Christmas Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.

A 23-year-old hopes for spending time with her relatives this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during the holiday meal.

For her, the holidays often feels like a especially challenging season as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and nose-blowing cause her profound anxiety.

"I get this feeling of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just tighten and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to manage these triggers."

She has experienced misophonia for several years and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming".

Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, notably sounds produced by other people.

The condition is widespread amongst adults. Researchers reported a significant portion of people experience it.

Frequently it's noises linked to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, along with things like chewing, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.

Triggering Stress

The sufferer notes: "There are so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be anxiety inducing and make you fear it.

"Those close to me are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to make sure others enjoy themselves."

So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful period can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for affected individuals.

Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, unwrapping gifts, or eating the holiday meal can cause a powerful reaction that can even result in them skipping events entirely.

Jenna, a young adult, who has dealt with sound sensitivity for over a decade, states the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to cope. On any other day, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid triggering sounds.

She notes her condition is more intense around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging".

"People assume you to be around loved ones, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.

"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel anxious and burst into tears and then the stress response will kick in.

"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."

Several Strategies to Manage

If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, according to clinical psychologists.

1. Picture an Alternative: Mental imagery is crucial. Attempt to link the specific noise bothering you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, 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: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try mimicking the sound. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive.
3. Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not feeling well or maybe they're upset. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the noise remains identical, your reaction of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a slightly more compassionate towards it.