The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie anticipates seeing her loved ones during the festive period, but admits one of the only ways she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - notably for Christmas dinner.
For her, Christmas is a notably tough time as the auditory triggers of people eating, drinking noisily and sniffling make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this wave of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tighten and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to manage these triggers."
Lottie has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, particularly those made by other people.
It's surprisingly common across the population. A study found nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Frequently it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, including examples such as crunching, breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "I face so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can quickly turn into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can provoke a visceral feeling that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
The student, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to cope. On any other day, she would often retreat in a different room to minimize triggering sounds.
She explains her misophonia is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"People assume you to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this sudden rage comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will kick in.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
Three Ways to Manage
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Picture a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is crucial. Work on connecting the specific noise bothering you with an unrelated image. For instance, try to picture someone's slurping is just a waterfall. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a game involving the source. For example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at copying the noise. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not in good health or are troubled. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. While the noise remains identical, your interpretation of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
