Christmas Can Be a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her family during the festive period, but says a primary method she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - especially during the holiday meal.
For her, the holidays is a notably tough season as the noises of people eating, drinking noisily and nose-blowing cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this feeling of sudden panic, my entire being will just tense up and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these noises."
She has lived with misophonia for several years and for her that renders the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, particularly those coming from individuals.
The condition is widespread in the UK. A study discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises linked to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, as well as examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the most wonderful season can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can cause a strong emotional response that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
She, a university student, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to cope. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to escape problematic noises.
She says her sensitivity is more intense around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"The sensation is this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then panic will activate.
"It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."
Several Strategies to Cope
For those affected then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Imagine an Alternative: Mental imagery is key. Attempt to link the particular sound bothering you with something completely different. For instance, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is doing it. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or are troubled. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the noise stays the same, your interpretation of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
