Yuletide Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
A 23-year-old is looking forward to being with her relatives during the festive period, but notes a primary method she'll cope is by relying on her hearing protection - particularly at the holiday meal.
For her, this time of year is a particularly difficult period as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and sniffling cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this sensation of instant dread, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these noises."
She has suffered from misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, particularly those made by other people.
It is prevalent across the population. Researchers discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Frequently it's noises connected to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, along with things like crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
'Anxiety Inducing'
She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very conscious 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 obvious why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Noises that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can cause a powerful reaction that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to cope. Usually, she would frequently go in a different room to escape triggering sounds.
She says her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to be around family, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"The sensation is this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then the stress response will take over.
"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Cope
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Imagination is essential. Attempt to link the triggering sound bothering you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at mimicking the sound. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Craft a Story: Another technique is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is having to make that sound. For example if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or could be emotional. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. While the sound stays the same, your interpretation of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
