🔗 Share this article The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. Through experience, people develop strategies to cope with their sound sensitivity. A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her relatives during the festive period, but notes a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at Christmas dinner. For her, the holidays often feels like a especially challenging period as the auditory triggers of other people chewing, slurping and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety. "There's this sensation of instant dread, my entire being will just tense up and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to manage these sounds." She has lived with misophonia for several years and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, particularly those made by those around you. It's surprisingly common in the UK. A study discovered nearly 20% people experience it. Often it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. Triggering Stress She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it. "My relatives are supportive, 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 guarantee everyone else is happy." So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy period can quickly turn into a source of agony for sufferers. Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can trigger a strong emotional response that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings. Another individual is planning coping mechanisms to get her through the holiday dinner. The student, a university student, who has experienced misophonia for over a decade, explains her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid problematic noises. She says her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "hard". "People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "The sensation is this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will kick in. "It can come across as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it." Three Ways to Manage If you suffer then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts. Imagine an Alternative: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. As an illustration, try to envision someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a challenge involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant. Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or are troubled. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. While the noise remains identical, your interpretation of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
Through experience, people develop strategies to cope with their sound sensitivity. A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her relatives during the festive period, but notes a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at Christmas dinner. For her, the holidays often feels like a especially challenging period as the auditory triggers of other people chewing, slurping and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety. "There's this sensation of instant dread, my entire being will just tense up and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to manage these sounds." She has lived with misophonia for several years and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, particularly those made by those around you. It's surprisingly common in the UK. A study discovered nearly 20% people experience it. Often it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. Triggering Stress She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it. "My relatives are supportive, 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 guarantee everyone else is happy." So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy period can quickly turn into a source of agony for sufferers. Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can trigger a strong emotional response that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings. Another individual is planning coping mechanisms to get her through the holiday dinner. The student, a university student, who has experienced misophonia for over a decade, explains her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid problematic noises. She says her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "hard". "People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "The sensation is this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will kick in. "It can come across as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it." Three Ways to Manage If you suffer then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts. Imagine an Alternative: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. As an illustration, try to envision someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a challenge involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant. Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or are troubled. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. While the noise remains identical, your interpretation of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.