The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
One young woman anticipates seeing her loved ones over the holidays, but admits a primary method she'll cope is by relying on her earplugs - particularly at Christmas dinner.
In her case, the holidays often feels like a especially challenging time as the sounds of family members munching, sipping loudly and nose-blowing cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this sensation of instant dread, my whole body will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
She has suffered from misophonia since she was 16 and for her that renders the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, particularly those produced by other people.
It is prevalent amongst adults. Experts found nearly 20% people are affected by it.
Typically it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, as well as things like chewing, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
She explains: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread 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 managing my symptoms to ensure the event goes smoothly."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous period can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Sounds that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a strong emotional response that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
The student, a young adult, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, states the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid distressing triggers.
She notes her misophonia is worse around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will kick in.
"It can come across as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."
A Few Techniques to Cope
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by specialists.
- Imagine a Different Scenario: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the specific noise causing distress with a neutral concept. For instance, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the competition element 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 the reason someone making the noise is doing it. For example if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or could be emotional. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
