Christmas Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie anticipates spending time with her family over the holidays, but notes one of the only ways she'll endure is by using her earplugs - especially during the holiday meal.
For her, Christmas is a particularly difficult time as the auditory triggers of family members munching, sipping loudly and nose-blowing trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this feeling of sudden panic, my entire being will just freeze and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
She has suffered from misophonia for several years and for her that makes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, notably sounds coming from other people.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts found nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Typically it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, as well as examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you fear it.
"My family are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous period can quickly turn into a source of agony for sufferers.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a visceral feeling that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia for over a decade, explains her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to escape triggering sounds.
She notes her sensitivity is more intense around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's draining.
"It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Visualise Something Else: Creative thinking is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound affecting you with an unrelated image. For instance, try to picture someone's slurping is just a waterfall. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or are troubled. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound stays the same, your reaction of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
