The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.

One young woman hopes for spending time with her loved ones during the festive period, but says one of the only ways she'll endure is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - especially during the main festive feast.

In her case, the holidays often feels like a particularly difficult time as the auditory triggers of family members munching, sipping loudly and sniffling trigger intense distress.

"I experience this sensation of instant dread, my whole body will just freeze and it seems as if I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these triggers."

Lottie has suffered from misophonia since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".

Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds produced by those around you.

The condition is widespread amongst adults. Researchers reported a significant portion of people experience it.

Frequently it's noises connected to eating or drinking that cause distress, along with examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.

Triggering Stress

The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you fear it.

"My relatives are aware, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure the event goes smoothly."

So it's clear why the most wonderful period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers.

Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a powerful reaction that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings.

The student, a young adult, who has dealt with misophonia from childhood, states her strategy is to put her earphones in to cope. On any other day, she would frequently go in a quiet area to escape triggering sounds.

She notes her sensitivity is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "hard".

"There's an expectation to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's draining.

"The sensation is this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will activate.

"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."

Several Strategies to Handle It

For those affected then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by experts.

1. Visualise Something Else: Imagination is essential. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with something completely different. So for example, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound triggering you is neutral.
2. Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game with the person. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly attempt mimicking the sound. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
3. Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. So if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not feeling well or are troubled. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.