The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Living Hell for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.

One young woman hopes for being with her loved ones over the holidays, but says a key strategy she'll cope is by wearing her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at Christmas dinner.

For the 23-year-old, Christmas often feels like a especially challenging period as the auditory triggers of people eating, slurping and sniffling trigger extremely uncomfortable.

"There's this wave of immediate anxiety, my every muscle will just tense up and it as though I'm in peril, and I need to stop these triggers."

Lottie has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".

Misophonia is a reduced tolerance to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds made by individuals.

The condition is widespread in the UK. A study found a significant portion of people are affected by it.

Typically it's noises connected to bodily functions that lead to discomfort, along with things like crunching, heavy breathing, and foot tapping.

'Anxiety Inducing'

The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you want to avoid it.

"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to guarantee the event goes smoothly."

So it's easy to understand why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a stressful ordeal for those with the condition.

Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or enjoying festive food can trigger a powerful reaction that can even result in them skipping events entirely.

Jenna, a young adult, who has experienced misophonia from childhood, states her strategy is to listen to music to get through dinner. On any other day, she would frequently go in a different room to minimize distressing triggers.

She notes her condition is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so the holidays is always "challenging".

"People assume you to spend time with family, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.

"It's like this sudden rage comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then fight-or-flight will take over.

"It can come across as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's tough to describe without firsthand experience."

Several Strategies to Manage

If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from experts.

1. Visualise Something Else: Mental imagery is crucial. Work on connecting the triggering sound causing distress with something completely different. So for example, try to envision someone's slurping is just a sink draining water. This technique is to teach your brain that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
2. Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. As an example, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. By mimicking, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an willing part. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
3. Create a Scenario: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise is behaving that way. Imagine if someone was sniffing, it could be that they're not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is changing the meaning of the sound. Although the sound remains identical, your interpretation of it shifts from being irritating, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.