Yuletide Often Proves to Be a Terrifying Experience for Misophonia Sufferers.

A 23-year-old is looking forward to seeing her family during the festive period, but notes a primary method she'll cope is by using her hearing protection - especially during the main festive feast.

For her, this time of year is a particularly difficult season as the noises of people eating, slurping and breathing heavily cause her profound anxiety.

"I experience this sensation of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in peril, and I need to stop these noises."

Lottie has lived with misophonia since she was 16 and for her that renders the festive season "incredibly overwhelming".

Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to certain sounds, especially noises coming from those around you.

It's surprisingly common in the UK. A study reported nearly 20% people are affected by it.

Typically it's noises associated with mouth, throat or facial movements that cause distress, as well as examples such as chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.

'Anxiety Inducing'

The sufferer notes: "There are so many different triggering sounds at the holidays and that can be stressful and make you dread it.

"Those close to me are aware, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to ensure others enjoy themselves."

So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous time of the year can rapidly become a source of agony for sufferers.

Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or enjoying festive food can trigger a visceral feeling that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.

Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, states the approach she intends to use is to use headphones to get through dinner. Usually, she would often retreat in a quiet area to escape triggering sounds.

She notes her condition is worse around people she's most familiar with, so the holidays is always "difficult".

"People assume you to socialize with loved ones, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.

"It's like this sudden rage takes hold, which can feel embarrassing, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then the stress response will take over.

"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's tough to describe if you haven't felt it."

Three Ways to Cope

If you suffer then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from clinical psychologists.

1. Visualise Something Else: Imagination is crucial. Try to associate the triggering sound bothering you with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to picture someone's noisy drinking is just a sink draining water. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting 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 try copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an willing part. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you slightly more tolerant.
3. Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to fabricate an explanation about why the person making the noise is doing it. Imagine if someone was sniffing, maybe they are not feeling well or maybe they're upset. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the noise stays the same, your understanding of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a bit more accepting about it.