Yuletide Can Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.

Lottie is looking forward to seeing her relatives during the festive period, but notes one of the only ways she'll manage to get through it is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - notably for the holiday meal.

In her case, this time of year can be a particularly difficult season as the sounds of other people chewing, sipping loudly and sniffling trigger profound anxiety.

"There's this feeling of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tighten and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these triggers."

The individual has suffered from sound sensitivity for several years and for her that renders the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".

Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, particularly those produced by those around you.

It is prevalent in the UK. Experts found a significant portion of people are affected by it.

Often it's noises linked to mouth, throat or facial movements that trigger a reaction, as well as things like chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.

Triggering Stress

She explains: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you dread it.

"My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to upset others. It's like a internal conflict of enduring my distress to make sure everyone else is happy."

So it's clear why the traditionally happy season can quickly turn into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.

Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, opening presents, or eating the holiday meal can cause a powerful reaction that can even cause them avoiding social settings altogether.

She, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia from childhood, explains the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to get through dinner. Typically, she would often retreat in a separate space to escape distressing triggers.

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

"People assume you to be around loved ones, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.

"I feel as if this uncontrollable anger takes hold, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel stressed and begin to weep and then fight-or-flight will take over.

"To others it appears as if I'm being difficult and dramatic, but it's hard to explain unless you've experienced it."

A Few Techniques to Handle It

If you suffer then there are various strategies you can use to handle the situation, as suggested by clinical psychologists.

1. Picture a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is crucial. Try to associate the specific noise affecting you with an unrelated image. So for example, try to envision someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. The goal is to teach your brain that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
2. Use Humor: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game involving the source. For example, if someone is eating noisily try mimicking the sound. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an willing part. And the competition element should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
3. Develop a Narrative: Another technique is to try to fabricate an explanation about the reason someone creating the sound is behaving that way. For example if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is altering the perception of the sound. Although the sound doesn't change, your understanding of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a slightly more compassionate about it.