Changing How We Think About Tinnitus

How a person thinks about tinnitus is seen as the most important thing. How we think about tinnitus can be influenced by things such as our stress level which can lead to overly negative thinking. It's certainly understandable to have negative feeling associated with the perception of your tinnitus. The ringing or buzzing in your ears can be very unpleasant and bring about a stress response that you deal with not only in your mind but your body as well.

It is important to understand that this stress response is not something that you've chosen, It is often a result of how your body reacts to a threatening sound or dangerous environment. In the case of your tinnitus, the moment that you hear your tinnitus, your body chooses to trigger a stress signal in response to the tinnitus sound. During these times, you may experience the following:

• Increased heart rate
• Increased breathing
• Nervousness
• Anxiety
• Irrational thought

Your body's response to danger is what is known as the fight or flight response. It was to warn us of an approaching danger and was used as a defence mechanism. This is the same mechanism at work when those negative feelings emerge with your tinnitus.

The first really important thing to know about tinnitus is just how many people have it. Fifteen percent of the general population has tinnitus. More than 70% of hearing impaired individuals have had tinnitus. The next thing to know is that there's a big variation in how people react to tinnitus. It may surprise you to learn that most people with tinnitus get along with it without any great distress. Other people suffering from tinnitus may experience feelings of anxiety or depression. They can become withdrawn or alternatively very restless. They frequently complain of poor sleep, difficulty in everyday functioning, or a reduced quality of life. 10-20% of tinnitus suffers seek medial attention.

The cause of tinnitus

From many years of clinical research, we know that tinnitus is due to rea change to the hearing pathway. However, we also understand that negative beliefs about tinnitus can in turn increase the importance the tinnitus has in the brain, making it more of a threat to your system. As a result, there is a great, more negative, impact on your day to day life. The more negative of an impact your tinnitus has in your life, the more likely you are to pay attention to it. As you can see, this makes for a vicious cycle. 

People see an inevitable link between having tinnitus and feeling bad, but the link is not inevitable. It is possible to have tinnitus and still be okay. Remember, most people with tinnitus are okay! After an initial stress reaction they simply stop reacting to the same old boring tinnitus sound and become largely unaware of their tinnitus for most of the time. This process is called habituation and occurs naturally so long as you regard the tinnitus as meaningless.

Do not despair if you have tinnitus. The outlook is very good. You too can get to a point where tinnitus does not play a prominent role in your life.