Yuletide Transforms Into a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman is looking forward to seeing her family this Christmas, but says one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by relying on her earplugs - particularly at Christmas dinner.
For her, the holidays can be a especially challenging period as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and nose-blowing trigger profound anxiety.
"There's this wave of instant dread, my every muscle will just freeze and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these noises."
Lottie has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that renders the Christmas time "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, especially noises made by individuals.
It is prevalent across the population. Researchers found almost one in five people experience it.
Frequently it's sounds associated with bodily functions that trigger a reaction, as well as examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays 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 spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the traditionally happy period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can cause a powerful reaction that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
The student, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, states the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to avoid problematic noises.
She explains her condition is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to socialize with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Visualise Something Else: Creative thinking is essential. Try to associate the triggering sound causing distress with a neutral concept. For instance, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game involving the source. For example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt copying the noise. By mimicking, instead of 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 somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.