Yuletide Can Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
One young woman anticipates seeing her family over the holidays, but notes a key strategy she'll cope is by relying on her hearing protection - particularly at the main festive feast.
For the 23-year-old, the holidays often feels like a particularly difficult time as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and breathing heavily trigger profound anxiety.
"There's this sensation of sudden panic, my whole body will just tighten 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 makes the Christmas time "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to specific noises, notably sounds coming from those around you.
It is prevalent amongst adults. Experts discovered a significant portion of people experience it.
Typically it's noises associated with bodily functions that cause distress, including examples such as chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "I face so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.
"Those close to me are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous time of the year can transform into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.
Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a powerful reaction that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity for over a decade, states her strategy is to use headphones to get through dinner. Typically, she would frequently go in a quiet area to avoid triggering sounds.
She explains her condition is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to be around family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"It's like this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will activate.
"It can come across as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."
Three Ways to Cope
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by specialists.
- Picture an Alternative: Mental imagery is essential. Try to associate the particular sound affecting you with something completely different. For instance, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
- Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly attempt mimicking the sound. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise doesn't change, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
