Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie anticipates spending time with her loved ones over the holidays, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at the holiday meal.
For her, Christmas often feels like a especially challenging period as the sounds of other people chewing, drinking noisily and sniffling trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tighten and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises."
Lottie has suffered from this condition from a young age and for her that makes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, particularly those coming from other people.
It is prevalent across the population. Experts reported almost one in five people experience it.
Typically it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
Lottie says: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid 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 the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, states the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. Usually, she would frequently go in a different room to minimize triggering sounds.
She explains her condition is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"People assume you to be around family, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"The sensation is this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then panic will kick in.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
Three Ways to Cope
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by specialists.
- Imagine an Alternative: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Have a bit of fun and turn the annoying sound into a challenge with the culprit. For instance, if someone is eating noisily have a go at copying the noise. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. Imagine if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
