Loud sneezing or making sounds while eating makes me go mad. What to do in such situations without making anyone feel embarrassed?

I am a firm believer in meditation and inner focus. I know it sounds weird, but actually focusing on the sounds to give it presence actually can make you lose thought of it. Then bringing yourself inward to yourself and focusing on your breath and thinking of what you want to hear and let those feelings of anxiety and hate toward those people or sounds dissipate. Practicing this prior to these situations would be better to get a little better understanding of what I am talking about. So, you could sit in a room with the TV on or something that isn't very pleasant and try to address the situation.

While I am eating or drinking or in general enjoying time with my family or my friends I tend to have already seen and indeed heard their sometimes flavoursome smells and sounds, so I ignore them and take dining with them as it comes, I would never embarrass a friend or family member about this but would so much make a joke of it. Why you would ask a question like this is so embarrassing to you :( and how could anyone answer a question like this in 100 words when it could just be answered in 2?

You could excuse yourself from that situation. Ask them politely if they would br able to do it a little quieter. Taking a moment to breathe or stepping out to calm down would be a great idea ! You could listen to music and put in some headphones so that you can’t hear it anymore. I understand it can be very frustrating to deal with this ! Without making them embarrassed you could tell them that it is making you slightly uncomfortable and maybe they would try their best to stop doing what is making you uncomfortable for your sake and theirs !

When anxiety over takes me, tiny sounds like that make me upset too but i try to ground myself,by counting from 1 to 100 or just naming everything green or red i can see to distract myself. Sometimes i try to walk away and I've heard of people using fidget cubes. I've also tried using a rubberband around my wrist and every time i feel frustrated i play with the rubberband. Its good to remind yourself to be grounded and aware of where you are.Remember to always bring earphones so when the noises get too overwhelming you have something to block it out.

Sometime is useful if you pull somebody aside if they were bothering them after the fact. A large amount of their embarrassment would likely come from being called out in front of others. It’s also likely that if you stress how much the loud sounds bother you, they will stop if they really are concerned about you. If it isn’t really something you want to mention to one person in general, you could always just mention it as a ‘by the way’ thing before you go out with friends or anyone else if you know it’s likely you’ll be eating food. If you do that, it’s more unlikely you would have to experience those sounds in the first place.

My brother and I have the same problem with the eating sounds. We use the radio or tv when eating so the sounds aren't as loud and you're distracted by the tv or radio so it's harder to notice other sounds. Plus, music also is a nice touch when eating. It makes the situation for almost everyone nicer. If this isn't an option you can politely ask the person who's creating these sounds to try and be a little less noisy. This might trigger them so i wouldn't recommend it unless there's no other option. I hope this answers your question. With kind regards, Mark H.

You are not alone in this. There are other people who also feel disturbed by sounds like what you are describing. One possible thing you can try is to simply get something to put in your ears if you know for example that you are going to eat with other people. If this problem occurs everywhere you can go to an audiologist who can give you things you can wear in your ears permanently. Or for a cheaper option you can go to a pharmacy and find simple earplugs to wear in the situations where you need them. Or you could simply try something like cotton wool. In our house it's a problem too and one of the things we do to help with it is to play music during meals. You can try that as well.

If possible, try to excuse yourself for a moment. The volume of a sneeze is something most people are unable to control. Besides, sneezing is a natural way of expelling unnecessary air and dirt particles from the body. There’s nothing wrong with it. Loud eating is more a reasonable pet peeve. But again, some people chew louder than others. They may not be trying to, that’s just how it is. Try to focus on your own eating. Don’t worry about how anyone else eats. Just try to tune them out the best you can. It’s better to save them from embarrassment.

I understand how you feel. I would suggest going outside for walk or count to 10 slowly. You can also ask for them to be quieter politely and politely. Such as "excuse me, but can you please [thing that is making you frustrated] quieter?" if they don't listen, you can always move seats or areas. There are many things online that can help calm you down in situations where you feeling uncomfortable due to people surrounding you. I have a similar experience when i get really agitated when people make repetitive noises, i have learned to calm myself down by using a technique called "3-3-3", although it is a technique to calm anxiety, i find it easily as effective when calming myself down in any situation. I would suggest googling further into ways to calm yourself down, or talk to someone who has more professional advice about this topic.

This very same thing has happened to me in my life. One thing that I've found to help is if I concentrate on what I'm doing instead of the other person. I'll give a few examples. If I am in a lecture hall and someone is coughing or sneezing, I will try to focus my attention on the lecturer and do my best to tune out the other unwanted noises. If I am at the dinner table and somebody is chewing loudly I will start a conversation about something unrelated. Perhaps some techniques (I call it thinking on your feet) like those would help. Also, I think that mindfulness can help you adapt to situations like these. Mindfulness can help with decision-making from a calm, balanced place in these types of situations.