Yuletide Can Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman anticipates seeing her relatives over the holidays, but admits a key strategy she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - notably for the holiday meal.
For her, this time of year can be a particularly difficult season as the auditory triggers of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this sensation of instant dread, my entire being will just tense up and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to stop these sounds."
Lottie has suffered from misophonia for several years and for her that renders the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, particularly those made by those around you.
The condition is widespread across the population. Researchers reported nearly 20% people experience it.
Frequently it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, as well as examples such as crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a living nightmare for those with the condition.
Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can cause a strong emotional response that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
The student, a young adult, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains her strategy is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. Usually, she would frequently go in a different room to minimize problematic noises.
She says her sensitivity is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the particular sound bothering you with a neutral concept. For instance, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not feeling well or are troubled. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. While the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.