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

Lottie hopes for seeing her relatives during the festive period, but admits a primary method she'll manage to get through it is by using her earplugs - notably for the main festive feast.

For the 23-year-old, this time of year is a especially challenging time as the sounds of other people chewing, sipping loudly and breathing heavily make her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"There's this wave of sudden panic, my entire being will just freeze and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these noises."

The individual has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that causes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".

Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, particularly those produced by individuals.

It is prevalent across the population. Researchers reported a significant portion of people suffer from it.

Often it's noises connected to eating or drinking that trigger a reaction, along with examples such as chewing, breathing, and foot tapping.

A Source of Dread

Lottie says: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread 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 sacrificing my own sanity to ensure others enjoy themselves."

So it's clear why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a living nightmare for affected individuals.

Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.

Jenna, a university student, who has experienced misophonia for over a decade, explains the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to get through dinner. On any other day, she would often retreat in a different room to minimize distressing triggers.

She says her sensitivity is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "difficult".

"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I desire to, but it's draining.

"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then the stress response will kick in.

"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's difficult to convey unless you've experienced it."

Three Ways to Handle It

For those affected then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from experts.

1. Picture a Different Scenario: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound affecting you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you poses no threat.
2. Make it a Game: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a game with the culprit. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try copying the noise. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you somewhat less sensitive.
3. Develop a Narrative: One more method is to try to invent a reason about why the person creating the sound is doing it. So if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not feeling well or could be emotional. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. While the noise doesn't change, your reaction of it shifts from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.