The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie anticipates being with her relatives this Christmas, but notes a primary method she'll cope is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - especially during the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, the holidays can be a especially challenging time as the auditory triggers of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this feeling of instant dread, my every muscle will just tense up and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these noises."
Lottie has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that causes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, notably sounds coming from those around you.
It is prevalent amongst adults. Experts discovered a significant portion of people experience it.
Frequently it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, including examples such as chewing, breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the most wonderful season can transform into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a visceral feeling that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
Jenna, a young adult, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, says her strategy is to listen to music to cope. Typically, she would often retreat in a separate space to minimize triggering sounds.
She says her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then panic will activate.
"It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Cope
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Try to associate the triggering sound affecting you with an unrelated image. For instance, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. For example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt copying the noise. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or are troubled. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Although the noise remains identical, your understanding of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
