Yuletide Can Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers.
A 23-year-old hopes for spending time with her family this Christmas, but says one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - especially during the main festive feast.
For her, the holidays can be a particularly difficult season as the noises of family members munching, slurping and sniffling make her feel intense distress.
"I experience this sensation of instant dread, my every muscle will just tighten and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to stop these sounds."
Lottie has experienced this condition since she was 16 and for her that renders the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, particularly those coming from individuals.
It's surprisingly common amongst adults. A study found almost one in five people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, along with things like crunching, breathing, and foot tapping.
A Source of Dread
She explains: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy season can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can trigger a powerful reaction that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a young adult, who has experienced misophonia for over a decade, explains her strategy is to put her earphones in to cope. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to escape distressing triggers.
She says her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I want to, but it's draining.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then panic will activate.
"It may seem as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise an Alternative: Creative thinking is key. Try to associate the particular sound affecting you with something completely different. So for example, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily try mimicking the sound. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not feeling well or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise stays the same, your understanding of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
