Christmas Transforms Into a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie hopes for seeing her relatives during the festive period, but admits a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - especially during the holiday meal.
For her, the holidays often feels like a notably tough period as the sounds of people eating, slurping and sniffling trigger intense distress.
"There's this wave of instant dread, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises."
Lottie has experienced misophonia since she was 16 and for her that renders the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, especially noises made by those around you.
It is prevalent in the UK. Experts reported nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Often it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with things like chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
The sufferer notes: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"Those close to me are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's obvious why the traditionally happy time of the year can quickly turn into a living nightmare for affected individuals.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can cause a strong emotional response that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains her strategy is to use headphones to manage the meal. Usually, she would frequently go in a different room to escape problematic noises.
She says her misophonia is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There's an expectation to be around family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then panic will kick in.
"It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Handle It
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Picture Something Else: Imagination is crucial. Attempt to link the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. As an example, if someone is eating noisily try mimicking the sound. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not feeling well or are troubled. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your reaction of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
