Yuletide Transforms Into a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to spending time with her loved ones this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her earplugs - notably for the holiday meal.
For her, this time of year is a particularly difficult time as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily make her feel intense distress.
"I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
Lottie has suffered from this condition for several years and for her that causes the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, especially noises coming from other people.
It is prevalent amongst adults. A study found almost one in five people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with examples such as crunching, breathing, and pen clicking.
A Source of Dread
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas 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 managing my symptoms to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy time of the year can quickly turn into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a powerful reaction that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
She, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. Usually, she would often retreat in a different room to avoid problematic noises.
She explains her condition is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I want to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then the stress response will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Cope
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Visualise Something Else: Creative thinking is key. Try to associate the specific noise affecting you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to envision 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.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. As an example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or could be emotional. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
