The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie is looking forward to being with her loved ones during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll cope is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the holiday meal.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas can be a notably tough time as the noises of other people chewing, sipping loudly and sniffling cause her intense distress.
"I get this feeling of sudden panic, my entire being will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
Lottie has suffered from sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that makes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, notably sounds produced by other people.
It's surprisingly common amongst adults. A study discovered a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Often it's noises linked to eating or drinking that cause distress, as well as things like chewing, breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of managing my symptoms to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful season can quickly turn into a living nightmare for those with the condition.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a strong emotional response that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with misophonia for over a decade, states her strategy is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. On any other day, she would frequently go in a separate space to escape distressing triggers.
She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to be around loved ones, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then the stress response will take over.
"It may seem 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 it's an issue then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, according to clinical psychologists.
- Visualise an Alternative: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound affecting you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to envision someone's slurping is just a waterfall. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. As an example, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your interpretation of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
