The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.
Lottie anticipates seeing her loved ones during the festive period, but admits a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, the holidays is a notably tough season as the auditory triggers of other people chewing, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety.
"I get this feeling of sudden panic, my whole body will just freeze and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
Lottie has experienced misophonia for several years and for her that causes the festive season "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, especially noises produced by those around you.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts reported nearly 20% people experience it.
Often it's noises associated with bodily functions that trigger a reaction, as well as things like crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you fear it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to guarantee everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can cause a powerful reaction that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.
Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. Usually, she would often retreat in a different room to escape triggering sounds.
She notes her misophonia is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then panic will take over.
"It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Handle It
If you suffer then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, according to experts.
- Visualise Something Else: Imagination is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound affecting you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected.
- Craft a Story: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or could be emotional. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.