🔗 Share this article The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers. Over the years, people develop strategies to cope with their sound sensitivity. A 23-year-old hopes for being with her family during the festive period, but says one of the only ways she'll endure is by using her noise-cancelling devices - notably for Christmas dinner. For her, Christmas is a particularly difficult period as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and sniffling make her feel profound anxiety. "There's this feeling of sudden panic, my every muscle will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these triggers." The individual has suffered from misophonia since she was 16 and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, especially noises produced by other people. It's surprisingly common across the population. A study found almost one in five people suffer from it. Often it's noises linked to eating or drinking that cause distress, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and pen clicking. A Source of Dread She explains: "There are so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you fear it. "My family are supportive, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly." So it's clear why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a living nightmare for affected individuals. Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can cause a powerful reaction that can even result in them skipping events entirely. Another individual is already thinking about strategies to help her during Christmas lunch. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains her strategy is to use headphones to get through dinner. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to minimize triggering sounds. She notes her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "challenging". "There is pressure to be around family, and I wish to, but it's draining. "The sensation is this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then panic will activate. "To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience." A Few Techniques to Cope If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, according to clinical psychologists. Picture an Alternative: Imagination is key. Attempt to link the particular sound affecting you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral. Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is eating noisily try copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive. Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not at their best or maybe they're upset. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
Over the years, people develop strategies to cope with their sound sensitivity. A 23-year-old hopes for being with her family during the festive period, but says one of the only ways she'll endure is by using her noise-cancelling devices - notably for Christmas dinner. For her, Christmas is a particularly difficult period as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and sniffling make her feel profound anxiety. "There's this feeling of sudden panic, my every muscle will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these triggers." The individual has suffered from misophonia since she was 16 and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, especially noises produced by other people. It's surprisingly common across the population. A study found almost one in five people suffer from it. Often it's noises linked to eating or drinking that cause distress, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and pen clicking. A Source of Dread She explains: "There are so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you fear it. "My family are supportive, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly." So it's clear why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a living nightmare for affected individuals. Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can cause a powerful reaction that can even result in them skipping events entirely. Another individual is already thinking about strategies to help her during Christmas lunch. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains her strategy is to use headphones to get through dinner. Typically, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to minimize triggering sounds. She notes her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "challenging". "There is pressure to be around family, and I wish to, but it's draining. "The sensation is this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then panic will activate. "To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience." A Few Techniques to Cope If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, according to clinical psychologists. Picture an Alternative: Imagination is key. Attempt to link the particular sound affecting you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral. Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is eating noisily try copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive. Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not at their best or maybe they're upset. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound stays the same, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.