🔗 Share this article The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. Over the years, individuals discover strategies to handle their sound sensitivity. Lottie is looking forward to being with her loved ones during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll cope is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during Christmas dinner. For her, Christmas often feels like a especially challenging time as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and nose-blowing trigger profound anxiety. "I get this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in danger, and I need to manage these triggers." She has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those coming from individuals. It is prevalent across the population. A study found a significant portion of people suffer from it. Typically it's sounds associated with eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, along with things like crunching, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. Triggering Stress She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it. "My relatives are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure the event goes smoothly." So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful time of the year can transform into a stressful ordeal for sufferers. Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely. Jenna is already thinking about ways to get her through the holiday dinner. She, a young adult, who has experienced sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to get through dinner. On any other day, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid problematic noises. She notes her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "challenging". "People assume you to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's draining. "I feel as if this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then the stress response will take over. "It can come across as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it." Several Strategies to Cope If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from specialists. Picture Something Else: Mental imagery is key. Work on connecting the specific noise affecting you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral. Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected. Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not at their best or could be emotional. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise doesn't change, your interpretation of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.
Over the years, individuals discover strategies to handle their sound sensitivity. Lottie is looking forward to being with her loved ones during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll cope is by wearing her hearing protection - especially during Christmas dinner. For her, Christmas often feels like a especially challenging time as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and nose-blowing trigger profound anxiety. "I get this sensation of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in danger, and I need to manage these triggers." She has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those coming from individuals. It is prevalent across the population. A study found a significant portion of people suffer from it. Typically it's sounds associated with eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, along with things like crunching, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. Triggering Stress She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it. "My relatives are supportive, but I'm very conscious that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to ensure the event goes smoothly." So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful time of the year can transform into a stressful ordeal for sufferers. Noises that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely. Jenna is already thinking about ways to get her through the holiday dinner. She, a young adult, who has experienced sound sensitivity for over a decade, explains the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to get through dinner. On any other day, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid problematic noises. She notes her sensitivity is more pronounced around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "challenging". "People assume you to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's draining. "I feel as if this intense irritation washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and begin to weep and then the stress response will take over. "It can come across as if I'm being difficult and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it." Several Strategies to Cope If it's an issue then there are some different techniques you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from specialists. Picture Something Else: Mental imagery is key. Work on connecting the specific noise affecting you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral. Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and turn the annoying sound into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected. Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not at their best or could be emotional. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise doesn't change, your interpretation of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.