🔗 Share this article Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity. Through experience, individuals have found ways to cope with their misophonia. One young woman hopes for seeing her family over the holidays, but admits a primary method she'll endure is by using her noise-cancelling devices - especially during the main festive feast. In her case, this time of year is a particularly difficult time as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and sniffling trigger extremely uncomfortable. "I get this wave of sudden panic, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these triggers." She has experienced misophonia for several years and for her that makes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, notably sounds coming from those around you. The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts reported nearly 20% people suffer from it. Typically it's noises linked to bodily functions that cause distress, as well as examples such as crunching, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. Triggering Stress The sufferer notes: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you dread it. "My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to guarantee others enjoy themselves." So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers. Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings. Another individual is already thinking about strategies to manage the holiday dinner. The student, a young adult, who has dealt with misophonia for over a decade, states the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. Usually, she would frequently go in a separate space to escape distressing triggers. She says her condition is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "challenging". "People assume you to be around family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels. "It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will kick in. "To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it." Several Strategies to Handle It For those affected then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from specialists. Picture Something Else: Creative thinking is essential. Attempt to link the triggering sound bothering you with something completely different. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Use Humor: Have a bit of fun and turn the annoying sound into a game with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt copying the noise. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant. Craft a Story: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not in good health or are troubled. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.
Through experience, individuals have found ways to cope with their misophonia. One young woman hopes for seeing her family over the holidays, but admits a primary method she'll endure is by using her noise-cancelling devices - especially during the main festive feast. In her case, this time of year is a particularly difficult time as the noises of family members munching, sipping loudly and sniffling trigger extremely uncomfortable. "I get this wave of sudden panic, my whole body will just tighten and it as though I'm in danger, and I need to somehow control these triggers." She has experienced misophonia for several years and for her that makes the festive season "incredibly overwhelming". Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, notably sounds coming from those around you. The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts reported nearly 20% people suffer from it. Typically it's noises linked to bodily functions that cause distress, as well as examples such as crunching, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping. Triggering Stress The sufferer notes: "I face so many assorted problematic noises at the holidays and that can be daunting and make you dread it. "My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a internal conflict of managing my symptoms to guarantee others enjoy themselves." So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for sufferers. Triggers that may appear innocuous, like someone drinking champagne, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can cause a strong emotional response that can even cause them withdrawing from gatherings. Another individual is already thinking about strategies to manage the holiday dinner. The student, a young adult, who has dealt with misophonia for over a decade, states the approach she intends to use is to put her earphones in to cope. Usually, she would frequently go in a separate space to escape distressing triggers. She says her condition is more pronounced around people she's closest to, so Christmas is always "challenging". "People assume you to be around family, and I desire to, but it's exhausting on all levels. "It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then panic will kick in. "To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it." Several Strategies to Handle It For those affected then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from specialists. Picture Something Else: Creative thinking is essential. Attempt to link the triggering sound bothering you with something completely different. As an illustration, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a waterfall. The goal is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful. Use Humor: Have a bit of fun and turn the annoying sound into a game with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt copying the noise. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help redirect your focus and make you slightly more tolerant. Craft a Story: One more method is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone making the noise is doing it. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not in good health or are troubled. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your reaction of it changes from being aggravating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.