🔗 Share this article The Holiday Season Transforms Into a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. With time, people discover methods to try to better manage their condition. Lottie hopes for seeing her family during the festive period, but notes a primary method she'll endure is by using her hearing protection - especially during the holiday meal. For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a especially challenging time as the noises of family members munching, slurping and nose-blowing trigger extremely uncomfortable. "There's this wave of sudden panic, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these noises." She has lived with sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that renders the holiday period "exceptionally stressful". Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, especially noises coming from individuals. The condition is widespread across the population. A study found a significant portion of people are affected by it. Typically it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, including examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping. Triggering Stress Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you fear it. "My family are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee everyone else is happy." So it's clear why the supposedly joyous time of the year can quickly turn into a living nightmare for affected individuals. Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can trigger a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely. Another individual is already thinking about ways to help her during the family meal. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity from childhood, states currently her plan is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to minimize triggering sounds. She notes her sensitivity is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging". "People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's draining. "It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then panic will kick in. "To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it." Three Ways to Cope If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts. Visualise an Alternative: Imagination is key. Attempt to link the triggering sound causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to envision someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you poses no threat. Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. For example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at joining in. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive. Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is doing it. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise stays the same, your interpretation of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
With time, people discover methods to try to better manage their condition. Lottie hopes for seeing her family during the festive period, but notes a primary method she'll endure is by using her hearing protection - especially during the holiday meal. For the 23-year-old, Christmas is a especially challenging time as the noises of family members munching, slurping and nose-blowing trigger extremely uncomfortable. "There's this wave of sudden panic, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these noises." She has lived with sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that renders the holiday period "exceptionally stressful". Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, especially noises coming from individuals. The condition is widespread across the population. A study found a significant portion of people are affected by it. Typically it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, including examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping. Triggering Stress Lottie says: "You encounter so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you fear it. "My family are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee everyone else is happy." So it's clear why the supposedly joyous time of the year can quickly turn into a living nightmare for affected individuals. Sounds that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can trigger a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely. Another individual is already thinking about ways to help her during the family meal. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced sound sensitivity from childhood, states currently her plan is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to minimize triggering sounds. She notes her sensitivity is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging". "People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's draining. "It's like this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then panic will kick in. "To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it." Three Ways to Cope If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts. Visualise an Alternative: Imagination is key. Attempt to link the triggering sound causing distress with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to envision someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you poses no threat. Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. For example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at joining in. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive. Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about why the person making the noise is doing it. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise stays the same, your interpretation of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.