Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman hopes for seeing her relatives this Christmas, but notes a primary method she'll cope is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during Christmas dinner.
In her case, this time of year can be a notably tough time as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and nose-blowing trigger intense distress.
"I get this wave of instant dread, my whole body will just tighten and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these sounds."
She has lived with sound sensitivity for several years and for her that makes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, particularly those produced by other people.
It is prevalent amongst adults. Experts reported almost one in five people suffer from it.
Frequently it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of managing my symptoms to ensure 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.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a strong emotional response that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
The student, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, states the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a different room to escape distressing triggers.
She explains her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to spend time with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Picture an Alternative: Creative thinking is essential. Work on connecting the particular sound bothering you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your understanding of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
