🔗 Share this article Yuletide Can Be a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia. With time, individuals discover strategies to handle their sound sensitivity. One young woman is looking forward to seeing her relatives this Christmas, but says a primary method she'll cope is by using her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at Christmas dinner. In her case, the holidays can be a especially challenging season as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and sniffling make her feel extremely uncomfortable. "I experience this wave of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these noises." The individual has experienced this condition from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, notably sounds produced by other people. It is prevalent across the population. Experts reported a significant portion of people experience it. Often it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. 'Anxiety Inducing' Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it. "My relatives are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to upset others. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to make sure everyone else is happy." So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals. Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a powerful reaction that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings. Jenna is considering strategies to get her through the family meal. She, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, states her strategy is to listen to music to manage the meal. On any other day, she would frequently go in a different room to escape problematic noises. She explains her misophonia is more intense around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging". "People assume you to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "It's like this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will activate. "It may seem as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it." Several Strategies to Manage For those affected then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists. Imagine an Alternative: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the specific noise causing distress with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you poses no threat. Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the culprit. As an example, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant. Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
With time, individuals discover strategies to handle their sound sensitivity. One young woman is looking forward to seeing her relatives this Christmas, but says a primary method she'll cope is by using her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at Christmas dinner. In her case, the holidays can be a especially challenging season as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and sniffling make her feel extremely uncomfortable. "I experience this wave of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just freeze and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these noises." The individual has experienced this condition from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, notably sounds produced by other people. It is prevalent across the population. Experts reported a significant portion of people experience it. Often it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, along with examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. 'Anxiety Inducing' Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it. "My relatives are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to upset others. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to make sure everyone else is happy." So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals. Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can provoke a powerful reaction that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings. Jenna is considering strategies to get her through the family meal. She, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, states her strategy is to listen to music to manage the meal. On any other day, she would frequently go in a different room to escape problematic noises. She explains her misophonia is more intense around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging". "People assume you to socialize with family, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "It's like this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will activate. "It may seem as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it." Several Strategies to Manage For those affected then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists. Imagine an Alternative: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the specific noise causing distress with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you poses no threat. Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the culprit. As an example, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant. Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.