The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie hopes for spending time with her family over the holidays, but notes one of the only ways she'll endure is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast.
In her case, this time of year is a particularly difficult time as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety.
"There's this feeling of instant dread, my whole body will just tighten and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these sounds."
She has suffered from sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that causes the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those produced by other people.
It's surprisingly common across the population. Researchers reported a significant portion of people experience it.
Often it's noises connected to eating or drinking that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you fear it.
"My relatives are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to guarantee others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can transform into a source of agony for affected individuals.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a powerful reaction that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains her strategy is to use headphones to get through dinner. Typically, she would often retreat in a quiet area to minimize problematic noises.
She says her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to socialize with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then panic will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Manage
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, according to clinical psychologists.
- Imagine an Alternative: Creative thinking is crucial. Attempt to link the specific noise affecting you with something completely different. As an illustration, try to envision someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone making the noise is doing it. So if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Although the noise doesn't change, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.
