The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
One young woman anticipates being with her family during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by using her earplugs - especially during the main festive feast.
In her case, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult time as the sounds of other people chewing, drinking noisily and sniffling trigger profound anxiety.
"I experience this feeling of sudden panic, my whole body will just freeze and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
She has experienced misophonia from a young age and for her that makes the Christmas time "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, especially noises coming from individuals.
It is prevalent across the population. Experts reported almost one in five people are affected by it.
Frequently it's noises connected to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, including examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "There are so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can transform into a source of agony for those with the condition.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a visceral feeling that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity since aged 10, states her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. Usually, she would frequently go in a quiet area to escape problematic noises.
She explains her condition is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to spend time with family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then the stress response will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Cope
If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, according to specialists.
- Picture an Alternative: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone making the noise is having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not feeling well or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it shifts from being annoying, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
