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you dread it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful period can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can trigger a strong emotional response that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
The student, a young adult, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, explains her strategy is to use headphones to get through dinner. On any other day, she would often retreat in a separate space to avoid distressing triggers.
She explains her misophonia is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard".
"People assume you to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then the stress response will kick in.
"It may seem as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Cope
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is key. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. For example, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise doesn't change, your reaction of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
