Christmas Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie hopes for spending time with her family during the festive period, but notes a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by using her earplugs - particularly at the main festive feast.
In her case, the holidays can be a especially challenging period as the noises of people eating, drinking noisily and nose-blowing cause her intense distress.
"I experience this feeling of instant dread, my whole body will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
She has experienced sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that causes the festive season "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, particularly those coming from individuals.
The condition is widespread across the population. Researchers discovered almost one in five people suffer from it.
Typically it's noises linked to bodily functions that trigger a reaction, along with things like chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the traditionally happy period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can provoke a powerful reaction that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a young adult, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to manage the meal. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to escape triggering sounds.
She explains her condition is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There is pressure to spend time with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then the stress response will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, according to clinical psychologists.
- Imagine Something Else: Imagination is key. Attempt to link the triggering sound affecting you with something completely different. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily attempt mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not feeling well or are troubled. The idea is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
