Yuletide Transforms Into a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.
A 23-year-old anticipates seeing her loved ones this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - especially during Christmas dinner.
For the 23-year-old, this time of year often feels like a particularly difficult season as the noises of family members munching, slurping and sniffling cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this sensation of instant dread, my entire being will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to manage these sounds."
The individual has lived with misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, particularly those coming from other people.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. Experts discovered almost one in five people suffer from it.
Frequently it's noises associated with eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can transform into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Sounds that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can cause a powerful reaction that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
The student, a young adult, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, explains her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. On any other day, she would often retreat in a separate space to minimize triggering sounds.
She notes her misophonia is more intense around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will take over.
"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Imagination is crucial. Attempt to link the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise stays the same, your understanding of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
