🔗 Share this article The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers. Through experience, individuals develop ways to cope with their misophonia. Lottie anticipates seeing her family this Christmas, but admits a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for Christmas dinner. In her case, this time of year is a particularly difficult time as the sounds of family members munching, slurping and sniffling cause her profound anxiety. "There's this sensation of sudden panic, my whole body will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these sounds." The individual has suffered from sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that causes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, especially noises coming from other people. The condition is widespread amongst adults. A study discovered nearly 20% people experience it. Frequently it's noises associated with eating or drinking that cause distress, along with things like chewing, breathing, and foot tapping. A Source of Dread Lottie says: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it. "Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to make sure others enjoy themselves." So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous season can transform into a source of agony for sufferers. Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a visceral feeling that can even cause them skipping events entirely. A 21-year-old student is already thinking about ways to get her through the holiday dinner. Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a quiet area to minimize problematic noises. She notes her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "hard". "People assume you to socialize with family, and I want to, but it's draining. "It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will take over. "It can come across as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced 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. Imagine an Alternative: Imagination is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you poses no threat. Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly attempt mimicking the sound. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the game aspect 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 having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the noise stays the same, your reaction of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
Through experience, individuals develop ways to cope with their misophonia. Lottie anticipates seeing her family this Christmas, but admits a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for Christmas dinner. In her case, this time of year is a particularly difficult time as the sounds of family members munching, slurping and sniffling cause her profound anxiety. "There's this sensation of sudden panic, my whole body will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these sounds." The individual has suffered from sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that causes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, especially noises coming from other people. The condition is widespread amongst adults. A study discovered nearly 20% people experience it. Frequently it's noises associated with eating or drinking that cause distress, along with things like chewing, breathing, and foot tapping. A Source of Dread Lottie says: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it. "Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to make sure others enjoy themselves." So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous season can transform into a source of agony for sufferers. Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a visceral feeling that can even cause them skipping events entirely. A 21-year-old student is already thinking about ways to get her through the holiday dinner. Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a quiet area to minimize problematic noises. She notes her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "hard". "People assume you to socialize with family, and I want to, but it's draining. "It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will take over. "It can come across as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced 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. Imagine an Alternative: Imagination is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you poses no threat. Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly attempt mimicking the sound. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the game aspect 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 having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the noise stays the same, your reaction of it moves from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.