Yuletide Transforms Into a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie anticipates being with her family during the festive period, but notes a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by using her hearing protection - notably for the holiday meal.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas often feels like a notably tough time as the sounds of people eating, slurping and sniffling trigger profound anxiety.
"There's this feeling of sudden panic, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to manage these noises."
Lottie has suffered from sound sensitivity for several years and for her that renders the festive season "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, especially noises made by those around you.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. Experts found nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Frequently it's noises linked to eating or drinking that cause distress, along with examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing 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 internal conflict of managing my symptoms to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the traditionally happy season can quickly turn into a source of agony for affected individuals.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can trigger a powerful reaction that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings.
Jenna, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, states the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid triggering sounds.
She says her misophonia is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then panic will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Cope
If it's an issue 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. Try to associate the specific noise bothering you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a waterfall. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not feeling well or could be emotional. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
