The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Those with Misophonia.

Lottie is looking forward to spending time with her relatives over the holidays, but admits one of the only ways she'll cope is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at the main festive feast.

In her case, Christmas can be a especially challenging period as the auditory triggers of family members munching, drinking noisily and sniffling cause her intense distress.

"I experience this sensation of sudden panic, my whole body will just tense up and it seems as if I'm in danger, and I need to manage these sounds."

Lottie has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that makes the Christmas time "deeply taxing".

Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, notably sounds produced by those around you.

It's surprisingly common amongst adults. Experts discovered almost one in five people suffer from it.

Often it's noises connected to mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, along with things like chewing, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.

Triggering Stress

She explains: "I face so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.

"Those close to me are aware, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee others enjoy themselves."

So it's clear why the most wonderful season can transform into a source of agony for affected individuals.

Noises that may seem harmless, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a powerful reaction that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings.

Jenna, a university student, who has experienced sound sensitivity since aged 10, explains currently her plan is to listen to music to cope. Usually, she would frequently go in a separate space to escape triggering sounds.

She explains her misophonia is more intense around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "difficult".

"People assume you to spend time with loved ones, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.

"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel anxious and begin to weep and then panic will activate.

"It may seem as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."

Three Ways to Manage

For those affected then there are various strategies you can try to cope the situation, as suggested by experts.

1. Visualise Something Else: Creative thinking is crucial. 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 waterfall. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
2. Try a Competition: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the culprit. For example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt mimicking the sound. By mimicking, rather than feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant.
3. Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to create a little story about the reason someone making the noise is having to make that sound. So if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not at their best or maybe they're upset. This approach is changing the meaning of the sound. While the noise remains identical, your understanding of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.