🔗 Share this article Christmas Transforms Into a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. Through experience, sufferers develop methods to cope with their sound sensitivity. One young woman anticipates seeing her loved ones this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll cope is by using her earplugs - especially during Christmas dinner. For her, this time of year can be a particularly difficult time as the noises of other people chewing, slurping and nose-blowing cause her extremely uncomfortable. "I get this wave of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tense up and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to manage these sounds." The individual has lived with misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, especially noises produced by other people. The condition is widespread in the UK. Experts discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it. Typically it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with examples such as chewing, breathing, and pen clicking. A Source of Dread The sufferer notes: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it. "Those close to me are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee others enjoy themselves." So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can quickly turn into a source of agony for those with the condition. Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a powerful reaction that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether. Jenna is planning strategies to manage Christmas lunch. She, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia for over a decade, explains her strategy is to use headphones to cope. On any other day, she would often retreat in a separate space to escape distressing triggers. She explains her misophonia is worse around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "difficult". "People assume you to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "It's like this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate. "It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience." A Few Techniques to Cope For those affected then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists. Picture Something Else: Creative thinking is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound bothering you with something completely different. For instance, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you isn't harmful. Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive. Craft a Story: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or could be emotional. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your understanding of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.
Through experience, sufferers develop methods to cope with their sound sensitivity. One young woman anticipates seeing her loved ones this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll cope is by using her earplugs - especially during Christmas dinner. For her, this time of year can be a particularly difficult time as the noises of other people chewing, slurping and nose-blowing cause her extremely uncomfortable. "I get this wave of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tense up and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to manage these sounds." The individual has lived with misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, especially noises produced by other people. The condition is widespread in the UK. Experts discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it. Typically it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with examples such as chewing, breathing, and pen clicking. A Source of Dread The sufferer notes: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it. "Those close to me are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee others enjoy themselves." So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can quickly turn into a source of agony for those with the condition. Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a powerful reaction that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether. Jenna is planning strategies to manage Christmas lunch. She, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia for over a decade, explains her strategy is to use headphones to cope. On any other day, she would often retreat in a separate space to escape distressing triggers. She explains her misophonia is worse around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "difficult". "People assume you to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "It's like this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel anxious and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate. "It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience." A Few Techniques to Cope For those affected then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists. Picture Something Else: Creative thinking is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound bothering you with something completely different. For instance, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you isn't harmful. Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive. Craft a Story: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or could be emotional. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your understanding of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.