🔗 Share this article Christmas Transforms Into a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. With time, individuals develop strategies to cope with their misophonia. Lottie hopes for spending time with her family this Christmas, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at the holiday meal. In her case, this time of year often feels like a particularly difficult season as the auditory triggers of family members munching, slurping and sniffling make her feel intense distress. "There's this wave of sudden panic, my every muscle will just tighten and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these sounds." Lottie has suffered from sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "deeply taxing". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those made by individuals. It is prevalent amongst adults. Experts discovered nearly 20% people experience it. Typically it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that cause distress, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. 'Anxiety Inducing' Lottie says: "There are so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you dread it. "Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure everyone else is happy." So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a source of agony for sufferers. Noises that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a visceral feeling that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings. Jenna is already thinking about ways to help her during Christmas lunch. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with misophonia from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to get through dinner. Usually, she would often retreat in a separate space to escape problematic noises. She notes her misophonia is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "difficult". "There's an expectation to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's draining. "The sensation is this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then the stress response will take over. "It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it." A Few Techniques to Handle It If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists. Imagine Something Else: Creative thinking is essential. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral. Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant. Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not at their best or are troubled. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. While the sound remains identical, your reaction of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
With time, individuals develop strategies to cope with their misophonia. Lottie hopes for spending time with her family this Christmas, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at the holiday meal. In her case, this time of year often feels like a particularly difficult season as the auditory triggers of family members munching, slurping and sniffling make her feel intense distress. "There's this wave of sudden panic, my every muscle will just tighten and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these sounds." Lottie has suffered from sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "deeply taxing". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those made by individuals. It is prevalent amongst adults. Experts discovered nearly 20% people experience it. Typically it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that cause distress, as well as things like crunching, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. 'Anxiety Inducing' Lottie says: "There are so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you dread it. "Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure everyone else is happy." So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a source of agony for sufferers. Noises that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a visceral feeling that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings. Jenna is already thinking about ways to help her during Christmas lunch. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with misophonia from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to get through dinner. Usually, she would often retreat in a separate space to escape problematic noises. She notes her misophonia is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "difficult". "There's an expectation to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's draining. "The sensation is this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then the stress response will take over. "It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it." A Few Techniques to Handle It If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists. Imagine Something Else: Creative thinking is essential. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you is neutral. Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant. Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not at their best or are troubled. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. While the sound remains identical, your reaction of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.