The Holiday Season Can Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her relatives over the holidays, but admits one of the only ways she'll cope is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a notably tough season as the sounds of other people chewing, drinking noisily and sniffling trigger intense distress.
"I get this feeling of instant dread, my entire being will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
Lottie has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, particularly those coming from individuals.
It is prevalent across the population. A study reported a significant portion of people experience it.
Typically it's sounds linked to eating or drinking that cause distress, along with examples such as crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to make sure the event goes smoothly."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous season can quickly turn into a source of agony for affected individuals.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can provoke a strong emotional response that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
The student, a young adult, who has experienced misophonia since aged 10, explains her strategy is to put her earphones in to cope. On any other day, she would frequently go in a different room to avoid triggering sounds.
She explains her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Picture Something Else: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the particular sound bothering you with something completely different. So for example, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not feeling well or maybe they're upset. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
