Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie anticipates being with her family during the festive period, but admits one of the only ways she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - notably for the main festive feast.
In her case, Christmas often feels like a notably tough time as the sounds of family members munching, sipping loudly and breathing heavily make her feel profound anxiety.
"I get this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tighten and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
She has suffered from misophonia for several years and for her that renders the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those coming from those around you.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. A study found nearly 20% people experience it.
Typically it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with examples such as chewing, breathing, and pen clicking.
A Source of Dread
The sufferer notes: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to guarantee others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the traditionally happy period can rapidly become a living nightmare for affected individuals.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can provoke a strong emotional response that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a university student, who has dealt with misophonia for over a decade, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to manage the meal. On any other day, she would often retreat in a different room to escape distressing triggers.
She explains her misophonia is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"People assume you to be around loved ones, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then the stress response will kick in.
"It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience."
Several Strategies to Manage
For those affected then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, according to experts.
- Visualise Something Else: Imagination is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with a neutral concept. For instance, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your reaction of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
