The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
A 23-year-old hopes for being with her relatives during the festive period, but says a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her earplugs - particularly at the main festive feast.
For her, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult period as the noises of people eating, sipping loudly and nose-blowing cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this feeling of instant dread, my entire being will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these triggers."
Lottie has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, especially noises coming from individuals.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts found a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Often it's noises linked to bodily functions that trigger a reaction, along with things like crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can transform into a source of agony for those with the condition.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can provoke a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity since aged 10, states her strategy is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. On any other day, she would frequently go in a separate space to minimize problematic noises.
She explains her misophonia is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I wish to, but it's draining.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience."
Three Ways to Handle It
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Picture an Alternative: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound affecting you with something completely different. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. So if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. The idea is altering the perception of the sound. Although the noise stays the same, your interpretation of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
