Christmas Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to spending time with her family during the festive period, but notes a key strategy she'll cope is by relying on her earplugs - notably for the holiday meal.
For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a especially challenging period as the sounds of people eating, drinking noisily and sniffling cause her profound anxiety.
"There's this sensation of instant dread, my entire being will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises."
She has suffered from misophonia for several years and for her that renders the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds made by other people.
It is prevalent amongst adults. Researchers found nearly 20% people suffer from it.
Frequently it's sounds linked to bodily functions that trigger a reaction, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you fear it.
"My relatives are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee others enjoy themselves."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a living nightmare for affected individuals.
Noises that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can cause a powerful reaction that can even result in them skipping events entirely.
The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, states her strategy is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. Usually, she would frequently go in a quiet area to escape distressing triggers.
She says her sensitivity is worse around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"People assume you to socialize with family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"The sensation is this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will kick in.
"It can come across as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."
Several Strategies to Cope
For those affected then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the specific noise bothering you with something completely different. For instance, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound stays the same, your reaction of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
