🔗 Share this article Christmas Can Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. Through experience, individuals develop strategies to try to better manage their misophonia. A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her relatives during the festive period, but admits one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by using her hearing protection - notably for the main festive feast. In her case, Christmas can be a notably tough period as the sounds of family members munching, sipping loudly and sniffling trigger extremely uncomfortable. "I experience this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises." Lottie has suffered from this condition for several years and for her that makes the holiday period "deeply taxing". Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, particularly those coming from individuals. The condition is widespread across the population. A study discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it. Typically it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that cause distress, including examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping. 'Anxiety Inducing' Lottie says: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it. "My relatives are supportive, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure the event goes smoothly." So it's obvious why the traditionally happy time of the year can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals. Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them skipping events entirely. Another individual is planning ways to get her through the holiday dinner. The student, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, says currently her plan is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. Usually, she would often retreat in a quiet area to minimize triggering sounds. She says her misophonia is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "difficult". "There's an expectation to spend time with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's draining. "It's like this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate. "It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it." Three Ways to Manage If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts. Picture Something Else: Creative thinking is key. Attempt to link the specific noise affecting you with an unrelated image. For instance, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you is neutral. Make it a Game: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at copying the noise. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive. Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not feeling well or could be emotional. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your understanding of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
Through experience, individuals develop strategies to try to better manage their misophonia. A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her relatives during the festive period, but admits one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by using her hearing protection - notably for the main festive feast. In her case, Christmas can be a notably tough period as the sounds of family members munching, sipping loudly and sniffling trigger extremely uncomfortable. "I experience this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises." Lottie has suffered from this condition for several years and for her that makes the holiday period "deeply taxing". Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, particularly those coming from individuals. The condition is widespread across the population. A study discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it. Typically it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that cause distress, including examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping. 'Anxiety Inducing' Lottie says: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it. "My relatives are supportive, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure the event goes smoothly." So it's obvious why the traditionally happy time of the year can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals. Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them skipping events entirely. Another individual is planning ways to get her through the holiday dinner. The student, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, says currently her plan is to put her earphones in to manage the meal. Usually, she would often retreat in a quiet area to minimize triggering sounds. She says her misophonia is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "difficult". "There's an expectation to spend time with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's draining. "It's like this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate. "It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it." Three Ways to Manage If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts. Picture Something Else: Creative thinking is key. Attempt to link the specific noise affecting you with an unrelated image. For instance, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you is neutral. Make it a Game: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is eating noisily have a go at copying the noise. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive. Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not feeling well or could be emotional. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your understanding of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.