Yuletide Transforms Into a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to being with her family over the holidays, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by using her earplugs - especially during the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a especially challenging time as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and breathing heavily trigger intense distress.
"I get this sensation of instant dread, my whole body will just freeze and it seems as if 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 renders the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, especially noises coming from those around you.
It is prevalent in the UK. A study discovered nearly 20% people experience it.
Often it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, including things like chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the traditionally happy season can rapidly become a source of agony for those with the condition.
Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can cause a powerful reaction that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a young adult, who has dealt with misophonia from childhood, says 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 escape distressing triggers.
She says her condition is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to be around loved ones, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then the stress response will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Manage
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise Something Else: Imagination is crucial. Work on connecting the specific noise bothering you with something completely different. So for example, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Craft a Story: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not feeling well or maybe they're upset. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
