Christmas Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old hopes for being with her family over the holidays, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by using her earplugs - especially during Christmas dinner.
For her, the holidays can be a particularly difficult time as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and nose-blowing cause her intense distress.
"I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in danger, and I need to manage these triggers."
The individual has experienced this condition since she was 16 and for her that renders the festive season "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, particularly those produced by other people.
It's surprisingly common across the population. A study reported nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Often it's noises connected to bodily functions that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My relatives are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to make sure the event goes smoothly."
So it's clear why the most wonderful season can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a strong emotional response that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to cope. On any other day, she would often retreat in a quiet area to minimize triggering sounds.
She notes her condition is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Cope
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Picture Something Else: Imagination is crucial. Work on connecting the particular sound affecting you with something completely different. As an illustration, try to picture someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a game involving the source. As an example, if someone is eating noisily try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise doesn't change, your understanding of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
