The Holiday Season Can Be a Nightmare for Those with Misophonia.
One young woman is looking forward to being with her loved ones over the holidays, but says one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by relying on her earplugs - especially during the main festive feast.
For her, Christmas can be a notably tough time as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily make her feel profound anxiety.
"There's this wave of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to manage these sounds."
The individual has suffered from this condition since she was 16 and for her that makes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, especially noises coming from other people.
It is prevalent in the UK. A study found a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Typically it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
Lottie says: "There are so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you dread it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous time of the year can transform into a stressful ordeal for those with the condition.
Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a visceral feeling that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced misophonia for over a decade, says her strategy is to use headphones to cope. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to minimize triggering sounds.
She notes her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this sudden rage comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Cope
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Picture an Alternative: Imagination is crucial. Try to associate the particular sound bothering you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to envision someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By joining in, rather than 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 create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not feeling well or could be emotional. The idea is altering the perception of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your understanding of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.