The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Those with Misophonia.

One young woman anticipates spending time with her relatives this Christmas, but admits one of the only ways she'll cope is by relying on her earplugs - especially during the holiday meal.

For her, this time of year can be a notably tough period as the sounds of family members munching, sipping loudly and sniffling make her feel intense distress.

"There's this wave of sudden panic, my whole body will just tighten and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these noises."

She has experienced sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that renders the festive season "deeply taxing".

Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds coming from individuals.

It's surprisingly common across the population. Researchers discovered nearly 20% people are affected by it.

Typically it's sounds associated with bodily functions that trigger a reaction, as well as examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.

Triggering Stress

She explains: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.

"My family are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to guarantee everyone else is happy."

So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a living nightmare for affected individuals.

Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.

The student, a university student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to manage the meal. On any other day, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to escape distressing triggers.

She says her misophonia is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult".

"There is pressure to be around family, and I desire to, but it's draining.

"The sensation is this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will take over.

"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."

A Few Techniques to Manage

For those affected then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists.

1. Picture a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Try to associate the specific noise causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
2. Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. For example, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant.
3. Create a Scenario: One more method 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, it could be that they're not at their best or are troubled. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your understanding of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.