Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman anticipates seeing her family this Christmas, but notes one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by using her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner.
In her case, this time of year can be a notably tough time as the auditory triggers of people eating, sipping loudly and nose-blowing make her feel intense distress.
"I get this wave of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just freeze and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
She has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, particularly those made by other people.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Researchers found a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Typically it's sounds linked to bodily functions that trigger a reaction, as well as examples such as chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My family are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to ensure the event goes smoothly."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a living nightmare for affected individuals.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a strong emotional response that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, states the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to avoid distressing triggers.
She notes her misophonia is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There's an expectation to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then the stress response will take over.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, 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 try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. For instance, try to picture someone's slurping is just a waterfall. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt copying the noise. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or are troubled. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your reaction of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
