Christmas Transforms Into a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old anticipates seeing her loved ones this Christmas, but says a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by using her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner.
For her, the holidays often feels like a particularly difficult season as the noises of people eating, drinking noisily and sniffling make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this wave of instant dread, my entire being will just tense up and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these sounds."
Lottie has suffered from this condition since she was 16 and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, particularly those produced by individuals.
It is prevalent in the UK. Researchers found almost one in five people are affected by it.
Often it's noises associated with eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to guarantee others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can cause a visceral feeling that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, states her strategy is to use headphones to manage the meal. On any other day, she would frequently go in a different room to escape triggering sounds.
She explains her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to socialize with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's draining.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Cope
For those affected then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Picture an Alternative: Imagination is essential. Work on connecting the specific noise causing distress with an unrelated image. For instance, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. For instance, if someone is eating noisily have a go at joining in. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to create a little story about the reason someone making the noise is doing it. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.