🔗 Share this article Christmas Can Be a Living Hell for Misophonia Sufferers. Through experience, individuals have found methods to handle their misophonia. A 23-year-old anticipates spending time with her relatives over the holidays, but admits a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by using her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner. For the 23-year-old, Christmas can be a notably tough time as the auditory triggers of family members munching, slurping and breathing heavily trigger intense distress. "There's this wave of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tense up and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to stop these sounds." She has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that makes the Christmas time "deeply taxing". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, particularly those coming from those around you. It is prevalent amongst adults. A study discovered a significant portion of people are affected by it. Typically it's noises linked to bodily functions that lead to discomfort, as well as examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. Triggering Stress The sufferer notes: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you dread it. "My relatives 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 sacrificing my own sanity to make sure everyone else is happy." So it's clear why the most wonderful time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for those with the condition. Noises that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a powerful reaction that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings. Jenna is planning coping mechanisms to get her through the family meal. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced misophonia since aged 10, explains her strategy is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to avoid triggering sounds. She says her misophonia is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "hard". "People assume you to be around family, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "The sensation is this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then panic will activate. "It can come across as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience." Several Strategies to Manage If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, according to clinical psychologists. Visualise an Alternative: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to picture someone's slurping is just a waterfall. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral. Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant. Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.
Through experience, individuals have found methods to handle their misophonia. A 23-year-old anticipates spending time with her relatives over the holidays, but admits a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by using her hearing protection - particularly at Christmas dinner. For the 23-year-old, Christmas can be a notably tough time as the auditory triggers of family members munching, slurping and breathing heavily trigger intense distress. "There's this wave of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tense up and it feels like I'm in peril, and I need to stop these sounds." She has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that makes the Christmas time "deeply taxing". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to particular auditory triggers, particularly those coming from those around you. It is prevalent amongst adults. A study discovered a significant portion of people are affected by it. Typically it's noises linked to bodily functions that lead to discomfort, as well as examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. Triggering Stress The sufferer notes: "I face so many different triggering sounds at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you dread it. "My relatives 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 sacrificing my own sanity to make sure everyone else is happy." So it's clear why the most wonderful time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for those with the condition. Noises that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a powerful reaction that can even lead to them withdrawing from gatherings. Jenna is planning coping mechanisms to get her through the family meal. The student, a 21-year-old student, who has experienced misophonia since aged 10, explains her strategy is to use headphones to cope. Usually, she would usually isolate herself in a different room to avoid triggering sounds. She says her misophonia is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "hard". "People assume you to be around family, and I desire to, but it's physically and mentally challenging. "The sensation is this sudden rage washes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then panic will activate. "It can come across as if I'm being difficult and overreacting, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience." Several Strategies to Manage If it's an issue then there are a few methods you can attempt to manage the situation, according to clinical psychologists. Visualise an Alternative: Imagination is key. Work on connecting the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. As an illustration, try to picture someone's slurping is just a waterfall. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you is neutral. Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly try joining in. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you slightly more tolerant. Craft a Story: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, it could be that they're not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your interpretation of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.