Yuletide Transforms Into a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
A 23-year-old hopes for seeing her family this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her earplugs - particularly at the main festive feast.
In her case, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult season as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily trigger profound anxiety.
"I get this feeling of instant dread, my whole body will just tense up and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
She has lived with misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, especially noises made by other people.
It is prevalent across the population. Researchers found almost one in five people experience it.
Often it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a source of agony for those with the condition.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a young adult, who has experienced sound sensitivity since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. Usually, she would often retreat in a different room to escape problematic noises.
She notes her misophonia is more intense around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There is pressure to socialize with family, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this sudden rage comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Manage
For those affected then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists.
- Visualise Something Else: Mental imagery is key. Try to associate the particular sound affecting you with something completely different. So for example, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game involving the source. As an example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at joining in. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Craft a Story: One more method is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not feeling well or are troubled. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your understanding of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
