Christmas Can Be a Nightmare for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman hopes for seeing her family during the festive period, but admits a key strategy she'll endure is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast.
For her, Christmas is a notably tough period as the sounds of people eating, slurping and nose-blowing make her feel intense distress.
"I get this sensation of instant dread, my every muscle will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these triggers."
Lottie has experienced misophonia since she was 16 and for her that renders the festive season "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, notably sounds produced by individuals.
It is prevalent in the UK. Experts found almost one in five people suffer from it.
Often it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that cause distress, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you dread it.
"My family are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to make sure the event goes smoothly."
So it's clear why the most wonderful time of the year can quickly turn into a source of agony for those with the condition.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can cause a strong emotional response that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, states her strategy is to use headphones to get through dinner. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid problematic noises.
She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's draining.
"I feel as if this sudden rage comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then panic will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Picture a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is crucial. Work on connecting the specific noise affecting you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly attempt copying the noise. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise doesn't change, your reaction of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
