The Holiday Season Can Be a Nightmare for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie hopes for being with her loved ones over the holidays, but notes one of the only ways she'll endure is by wearing her earplugs - notably for the holiday meal.
In her case, this time of year can be a notably tough period as the auditory triggers of people eating, drinking noisily and breathing heavily cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this wave of sudden panic, my whole body will just tense up and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to stop these triggers."
She has experienced this condition since she was 16 and for her that causes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, notably sounds coming from other people.
It's surprisingly common across the population. Experts found a significant portion of people experience it.
Often it's sounds linked to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, including examples such as crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"My family 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 make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful season can rapidly become a source of agony for affected individuals.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can cause a visceral feeling that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity since aged 10, states the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to get through dinner. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid problematic noises.
She says her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"People assume you to be around family, and I wish to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then panic will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Cope
For those affected then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Picture Something Else: Imagination is key. Attempt to link the triggering sound bothering you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. Through participation, 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.
- Craft a Story: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or are troubled. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound remains identical, your understanding of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
