The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
A 23-year-old hopes for seeing her loved ones during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the holiday meal.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a especially challenging period as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and sniffling cause her profound anxiety.
"I get this feeling of sudden panic, my every muscle will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these noises."
She has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to specific noises, notably sounds coming from individuals.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Researchers reported a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Typically it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that cause distress, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
Triggering Stress
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you dread it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the traditionally happy season can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a powerful reaction that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a young adult, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, explains the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. On any other day, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid distressing triggers.
She says her condition is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Manage
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Imagine Something Else: Mental imagery is essential. Attempt to link the specific noise causing distress with something completely different. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. As an example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at joining in. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is doing it. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. While the sound remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
