The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman hopes for seeing her loved ones over the holidays, but notes a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her earplugs - notably for Christmas dinner.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a particularly difficult time as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety.
"There's this wave of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
Lottie has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds coming from those around you.
It is prevalent in the UK. Experts reported almost one in five people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises linked to eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you fear it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the traditionally happy season can transform into a living nightmare for those with the condition.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a strong emotional response that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. On any other day, she would often retreat in a separate space to minimize distressing triggers.
She notes her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There's an expectation to be around loved ones, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then the stress response will activate.
"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Cope
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, according to experts.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is crucial. Try to associate the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to envision someone's slurping is just a waterfall. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the person. As an example, if someone is eating noisily attempt joining in. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect 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 why the person creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
