Losing your hearing can change how you interact with the world around you, taking an emotional toll on your mental health. That lack of auditory stimulation can increase your risk for cognitive decline, anxiety and depression. However, seeking hearing loss treatment can reduce the impact of those conditions on your well-being.
Why is Depression Common Among Those with Hearing Loss?
Hearing speech and background sounds allows you to stay connected to your environment. The ability to interpret speech also supports socialization.
Living with hearing loss can alter the quality of your communication with loved ones. You may feel embarrassment or frustration when asking others to repeat themselves or speak up. You could also find yourself beginning to dread social interactions and start to withdraw completely. That isolation increases your risk of loneliness and depression.
Your brain also needs constant stimulation to stay active. Hearing loss deprives it of essential auditory cues, which can result in atrophy and cognitive decline. Processing sound also becomes more difficult, forcing your brain to work harder and leaving you feeling mentally exhausted.
The Effects of Untreated Hearing Loss
Grief: It’s common to grieve the loss of your ability to hear. It can feel like your hearing loss has restricted your autonomy and independence.
Anxiety: The uncertainty associated with untreated hearing loss can be anxiety-provoking. Facing the unknown isn’t an easy prospect, especially if you don’t have resources or information to help you understand your condition. You may worry about potential miscommunications caused by your hearing loss, leaving you feeling anxious about social events.
Depression: Though the stigma associated with hearing loss is changing, you might still feel embarrassed about having hearing loss. Fear of judgment or how others perceive your cognitive abilities can lead to a decreased sense of self-worth. Hearing loss can affect your balance, so you may find it difficult to participate in your hobbies or physical activities, which can impact your enjoyment of life.
Sleep problems: Tinnitus often accompanies hearing loss. The ringing or buzzing in your ears can make it difficult to sleep in a quiet environment. Your brain also continues to listen to sounds while you sleep. Because you have to work harder to interpret audio, you may find yourself sleepier when you wake up than when you went to bed.
Hearing Loss Treatment Options
Hearing aids: Wearing hearing aids makes it easier for your brain to understand sounds. These devices enhance audio volume and clarity, which can decrease your cognitive load. Wearing hearing devices can also support socialization so you can interact with your family and friends with ease. That can also reduce any anxiety you may about missing out on important conversations.
Assistive listening devices: You can pair an assistive listening device (ALD) with your hearing aids or use them separately to support hearing in different environments. ALDs include TV streamers, FM systems and CaptionCall phones. Those products enhance sound and some stream audio directly into your hearing aids, eliminating background noise. Personal and table mics are portable and can help you stay engaged in conversation in noisy settings.
Auditory training: You learn how to use and maintain your devices during auditory training. That can ease the transition process of adapting to hearing aids and learning effective communication techniques.
Psychological counseling: It’s important to address the emotional effects of hearing loss so you can process your emotions. Therapeutic intervention can help you find ways to cope and provide access to other types of support programs.
Personalized Hearing Loss Treatment at Hearing Associates
We’re committed to providing a well-rounded approach to hearing loss treatment. Our services include hearing testing, hearing aid services and tinnitus treatment. We also offer aural rehabilitation classes where you’ll learn how to live well with hearing aids and can meet people with shared experiences. Call Hearing Associates at 888-760-2032 or schedule your appointment online.