Christmas Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to being with her family over the holidays, but says a primary method she'll endure is by relying on her earplugs - especially during the main festive feast.
For her, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult season as the noises of other people chewing, sipping loudly and nose-blowing make her feel intense distress.
"I get this wave of instant dread, my whole body will just tense up and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
She has experienced this condition from a young age and for her that causes the Christmas time "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, particularly those coming from individuals.
It is prevalent amongst adults. Researchers found almost one in five people experience it.
Often it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, along with things like crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"My relatives are aware, 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 everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the most wonderful time of the year can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can provoke a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a young adult, who has experienced sound sensitivity from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to get through dinner. Usually, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid distressing triggers.
She says her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "difficult".
"There's an expectation to be around family, and I want to, but it's draining.
"I feel as if this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then the stress response will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Handle It
For those affected then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Picture an Alternative: Imagination is crucial. Work on connecting the specific noise affecting you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a waterfall. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a challenge involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt mimicking the sound. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, 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 why the person creating the sound is having to make that sound. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your interpretation of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
