Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
A 23-year-old hopes for spending time with her relatives over the holidays, but admits one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her earplugs - especially during Christmas dinner.
In her case, Christmas is a especially challenging period as the auditory triggers of people eating, sipping loudly and sniffling cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this feeling of sudden panic, my every muscle will just tense up and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
She has lived with misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, especially noises produced by other people.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. A study reported nearly 20% people experience it.
Typically it's sounds connected to bodily functions that trigger a reaction, along with things like chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"Those close to me are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's clear why the traditionally happy season can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for those with the condition.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a strong emotional response that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity for over a decade, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to avoid distressing triggers.
She says her condition is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"It's like this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then the stress response will kick in.
"To others it appears 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 some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Try to associate the specific noise affecting you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the sound remains identical, your reaction of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
