🔗 Share this article Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. Through experience, sufferers discover strategies to try to better manage their sound sensitivity. A 23-year-old hopes for being with her family over the holidays, but says a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - especially during the holiday meal. For her, the holidays can be a notably tough period as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and sniffling cause her extremely uncomfortable. "I get this wave of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these triggers." The individual has experienced sound sensitivity for several years and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds made by those around you. The condition is widespread across the population. A study reported almost one in five people experience it. Frequently it's noises associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, including examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking. 'Anxiety Inducing' The sufferer notes: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you fear it. "Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of managing my symptoms to ensure everyone else is happy." So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals. Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can trigger a visceral feeling that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether. A 21-year-old student is planning ways to help her during the holiday dinner. The student, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains her strategy is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would frequently go in a different room to minimize distressing triggers. She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "difficult". "People assume you to spend time with family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels. "It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate. "To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it." Three Ways to Cope If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, according to specialists. Imagine a Different Scenario: Imagination is key. Try to associate the particular sound causing distress with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you is neutral. Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive. Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. While the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
Through experience, sufferers discover strategies to try to better manage their sound sensitivity. A 23-year-old hopes for being with her family over the holidays, but says a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - especially during the holiday meal. For her, the holidays can be a notably tough period as the noises of family members munching, drinking noisily and sniffling cause her extremely uncomfortable. "I get this wave of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these triggers." The individual has experienced sound sensitivity for several years and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds made by those around you. The condition is widespread across the population. A study reported almost one in five people experience it. Frequently it's noises associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, including examples such as crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking. 'Anxiety Inducing' The sufferer notes: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you fear it. "Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of managing my symptoms to ensure everyone else is happy." So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for affected individuals. Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can trigger a visceral feeling that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether. A 21-year-old student is planning ways to help her during the holiday dinner. The student, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains her strategy is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would frequently go in a different room to minimize distressing triggers. She explains her misophonia is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "difficult". "People assume you to spend time with family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels. "It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate. "To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it." Three Ways to Cope If it's an issue then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, according to specialists. Imagine a Different Scenario: Imagination is key. Try to associate the particular sound causing distress with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you is neutral. Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive. Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. While the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.