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

One young woman hopes for seeing her relatives over the holidays, but admits a primary method she'll cope is by wearing her earplugs - notably for Christmas dinner.

In her case, Christmas often feels like a particularly difficult season as the noises of people eating, slurping and nose-blowing trigger extremely uncomfortable.

"I get this feeling of instant dread, my entire being will just freeze and it feels like I'm in danger, and I need to stop these sounds."

The individual has suffered from misophonia since she was 16 and for her that causes the Christmas time "incredibly overwhelming".

Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to certain sounds, particularly those coming from individuals.

It's surprisingly common in the UK. Experts found a significant portion of people suffer from it.

Typically it's sounds linked to eating or drinking that cause distress, including things like crunching, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.

'Anxiety Inducing'

The sufferer notes: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you dread it.

"My family are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to make other people feel uncomfortable. It's like a really big battle of sacrificing my own sanity to guarantee everyone else is happy."

So it's obvious why the most wonderful season can quickly turn into a source of agony for affected individuals.

Sounds that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, opening presents, or enjoying festive food can trigger a powerful reaction that can even lead to them skipping events entirely.

Jenna, a university student, who has struggled with misophonia for over a decade, states the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to manage the meal. On any other day, she would often retreat in a different room to escape distressing triggers.

She notes her sensitivity is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "hard".

"There is pressure to spend time with family, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.

"The sensation is this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will activate.

"To others it appears as if I'm being oversensitive and melodramatic, but it's difficult to convey without firsthand experience."

Several Strategies to Cope

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

1. Visualise a Different Scenario: Creative thinking is essential. Work on connecting the particular sound affecting you with a neutral concept. 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. Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a game with the culprit. For instance, if someone is eating noisily try joining in. Through participation, rather than feeling like the sound is an attack, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help shift your attention and make you a little less affected.
3. Create a Scenario: 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 making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or could be emotional. By doing this is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise stays the same, your understanding of it shifts from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.