🔗 Share this article Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Those with Misophonia. Through experience, sufferers have found strategies to try to better manage their sound sensitivity. One young woman hopes for spending time with her relatives this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her earplugs - especially during the main festive feast. For the 23-year-old, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult time as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily make her feel intense distress. "I get this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just tighten and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises." The individual has lived with sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that renders the festive season "deeply taxing". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, especially noises made by other people. The condition is widespread across the population. Experts found almost one in five people are affected by it. Typically it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, as well as things like chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking. Triggering Stress The sufferer notes: "There are so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it. "My relatives are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee the event goes smoothly." So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers. Noises that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can provoke a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely. A 21-year-old student is planning coping mechanisms to get her through the family meal. Jenna, a young adult, who has experienced misophonia since aged 10, states the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. Usually, she would frequently go in a separate space to escape problematic noises. She says her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult". "People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "I feel as if this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then the stress response will take over. "It may seem as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience." Three Ways to Cope If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, according to clinical psychologists. Picture a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the specific noise bothering you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Make it a Game: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. As an example, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. Through participation, 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 slightly more tolerant. Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your reaction of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
Through experience, sufferers have found strategies to try to better manage their sound sensitivity. One young woman hopes for spending time with her relatives this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her earplugs - especially during the main festive feast. For the 23-year-old, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult time as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and breathing heavily make her feel intense distress. "I get this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just tighten and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to somehow control these noises." The individual has lived with sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that renders the festive season "deeply taxing". Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, especially noises made by other people. The condition is widespread across the population. Experts found almost one in five people are affected by it. Typically it's sounds connected to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, as well as things like chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking. Triggering Stress The sufferer notes: "There are so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it. "My relatives are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee the event goes smoothly." So it's easy to understand why the traditionally happy period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers. Noises that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can provoke a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely. A 21-year-old student is planning coping mechanisms to get her through the family meal. Jenna, a young adult, who has experienced misophonia since aged 10, states the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. Usually, she would frequently go in a separate space to escape problematic noises. She says her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult". "People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "I feel as if this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then the stress response will take over. "It may seem as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience." Three Ways to Cope If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, according to clinical psychologists. Picture a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the specific noise bothering you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Make it a Game: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge involving the source. As an example, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. Through participation, 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 slightly more tolerant. Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your reaction of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.