Yuletide Transforms Into a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie is looking forward to being with her relatives over the holidays, but notes a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner.
In her case, the holidays often feels like a particularly difficult time as the noises of people eating, drinking noisily and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety.
"I get this sensation of instant dread, my whole body will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these noises."
The individual has experienced misophonia for several years and for her that makes the Christmas time "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, particularly those made by other people.
It is prevalent across the population. Experts found nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Typically it's noises linked to bodily functions that trigger a reaction, as well as examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "There are so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you dread it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to ensure everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful period can transform into a source of agony for affected individuals.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can cause a powerful reaction that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, states currently her plan is to use headphones to get through dinner. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to minimize distressing triggers.
She explains her misophonia is more intense around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this sudden rage comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then panic will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Visualise Something Else: Mental imagery is crucial. Try to associate the particular sound causing distress with an unrelated image. For instance, try to picture someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness 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 mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. 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 creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. While the sound stays the same, your understanding of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
