The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie anticipates spending time with her loved ones this Christmas, but says a key strategy she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - especially during the holiday meal.
In her case, the holidays can be a particularly difficult time as the auditory triggers of family members munching, slurping and nose-blowing trigger intense distress.
"There's this sensation of instant dread, my every muscle will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
Lottie has lived with this condition for several years and for her that causes the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to specific noises, notably sounds produced by individuals.
The condition is widespread across the population. Experts discovered almost one in five people experience it.
Frequently it's noises associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, along with things like chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy season can transform into a living nightmare for those with the condition.
Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
The student, a university student, who has dealt with misophonia for over a decade, says her strategy is to use headphones to cope. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to escape distressing triggers.
She says her misophonia is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"People assume you to be around family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then the stress response will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by specialists.
- Picture Something Else: Mental imagery is crucial. Try to associate the particular sound bothering you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. For instance, if someone is eating noisily have a go at copying the noise. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not feeling well or are troubled. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound remains identical, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
