Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old hopes for seeing her family during the festive period, but admits a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her earplugs - particularly at Christmas dinner.
In her case, this time of year often feels like a especially challenging time as the auditory triggers of people eating, sipping loudly and nose-blowing cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this sensation of sudden panic, my whole body will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to stop these sounds."
The individual has lived with this condition since she was 16 and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, especially noises coming from individuals.
It's surprisingly common amongst adults. A study found nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, including things like chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "I face so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure the event goes smoothly."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous period can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can cause a visceral feeling that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a university student, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, says her strategy is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. Usually, she would often retreat in a separate space to escape problematic noises.
She notes her condition is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"There is pressure to socialize with family, and I want to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then panic will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Handle It
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Imagination is essential. Work on connecting the triggering sound bothering you with something completely different. For instance, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at copying the noise. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. So if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not feeling well or maybe they're upset. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Although the sound stays the same, your understanding of it shifts from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
