Christmas Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie anticipates spending time with her relatives this Christmas, but admits one of the only ways she'll cope is by using her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the holiday meal.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a particularly difficult period as the noises of family members munching, slurping and sniffling cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this wave of sudden panic, my whole body will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
She has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds made by individuals.
It is prevalent amongst adults. A study found almost one in five people experience it.
Typically it's noises linked to eating or drinking that cause distress, along with things like chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear 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 really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous time of the year can quickly turn into a source of agony for affected individuals.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can provoke a strong emotional response that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a university student, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to get through dinner. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to escape triggering sounds.
She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then the stress response will kick in.
"It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Cope
For those affected then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, according to experts.
- Visualise an Alternative: Imagination is crucial. Work on connecting the specific noise causing distress with something completely different. For instance, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. So if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not in good health or are troubled. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
