The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie anticipates seeing her relatives this Christmas, but admits a primary method she'll endure is by using her earplugs - particularly at Christmas dinner.
In her case, Christmas often feels like a especially challenging period as the auditory triggers of people eating, sipping loudly and sniffling trigger profound anxiety.
"I experience this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to stop these triggers."
Lottie has lived with this condition since she was 16 and for her that renders the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, especially noises coming from individuals.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. A study found a significant portion of people experience it.
Often it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous season can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a strong emotional response that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a young adult, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, explains her strategy is to use headphones to get through dinner. Typically, she would frequently go in a different room to escape triggering sounds.
She notes her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Handle It
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists.
- Picture Something Else: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you is neutral.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a challenge with the person. For example, if someone is eating noisily try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise is doing it. Imagine if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not feeling well or could be emotional. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound remains identical, your interpretation of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
