🔗 Share this article Yuletide Transforms Into a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia. Over the years, sufferers develop strategies to handle their misophonia. One young woman hopes for seeing her family during the festive period, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the holiday meal. For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a notably tough period as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her extremely uncomfortable. "I get this sensation of sudden panic, my whole body will just tense up and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to stop these noises." The individual has experienced misophonia since she was 16 and for her that causes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, especially noises made by individuals. It is prevalent across the population. A study reported almost one in five people are affected by it. Often it's noises associated with eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, along with examples such as crunching, breathing, and foot tapping. A Source of Dread The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it. "My family are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly." So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can quickly turn into a living nightmare for affected individuals. Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a strong emotional response that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings. Jenna is planning strategies to get her through the family meal. Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a different room to escape distressing triggers. She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard". "There's an expectation to socialize with loved ones, and I want to, but it's draining. "It's like this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then the stress response will activate. "It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it." A Few Techniques to Manage If you suffer then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, according to specialists. Imagine Something Else: Imagination is essential. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with something completely different. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you poses no threat. Make it a Game: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a competition involving the source. As an example, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive. Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise 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. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
Over the years, sufferers develop strategies to handle their misophonia. One young woman hopes for seeing her family during the festive period, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the holiday meal. For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a notably tough period as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her extremely uncomfortable. "I get this sensation of sudden panic, my whole body will just tense up and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to stop these noises." The individual has experienced misophonia since she was 16 and for her that causes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, especially noises made by individuals. It is prevalent across the population. A study reported almost one in five people are affected by it. Often it's noises associated with eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, along with examples such as crunching, breathing, and foot tapping. A Source of Dread The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it. "My family are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly." So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can quickly turn into a living nightmare for affected individuals. Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a strong emotional response that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings. Jenna is planning strategies to get her through the family meal. Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a different room to escape distressing triggers. She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "hard". "There's an expectation to socialize with loved ones, and I want to, but it's draining. "It's like this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then the stress response will activate. "It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it." A Few Techniques to Manage If you suffer then there are a few methods you can use to handle the situation, according to specialists. Imagine Something Else: Imagination is essential. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with something completely different. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you poses no threat. Make it a Game: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a competition involving the source. As an example, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive. Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise 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. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your understanding of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.