Christmas Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie hopes for spending time with her loved ones this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during the main festive feast.
In her case, this time of year can be a especially challenging time as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and nose-blowing make her feel intense distress.
"There's this sensation of sudden panic, my entire being will just tense up and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises."
Lottie has suffered from sound sensitivity for several years and for her that renders the festive season "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to specific noises, notably sounds made by those around you.
It is prevalent across the population. A study found nearly 20% people experience it.
Often it's noises linked to bodily functions that cause distress, as well as things like crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.
'Anxiety Inducing'
Lottie says: "I face so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you dread it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to make sure the event goes smoothly."
So it's clear why the traditionally happy season can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, 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 21-year-old student, who has dealt with misophonia for over a decade, states currently her plan is to use headphones to manage the meal. Typically, she would frequently go in a separate space to escape distressing triggers.
She says her condition is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "hard".
"There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"I feel as if this sudden rage comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then the stress response will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."
A Few Techniques to Handle It
If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, according to experts.
- Visualise a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is essential. Work on connecting the triggering sound bothering you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to envision someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the person. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at copying the noise. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not feeling well or are troubled. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound stays the same, your interpretation of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
