🔗 Share this article The Holiday Season Can Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. Through experience, individuals have found methods to try to better manage their sound sensitivity. A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her relatives during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner. For her, the holidays is a notably tough time as the sounds of family members munching, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety. "I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tighten and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to stop these noises." The individual has experienced this condition from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those produced by individuals. It's surprisingly common across the population. Experts reported a significant portion of people experience it. Often it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping. A Source of Dread The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you fear it. "My relatives are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to make sure everyone else is happy." So it's obvious why the most wonderful season can transform into a stressful ordeal for those with the condition. Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether. A 21-year-old student is considering ways to help her during the holiday dinner. Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains currently her plan is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid distressing triggers. She says her condition is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging". "People assume you to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "It's like this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then panic will take over. "It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it." Three Ways to Manage If you suffer then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from specialists. Imagine a Different Scenario: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the specific noise affecting you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to envision someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you poses no threat. Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at joining in. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive. Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not at their best or are troubled. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the noise doesn't change, your understanding of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
Through experience, individuals have found methods to try to better manage their sound sensitivity. A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her relatives during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by wearing her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner. For her, the holidays is a notably tough time as the sounds of family members munching, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety. "I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tighten and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to stop these noises." The individual has experienced this condition from a young age and for her that renders the holiday period "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those produced by individuals. It's surprisingly common across the population. Experts reported a significant portion of people experience it. Often it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that lead to discomfort, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping. A Source of Dread The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you fear it. "My relatives are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to make sure everyone else is happy." So it's obvious why the most wonderful season can transform into a stressful ordeal for those with the condition. Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether. A 21-year-old student is considering ways to help her during the holiday dinner. Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains currently her plan is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a quiet area to avoid distressing triggers. She says her condition is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "challenging". "People assume you to spend time with family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "It's like this uncontrollable anger washes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then panic will take over. "It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it." Three Ways to Manage If you suffer then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from specialists. Imagine a Different Scenario: Imagination is essential. Try to associate the specific noise affecting you with a neutral concept. So for example, try to envision someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you poses no threat. Try a Competition: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly have a go at joining in. By joining in, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you somewhat less sensitive. Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not at their best or are troubled. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the noise doesn't change, your understanding of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.