Christmas Transforms Into a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
A 23-year-old hopes for spending time with her loved ones during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll cope is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - especially during Christmas dinner.
For the 23-year-old, this time of year is a notably tough period as the sounds of other people chewing, drinking noisily and sniffling trigger intense distress.
"I get this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these triggers."
The individual has experienced misophonia from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those coming from those around you.
It's surprisingly common amongst adults. Experts reported almost one in five people are affected by it.
Frequently it's noises linked to eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, including examples such as chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
The sufferer notes: "There are so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous period can transform into a living nightmare for affected individuals.
Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a powerful reaction that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
She, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains her strategy is to listen to music to manage the meal. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to escape triggering sounds.
She says her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to be around family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then panic will take over.
"It may seem as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Manage
For those affected then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Picture an Alternative: Mental imagery is essential. Attempt to link the specific noise causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the person. For instance, if someone is eating noisily try copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. So if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your understanding of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
