Yuletide Can Be a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old anticipates seeing her family during the festive period, but says a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast.
For her, Christmas is a especially challenging period as the noises of people eating, drinking noisily and sniffling cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this sensation of instant dread, my whole body will just freeze and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to manage these sounds."
The individual has lived with this condition since she was 16 and for her that renders the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, especially noises made by other people.
It is prevalent in the UK. Experts discovered nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Often it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, as well as examples such as chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "I face so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous season can transform into a living nightmare for those with the condition.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a visceral feeling that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to cope. Typically, she would often retreat in a quiet area to avoid triggering sounds.
She says her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then panic will take over.
"It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Handle It
For those affected then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise an Alternative: Mental imagery is key. Attempt to link the triggering sound causing distress with something completely different. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a waterfall. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not at their best or maybe they're upset. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your understanding of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
