Yuletide Transforms Into a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman hopes for seeing her family this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by using her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas often feels like a especially challenging season as the sounds of other people chewing, slurping and sniffling cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this feeling of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to stop these noises."
She has suffered from sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that renders the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, notably sounds produced by those around you.
It's surprisingly common across the population. Researchers reported a significant portion of people experience it.
Frequently it's sounds linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, as well as examples such as crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
The sufferer notes: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My relatives are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful season can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a powerful reaction that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
The student, a young adult, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. Typically, she would often retreat in a different room to escape problematic noises.
She says her misophonia is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"People assume you to socialize with family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Handle It
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, according to experts.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is essential. Try to associate the triggering sound causing distress with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at mimicking the sound. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about the reason someone making the noise is doing it. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise remains identical, your interpretation of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
