🔗 Share this article The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. With time, sufferers develop strategies to try to better manage their sound sensitivity. A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her loved ones this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her earplugs - particularly at Christmas dinner. In her case, Christmas is a notably tough season as the noises of other people chewing, drinking noisily and nose-blowing make her feel intense distress. "There's this sensation of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to manage these triggers." Lottie has suffered from sound sensitivity for several years and for her that causes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, especially noises produced by those around you. The condition is widespread across the population. A study found nearly 20% people are affected by it. Typically it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, as well as things like crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping. A Source of Dread She explains: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you fear it. "My relatives are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure everyone else is happy." So it's obvious why the most wonderful season can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers. Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can cause a visceral feeling that can even result in them skipping events entirely. Another individual is already thinking about coping mechanisms to manage the holiday dinner. The student, a university student, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. On any other day, she would often retreat in a different room to escape distressing triggers. She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult". "There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "It's like this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will activate. "It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience." A Few Techniques to Handle It For those affected then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, according to experts. Visualise Something Else: Mental imagery is crucial. Attempt to link the triggering sound affecting you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you isn't harmful. Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try copying the noise. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected. Craft a Story: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is altering the perception of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your interpretation of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
With time, sufferers develop strategies to try to better manage their sound sensitivity. A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her loved ones this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her earplugs - particularly at Christmas dinner. In her case, Christmas is a notably tough season as the noises of other people chewing, drinking noisily and nose-blowing make her feel intense distress. "There's this sensation of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to manage these triggers." Lottie has suffered from sound sensitivity for several years and for her that causes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, especially noises produced by those around you. The condition is widespread across the population. A study found nearly 20% people are affected by it. Typically it's sounds associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, as well as things like crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping. A Source of Dread She explains: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you fear it. "My relatives are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure everyone else is happy." So it's obvious why the most wonderful season can rapidly become a living nightmare for sufferers. Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can cause a visceral feeling that can even result in them skipping events entirely. Another individual is already thinking about coping mechanisms to manage the holiday dinner. The student, a university student, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. On any other day, she would often retreat in a different room to escape distressing triggers. She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult". "There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "It's like this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will activate. "It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience." A Few Techniques to Handle It For those affected then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, according to experts. Visualise Something Else: Mental imagery is crucial. Attempt to link the triggering sound affecting you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you isn't harmful. Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try copying the noise. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected. Craft a Story: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is altering the perception of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your interpretation of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.