The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie anticipates being with her relatives over the holidays, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult time as the auditory triggers of other people chewing, drinking noisily and sniffling cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tighten and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these sounds."
Lottie has suffered from this condition from a young age and for her that causes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, notably sounds made by other people.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. Experts reported almost one in five people are affected by it.
Frequently it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, including examples such as chewing, breathing, and pen clicking.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "I face so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My relatives are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the most wonderful season can transform into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a strong emotional response that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
She, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to get through dinner. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to minimize problematic noises.
She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then the stress response will activate.
"It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Picture Something Else: Mental imagery is essential. Try to associate the triggering sound affecting you with something completely different. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a challenge involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. So if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not feeling well or are troubled. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. While the noise remains identical, your understanding of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
