The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman is looking forward to being with her family during the festive period, but admits a key strategy she'll endure is by using her earplugs - notably for Christmas dinner.
For the 23-year-old, this time of year is a particularly difficult period as the noises of people eating, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety.
"I experience this feeling of instant dread, my entire being will just freeze and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these triggers."
She has lived with misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds coming from those around you.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. A study reported nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Often it's noises associated with bodily functions that cause distress, along with examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "I face so many various auditory triggers 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 constant struggle of enduring my distress to ensure the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy season can rapidly become a source of agony for sufferers.
Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a strong emotional response that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. Typically, she would often retreat in a separate space to minimize distressing triggers.
She explains her misophonia is more intense around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"People assume you to be around family, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then the stress response will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Picture Something Else: Mental imagery is essential. Try to associate the triggering sound causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to picture someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this 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. For example, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not in good health or maybe they're upset. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your understanding of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
