Christmas Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie anticipates spending time with her family during the festive period, but admits one of the only ways she'll cope is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas can be a especially challenging time as the noises of other people chewing, sipping loudly and sniffling cause her profound anxiety.
"I get this wave of instant dread, my entire being will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these sounds."
Lottie has lived with misophonia for several years and for her that causes the holiday period "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, especially noises coming from those around you.
The condition is widespread in the UK. Experts discovered a significant portion of people are affected by it.
Frequently it's sounds connected to bodily functions that trigger a reaction, as well as examples such as chewing, breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous season can transform into a living nightmare for sufferers.
Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can trigger a visceral feeling that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with misophonia since aged 10, says her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. Usually, she would often retreat in a quiet area to escape problematic noises.
She explains her condition is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"There's an expectation to spend time with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then the stress response will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Cope
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise Something Else: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the particular sound causing distress with a neutral concept. For instance, try to picture someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at joining in. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Craft a Story: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is doing it. So if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not feeling well or are troubled. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
