The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
One young woman hopes for spending time with her loved ones during the festive period, but says one of the only ways she'll endure is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during the holiday meal.
For her, the holidays often feels like a particularly difficult time as the sounds of people eating, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this sensation of sudden panic, my every muscle will just tighten and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises."
Lottie has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, especially noises made by individuals.
It is prevalent in the UK. A study found almost one in five people suffer from it.
Typically it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, including things like chewing, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
Lottie says: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.
"My family are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to ensure everyone else is happy."
So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous season can rapidly become a living nightmare for affected individuals.
Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a powerful reaction that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether.
She, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, says her strategy is to use headphones to cope. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a separate space to avoid problematic noises.
She explains her condition is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "hard".
"There is pressure to be around family, and I desire to, but it's draining.
"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then the stress response will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, according to clinical psychologists.
- Picture Something Else: Mental imagery is key. Try to associate the triggering sound causing distress with an unrelated image. For instance, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you is neutral.
- Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at copying the noise. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant.
- Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
