Yuletide Can Be a Living Hell for Those with Misophonia.

Lottie is looking forward to seeing her loved ones during the festive period, but says one of the only ways she'll endure is by using her earplugs - particularly at the main festive feast.

For her, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult season as the sounds of people eating, slurping and breathing heavily trigger extremely uncomfortable.

"There's this feeling of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these sounds."

Lottie has lived with sound sensitivity since she was 16 and for her that makes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".

Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, especially noises coming from other people.

The condition is widespread across the population. Researchers found nearly 20% people suffer from it.

Often it's sounds linked to bodily functions that trigger a reaction, along with things like chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.

A Source of Dread

She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you want to avoid it.

"My relatives are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of sacrificing my own sanity to make sure the event goes smoothly."

So it's obvious why the traditionally happy season can transform into a living nightmare for affected individuals.

Sounds that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can cause a strong emotional response that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.

The student, a young adult, who has experienced sound sensitivity for over a decade, says the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a separate space to minimize triggering sounds.

She says her misophonia is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "difficult".

"There's an expectation to socialize with loved ones, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.

"I feel as if this intense irritation comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then the stress response will kick in.

"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and dramatic, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."

Several Strategies to Manage

For those affected then there are some different techniques you can attempt to manage the situation, based on advice from experts.

1. Visualise Something Else: Imagination is essential. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with an unrelated image. So for example, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. By doing this is to help your brain learn that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
2. Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. For example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt joining in. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an engaged person. And the competition element should help redirect your focus and make you a little less affected.
3. Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to create a little story about why the person creating the sound is doing it. Imagine if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not feeling well or maybe they're upset. This approach is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise doesn't change, your reaction of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.