Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
One young woman is looking forward to spending time with her loved ones during the festive period, but says one of the only ways she'll endure is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the holiday meal.
In her case, this time of year can be a especially challenging period as the noises of other people chewing, sipping loudly and breathing heavily trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this sensation of sudden panic, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
She has experienced this condition from a young age and for her that makes the Christmas time "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, especially noises made by individuals.
The condition is widespread in the UK. A study found a significant portion of people experience it.
Frequently it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My family are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful time of the year can transform into a stressful ordeal for those with the condition.
Sounds that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a powerful reaction that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a young adult, who has experienced misophonia since aged 10, states the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to escape problematic noises.
She notes her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then panic will take over.
"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Manage
For those affected then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is key. Try to associate the particular sound affecting you 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 triggering you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily attempt mimicking the sound. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Craft a Story: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your understanding of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
