The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie is looking forward to seeing her family during the festive period, but says a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her earplugs - especially during Christmas dinner.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas can be a notably tough period as the noises of other people chewing, drinking noisily and sniffling trigger intense distress.
"I experience this sensation of instant dread, my every muscle will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to manage these sounds."
She has lived with this condition since she was 16 and for her that causes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, especially noises produced by those around you.
It's surprisingly common across the population. A study found nearly 20% people experience it.
Frequently it's sounds linked to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you dread it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous period can transform into a stressful ordeal for those with the condition.
Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can provoke a strong emotional response that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
The student, a young adult, who has struggled with misophonia for over a decade, explains currently her plan is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. Typically, she would often retreat in a different room to escape problematic noises.
She explains her condition is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to spend time with family, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then the stress response will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Cope
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Picture Something Else: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the triggering sound affecting you with a neutral concept. For instance, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Make it a Game: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at joining in. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is doing it. For example 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 noise stays the same, your interpretation of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
