Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
Lottie anticipates spending time with her relatives during the festive period, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by relying on her hearing protection - particularly at the holiday meal.
In her case, this time of year can be a particularly difficult period as the noises of people eating, slurping and sniffling make her feel intense distress.
"I experience this sensation of instant dread, my whole body will just tighten and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these noises."
Lottie has suffered from sound sensitivity for several years and for her that makes the festive season "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, notably sounds made by individuals.
It is prevalent amongst adults. Experts reported almost one in five people are affected by it.
Typically it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy season can rapidly become a source of agony for sufferers.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a strong emotional response that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, says currently her plan is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. Typically, she would frequently go in a separate space to escape problematic noises.
She says her condition is more intense around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There's an expectation to socialize with loved ones, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise Something Else: Mental imagery is key. Try to associate the specific noise bothering you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a challenge with the person. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Craft a Story: One more method is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not at their best or could be emotional. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the noise stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
