🔗 Share this article The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers. With time, individuals discover methods to try to better manage their misophonia. Lottie is looking forward to being with her relatives this Christmas, but admits a primary method she'll cope is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast. For her, Christmas can be a especially challenging season as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and nose-blowing trigger extremely uncomfortable. "I experience this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just tighten and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to manage these sounds." The individual has lived with misophonia from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "exceptionally stressful". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds made by other people. The condition is widespread in the UK. A study found almost one in five people experience it. Frequently it's noises connected to bodily functions that cause distress, as well as examples such as chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. A Source of Dread The sufferer notes: "I face so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you fear it. "My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure the event goes smoothly." So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for those with the condition. Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a visceral feeling that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether. Another individual is already thinking about ways to manage Christmas lunch. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, explains currently her plan is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would often retreat in a different room to minimize triggering sounds. She explains her condition is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard". "There is pressure to socialize with loved ones, and I want to, but it's draining. "It's like this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then panic will kick in. "It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it." Three Ways to Cope For those affected then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists. Visualise an Alternative: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you poses no threat. Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected. Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is doing it. So if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not feeling well or are troubled. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the noise doesn't change, your understanding of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
With time, individuals discover methods to try to better manage their misophonia. Lottie is looking forward to being with her relatives this Christmas, but admits a primary method she'll cope is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the main festive feast. For her, Christmas can be a especially challenging season as the sounds of family members munching, drinking noisily and nose-blowing trigger extremely uncomfortable. "I experience this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just tighten and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to manage these sounds." The individual has lived with misophonia from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "exceptionally stressful". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds made by other people. The condition is widespread in the UK. A study found almost one in five people experience it. Frequently it's noises connected to bodily functions that cause distress, as well as examples such as chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. A Source of Dread The sufferer notes: "I face so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you fear it. "My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure the event goes smoothly." So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for those with the condition. Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a visceral feeling that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether. Another individual is already thinking about ways to manage Christmas lunch. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, explains currently her plan is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would often retreat in a different room to minimize triggering sounds. She explains her condition is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "hard". "There is pressure to socialize with loved ones, and I want to, but it's draining. "It's like this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then panic will kick in. "It may seem as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it." Three Ways to Cope For those affected then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists. Visualise an Alternative: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you poses no threat. Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a game involving the source. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected. Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is doing it. So if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not feeling well or are troubled. This approach is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the noise doesn't change, your understanding of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.