The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie is looking forward to being with her relatives this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by relying on her earplugs - especially during the main festive feast.
In her case, this time of year often feels like a particularly difficult season as the sounds of people eating, sipping loudly and nose-blowing cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tighten and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to stop these triggers."
Lottie has suffered from sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that causes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, especially noises made by those around you.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts reported nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Often it's noises associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you dread it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to ensure the event goes smoothly."
So it's clear why the most wonderful time of the year can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Sounds that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can cause a visceral feeling that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
The student, a young adult, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, states currently her plan is to listen to music to cope. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to avoid distressing triggers.
She notes her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
For those affected then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Visualise Something Else: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the triggering sound bothering you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a game with the person. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
