🔗 Share this article The Holiday Season Can Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. Over the years, individuals have found strategies to handle their condition. Lottie anticipates seeing her relatives over the holidays, but admits a primary method she'll endure is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at the main festive feast. For the 23-year-old, this time of year often feels like a particularly difficult period as the auditory triggers of other people chewing, sipping loudly and nose-blowing trigger profound anxiety. "I experience this wave of instant dread, my entire being will just freeze and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these sounds." She has suffered from sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that renders the festive season "deeply taxing". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, notably sounds made by individuals. It's surprisingly common across the population. Experts discovered almost one in five people experience it. Often it's sounds associated with eating or drinking that cause distress, as well as examples such as crunching, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. 'Anxiety Inducing' The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it. "My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure others enjoy themselves." So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous season can rapidly become a source of agony for those with the condition. Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a powerful reaction that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether. Jenna is already thinking about coping mechanisms to get her through the family meal. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. On any other day, she would often retreat in a separate space to minimize triggering sounds. She notes her sensitivity is worse around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "difficult". "People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "The sensation is this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will kick in. "To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's hard to explain 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, according to clinical psychologists. Imagine Something Else: Imagination is crucial. Try to associate the particular sound bothering you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected. Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
Over the years, individuals have found strategies to handle their condition. Lottie anticipates seeing her relatives over the holidays, but admits a primary method she'll endure is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at the main festive feast. For the 23-year-old, this time of year often feels like a particularly difficult period as the auditory triggers of other people chewing, sipping loudly and nose-blowing trigger profound anxiety. "I experience this wave of instant dread, my entire being will just freeze and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these sounds." She has suffered from sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that renders the festive season "deeply taxing". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to specific noises, notably sounds made by individuals. It's surprisingly common across the population. Experts discovered almost one in five people experience it. Often it's sounds associated with eating or drinking that cause distress, as well as examples such as crunching, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. 'Anxiety Inducing' The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it. "My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure others enjoy themselves." So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous season can rapidly become a source of agony for those with the condition. Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a powerful reaction that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether. Jenna is already thinking about coping mechanisms to get her through the family meal. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. On any other day, she would often retreat in a separate space to minimize triggering sounds. She notes her sensitivity is worse around people she's most familiar with, so Christmas is always "difficult". "People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "The sensation is this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will kick in. "To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's hard to explain 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, according to clinical psychologists. Imagine Something Else: Imagination is crucial. Try to associate the particular sound bothering you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected. Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not at their best or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.