đź”— Share this article The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. With time, people develop ways to cope with their misophonia. A 23-year-old is looking forward to spending time with her loved ones this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - notably for Christmas dinner. In her case, the holidays can be a especially challenging season as the sounds of other people chewing, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety. "I experience this feeling of sudden panic, my whole body will just tense up and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these triggers." The individual has lived with sound sensitivity for several years and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those made by individuals. It is prevalent across the population. Experts found nearly 20% people suffer from it. Typically it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking. Triggering Stress Lottie says: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it. "Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure others enjoy themselves." So it's clear why the most wonderful time of the year can quickly turn into a source of agony for affected individuals. Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a strong emotional response that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether. Jenna is already thinking about coping mechanisms to help her during the family meal. Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. On any other day, she would frequently go in a quiet area to escape triggering sounds. She explains her sensitivity is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging". "People assume you to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "It's like this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will activate. "To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience." A Few Techniques to Cope If you suffer then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, according to experts. Picture Something Else: Mental imagery is key. Try to associate the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. For instance, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Make it a Game: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily try copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive. Craft a Story: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not at their best or are troubled. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Although the noise doesn't change, your interpretation of it shifts from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
With time, people develop ways to cope with their misophonia. A 23-year-old is looking forward to spending time with her loved ones this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll manage to get through it is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - notably for Christmas dinner. In her case, the holidays can be a especially challenging season as the sounds of other people chewing, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety. "I experience this feeling of sudden panic, my whole body will just tense up and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these triggers." The individual has lived with sound sensitivity for several years and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those made by individuals. It is prevalent across the population. Experts found nearly 20% people suffer from it. Typically it's sounds connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, along with examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking. Triggering Stress Lottie says: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it. "Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure others enjoy themselves." So it's clear why the most wonderful time of the year can quickly turn into a source of agony for affected individuals. Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a strong emotional response that can even result in them avoiding social settings altogether. Jenna is already thinking about coping mechanisms to help her during the family meal. Jenna, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, says the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. On any other day, she would frequently go in a quiet area to escape triggering sounds. She explains her sensitivity is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging". "People assume you to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "It's like this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then panic will activate. "To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience." A Few Techniques to Cope If you suffer then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, according to experts. Picture Something Else: Mental imagery is key. Try to associate the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. For instance, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Make it a Game: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily try copying the noise. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive. Craft a Story: Another technique is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not at their best or are troubled. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Although the noise doesn't change, your interpretation of it shifts from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.