The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
One young woman anticipates seeing her loved ones during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll endure is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - especially during the main festive feast.
For her, this time of year often feels like a especially challenging season as the sounds of other people chewing, drinking noisily and breathing heavily trigger extremely uncomfortable.
"There's this feeling of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these noises."
Lottie has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that renders the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to specific noises, notably sounds made by those around you.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. Researchers found nearly 20% people experience it.
Frequently it's noises connected to bodily functions that cause distress, as well as examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
The sufferer notes: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers.
Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can cause a visceral feeling that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.
Jenna, a young adult, who has experienced sound sensitivity from childhood, states the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to cope. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to minimize problematic noises.
She says her condition is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult".
"People assume you to be around family, and I wish 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 panicked and begin to weep and then the stress response will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
Several Strategies to Cope
If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by experts.
- Imagine an Alternative: Creative thinking is essential. Work on connecting the specific noise causing distress with something completely different. For instance, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. This technique is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Use Humor: Have a bit of fun and turn the annoying sound into a game involving the source. For example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt joining in. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. So if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not in good health or are troubled. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Although the noise remains identical, your reaction of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
