The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
One young woman hopes for seeing her family during the festive period, but admits one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for Christmas dinner.
For her, Christmas is a especially challenging season as the auditory triggers of family members munching, sipping loudly and nose-blowing trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"I get this wave of instant dread, my whole body will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these noises."
The individual has experienced misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, particularly those coming from individuals.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts found nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Often it's sounds associated with bodily functions that cause distress, including things like chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "I face so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of managing my symptoms to guarantee others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous season can rapidly become a source of agony for affected individuals.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can cause a visceral feeling that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a young adult, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, says her strategy is to use headphones to cope. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to minimize problematic noises.
She notes her condition is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"People assume you to socialize with family, and I want to, but it's draining.
"It's like this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then panic will activate.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Imagine Something Else: Mental imagery is essential. Attempt to link the particular sound bothering you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the person. For instance, if someone is eating noisily have a go at copying the noise. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not at their best or could be emotional. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise doesn't change, your understanding of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
