🔗 Share this article Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers. With time, sufferers have found ways to cope with their condition. Lottie hopes for seeing her relatives over the holidays, but admits one of the only ways she'll cope is by using her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at the main festive feast. In her case, the holidays can be a particularly difficult time as the sounds of family members munching, sipping loudly and sniffling cause her profound anxiety. "I experience this wave of instant dread, my entire being will just tense up and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these noises." She has suffered from sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "deeply taxing". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, particularly those coming from other people. It's surprisingly common in the UK. Researchers reported nearly 20% people suffer from it. Often it's noises connected to bodily functions that cause distress, as well as examples such as chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. 'Anxiety Inducing' Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it. "Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly." So it's obvious why the traditionally happy period can transform into a source of agony for affected individuals. Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a powerful reaction that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether. Jenna is considering strategies to help her during the family meal. Jenna, a university student, who has experienced sound sensitivity for over a decade, says her strategy is to listen to music to cope. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid problematic noises. She explains her condition is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard". "There is pressure to spend time with family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels. "The sensation is this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then the stress response will take over. "It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey if you haven't felt it." Three Ways to Handle It For those affected then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, according to experts. Imagine a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Try to associate the triggering sound bothering you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Make it a Game: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive. Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
With time, sufferers have found ways to cope with their condition. Lottie hopes for seeing her relatives over the holidays, but admits one of the only ways she'll cope is by using her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at the main festive feast. In her case, the holidays can be a particularly difficult time as the sounds of family members munching, sipping loudly and sniffling cause her profound anxiety. "I experience this wave of instant dread, my entire being will just tense up and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these noises." She has suffered from sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "deeply taxing". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, particularly those coming from other people. It's surprisingly common in the UK. Researchers reported nearly 20% people suffer from it. Often it's noises connected to bodily functions that cause distress, as well as examples such as chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. 'Anxiety Inducing' Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it. "Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly." So it's obvious why the traditionally happy period can transform into a source of agony for affected individuals. Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a powerful reaction that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether. Jenna is considering strategies to help her during the family meal. Jenna, a university student, who has experienced sound sensitivity for over a decade, says her strategy is to listen to music to cope. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid problematic noises. She explains her condition is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard". "There is pressure to spend time with family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels. "The sensation is this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then the stress response will take over. "It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey if you haven't felt it." Three Ways to Handle It For those affected then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, according to experts. Imagine a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Try to associate the triggering sound bothering you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Make it a Game: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive. Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it changes from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.