Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Those with Misophonia.

A 23-year-old is looking forward to being with her relatives this Christmas, but notes a key strategy she'll endure is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at the main festive feast.

For her, this time of year often feels like a particularly difficult time as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and nose-blowing trigger extremely uncomfortable.

"I get this sensation of instant dread, my every muscle will just freeze and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to stop these noises."

The individual has suffered from sound sensitivity from a young age and for her that renders the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".

Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, particularly those made by individuals.

The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts discovered a significant portion of people are affected by it.

Typically it's noises linked to eating or drinking that cause distress, as well as examples such as chewing, breathing, and pen clicking.

A Source of Dread

Lottie says: "There are so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you fear it.

"My family are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to ensure the event goes smoothly."

So it's obvious 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 sipping a beverage, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can cause a visceral feeling that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.

Jenna, a university student, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. Usually, she would frequently go in a quiet area to minimize triggering sounds.

She says her condition is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging".

"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I wish 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 burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will kick in.

"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."

Three Ways to Cope

If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from experts.

1. Picture an Alternative: Mental imagery is essential. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. For instance, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral.
2. Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is eating noisily attempt copying the noise. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
3. Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not feeling well or could be emotional. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the sound remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a bit more accepting towards it.