Christmas Can Be a Nightmare for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie is looking forward to spending time with her family during the festive period, but admits one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by using her earplugs - particularly at Christmas dinner.
In her case, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult period as the noises of family members munching, slurping and breathing heavily trigger intense distress.
"There's this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
Lottie has suffered from this condition since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, notably sounds produced by other people.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. A study discovered a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Frequently it's noises associated with eating or drinking that cause distress, along with things like crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you dread it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy period can transform into a source of agony for sufferers.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, says her strategy is to use headphones to manage the meal. On any other day, she would frequently go in a different room to avoid problematic noises.
She says her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There's an expectation to be around family, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then panic will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Cope
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, according to clinical psychologists.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is key. Work on connecting the specific noise causing distress with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. While the sound doesn't change, your understanding of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
