The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman is looking forward to spending time with her relatives over the holidays, but notes one of the only ways she'll cope is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast.
For her, the holidays is a particularly difficult time as the noises of family members munching, slurping and sniffling make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this feeling of sudden panic, my whole body will just freeze and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
The individual has lived with sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, notably sounds produced by individuals.
It is prevalent across the population. A study reported almost one in five people experience it.
Frequently it's noises connected to eating or drinking that cause distress, along with things like crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you dread it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the most wonderful season can quickly turn into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a visceral feeling that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
She, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid triggering sounds.
She notes her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to socialize with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then the stress response will kick in.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."
Several Strategies to Manage
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. So for example, try to envision someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at joining in. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not feeling well or could be emotional. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your interpretation of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
