Emotional distress associated with tinnitus or tinnitus

The words “tinnitus” or “tinnitus” may not sound familiar to you, the reality is that we have all had them at some point in our lives. Hasn’t it ever happened to you that you noticed a beeping or buzzing sound that other people around you didn’t notice? That ringing in your ear doesn’t mean they’re talking bad about you behind your back, it’s tinnitus!

Now, in general that sound, more or less annoying, is temporary and ends up disappearing, right? Imagine that it was there persistently, that you noticed it all the time… How do you think it would influence your daily life to always hear that beep or hum? Keep reading and discover the importance of working on psychological and emotional factors when tinnitus is perceived continuously.

Let’s start at the beginning, what exactly is tinnitus?

With this brief introduction we all have a general idea of ​​what tinnitus is, right? But, to understand it well, it is better to define it more exactly. First of all, Tinnitus or tinnitus is the perception of a sound without an external sound source that causes it.

Let’s take an example. If we are perceiving that beep or hum because the television is actually emitting it, then it would not be tinnitus.. On the other hand, it must be taken into account that, although there is no external source of the sound, this does not mean that we are dealing with an auditory hallucination.

Besides, We can perceive tinnitus only in one of the ears, in both, or it can be referred to the entire head. Finally, although we are talking about beeps or hums, it can also be perceived as other types of more complex noises (such as the sound of crickets or the murmur of the sea).

What types of tinnitus are there?

Apart from being differentiated by the type of sound we can perceive, In general, we classify tinnitus as objective or subjective. Now I will develop the explanation for both, but first it is important to clarify that calling them subjective does not mean that the person is “inventing” them.

Objective tinnitus is the perception of a sound that is generated in the body and that is conducted to the cochlea through bone conduction or of a sound that is conducted towards the middle ear cavity. Therefore, it is not due to any alteration of the auditory system, but is a physical sound that is perceived the same as normal sounds.

This means that it can be heard by doctors through auscultation and that its origin is arterial sounds, arteriovenous fistulas and venous murmurs. This type of tinnitus has a good prognosis, but it only accounts for 5% of tinnitus cases. On the contrary, subjective tinnitus is only perceived by the patient. That is, it is the perception of sounds in the absence of physical sounds.

As we have already indicated, It does not mean that the person invents it, but that It is a phantom sensation that is due to pathologies in the ear or the auditory nervous system. In this type the causes are otological, cardiovascular and vascular, metabolic, neurological, pharmacological, dental and psychological. Yes, psychological. Tinnitus can begin to be noticed after a period of intense emotional discomfort.

How can tinnitus influence the lives of those who suffer from it?

Now that we know a little more about tinnitus… How does it influence the lives of those who suffer from it? Like everything, it depends on each case. There are people for whom it does not cause discomfort and who manage to internalize it as another aspect of their life, without it interfering with their normal development. Thus, they manage not to perceive it, just as happens to those who live in big cities and do not “hear” the bustle of the street.

But there are also cases of people in whom this symptom generates emotions of negative valence, such as anxiety, sadness or anger. Here, people often enter a vicious circle in which their attention is constantly focused on the tinnitus, so they do not stop noticing it. They want to stop listening to it, but not being able to do so increases their concerns about it. They fear that it will increase in intensity or that they will not be able to handle it.

Generally, they get hooked on these thoughts, unable to stop thinking about it. Furthermore, this means that they leave aside leisure and pleasant activities. They thus enter a vicious circle from which they cannot escape, causing their discomfort to increase and with it the perception of tinnitus in turn. On the other hand, we must not forget the sleep problems that they can cause.

As many times when we have emotional problems, Not knowing how to manage it does not mean that we have to blame the person who is in this situation. On the contrary, what happens is that there is a lack of effective tools to regulate your emotions and manage tinnitus, so it is important to contact a suitable psychologist specialized in the treatment of tinnitus to help us acquire them.

Images courtesy of Chris Benson, Aaron Burden and Callie Morgan.

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