The Holiday Season Can Be a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old hopes for seeing her loved ones during the festive period, but says one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by using her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at the main festive feast.
For her, Christmas often feels like a notably tough season as the noises of other people chewing, slurping and nose-blowing make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this wave of instant dread, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these sounds."
She has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, particularly those coming from those around you.
It's surprisingly common across the population. Experts discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Often it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, including examples such as chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you fear it.
"Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of managing my symptoms to ensure the event goes smoothly."
So it's clear why the most wonderful period can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for those with the condition.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. Typically, she would often retreat in a separate space to avoid problematic noises.
She says her condition is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"People assume you to be around family, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then panic will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Visualise Something Else: Imagination is essential. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your interpretation of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
