Skip to content
HearingTracker
Log in

Profound hearing loss and anxiety when more than a few conversations going on at the same time

96 replies4.3k viewsLast reply

Jump
Link to this topic
Reply
@godavid_d said:

I just had a insight to my hearing loss and anxiety around a lot of people.

Is this something new? Are you saying you just started having problems understanding speech in crowds? Or something else?

For many when the hearing loss gets bad enough speech understanding goes down for no apparent reason. This can be an eye opener about your life.

If understanding speech better is critical maybe a would help. This is the route many take to help with life’s journey concerning communication. It has been a blessing for me.

Thanks for all your feedback! No the anxiety is not new just the insight is new. I’m not around a lot of people that often and I’m slow to learn. And yes has been recommended but not good results for older client like myself. I’m seventy-eight and in general I believe anxiety increases as we age. That is just my opinion. It seems that if we do anything out of the ordinary like a trip to Europe at least for me my anxiety rises above normal anxiety. Originally this post was about my anxiety being around a lot of people and shutting down emotionally and leaving the event. The people at the event were important to me and have been a part of my life a number of years. I have a hard time acknowledging my anxiety so when I was unable to be a part of the event that is what prompted to post on the forum. So maybe my anxiety about the European trip collided with my anxiety about being around a lot of people and noise. Thanks again for your feedback You may have something there MDB thanks

@MDB said:

I do think some people are more “wired” for anxiety than others and my “gut” says our constantly connected society makes it worse for these people.

@godavid_d My audiologist told me he wasn’t worried about my age, when it comes to , he said he isn’t convinced that I would see a big enough improvement to justify the whole process. I have enough technical background and skills to help myself through the process of hearing aids. He gave me high praise for pushing him and myself to find adjustments and fitting techniques that help me to understand conversations. And he knows that at my age i haven’t been hospitalized or had any procedures greater than a GI colonscope. But at this time i more than likely am facing eye procedures for my macular degeneration very soon.
My feelings is this if my audiologist and I feel like a CI is needed i will go for it.

In reply to @godavid_d

It sounds like the trip caused some anxiety for you and may have triggered you then questionning your own ability to cope in certain situations. Talking about it can help, perhaps sit to one side & explain how you feel one to one, with someone you feel comfortable with. If you don’t discuss it, people don’t know so can’t adapt to help you. Sometimes things change and we need to adapt our own approach to keep it working. This can mean considering new approaches or support. There are so many people who reach out to support groups or for advice, that’s why so many of them exist. I am sure many people will be happy to help you.

First, i do better in crowds of people if i have the most directional setting possible. In a crowd of people talking, the hearing aids may not know which speech you want to hear, so if speech in front of you is prioritized, it is somewhat easier. Also, the Roger ON, or pen, work really well when set up correctly.

OK, about anxiety. There are some wonderful treatments that, for some, amount to a cure. I avoided a medicinal treatment for years and wish i had started earlier. Talk to your primary care physician about it. They can help. (I will never be without mine, unless something better comes along)

Edited

In reply to @tinkyp

@cvkemp said:

I don’t understand why hearing loss would cause anxiety.

For me, it’s not the hearing loss in itself; it’s knowing or fearing that I won’t understand what other people are saying, so I won’t be part of the group.

Selenium can help reduce anxiety. Three average sized Brazil nuts contain enough selenium to help me. They’re delicious, so even if it’s the placebo effect, I win. :slight_smile:

In reply to @philbob57

Sounds like you have a system working for you there! To avoid misinterpretation, I didn’t say the quote above. If someone states they feel anxiety from hearing loss that’s their experience & not in question. Everyone’s experience is unique to them, many people with hearing loss can struggle with anxiety/depression due to the difficulties of communicating. It’s so important to ask for help in times of challenge, as there’s usually a way to improve the situation-just not one we are familiar with so guidance is needed to get there.

Anxiety. I use a tincture. Passion Flower. Small bottle with an eye dropper. I fill the eye dropper and swallow a squirt. YMMV. Make sure …check it doesn’t mess up any medication you’re on

Since 2017, my first bout of Sepsis, (the second bout was 2021) I have thought long and hard on many occasions as to how I developed Anxiety…. In the first instance, they don’t tell you, you have Sepsis, well not until you are leaving the hospital with your discharge papers, my core temperature was around 39.5 C, you have billions of bacteria in your bloodstream, you are hallucinating, that bacteria is attacking all you vital organs, your immune system has packed up, because it’s been overwhelmed, and it’s went into acute shock, your brain is being starving of oxygen, you don’t feel ill, you get a kind of euphoric feeling, it’s strange, you know you are extremely ill, but you don’t feel sick… The double whammy was Post Sepsis Syndrome, around 50% of Sepsis sufferers go on to develop PSS, especially if you have been in the ICU/HDU… Sepsis was previously known as Septicemia, or blood poisoning, around 30% of folks with Sepsis die, mainly because it’s misdiagnosed with other illnesses, the symptoms are very close to Covid or Flu, I tell you all this, because of overuse of antibiotics, it’s becoming much more common, if misdiagnosed you can lose arms, legs, hands or fingers, and not to mention your life! I even heard of one lady losing her nose… On the second bout, I knew I had Sepsis, they stuck me in the Covid ward Isolation unit, when asked by 3 Lady Consultants, what my symptoms felt like, my impulsive reply was, “ it feels like Sepsis”… The 3 consultants raised their eyebrows simultaneously, so I knew my assumption was correct… IMO, Anxiety is nothing to do with being anxious, it is an incurable illness, brought on by some form PTSD, or when your body goes into acute shock, no amount of consultations with a psychiatrist can eliminate it completely, it’s always going to be there… And yes, medication can take the sting out of it, but it will not cure it! Please do not confuse being Anxious, with Anxiety, there is a world of difference… Anxiety is a condition, and relatively zero to do with your mental health, believe me when I say, if you have Anxiety, you will know all about that extreme feeling, it can be all consuming, and it will manifest its condition physically on your body, perhaps it’s a safety mechanism our bodies adopt, who knows? I can say without fear or favor, the worst affliction, I have ever encountered, by probably some distance! Cheers Kev :wink:

What I’m posting below may be from a slightly different perspective - the impact of hearing loss on our emotional and psychological health. I.e. that it may help with your anxiety.

This is feedback about an MD psychologist friend who was doing research about hearing loss and it’s affect on people. He is the ONLY person that I heard this from, but it made a major impact on me and my cookie-bite hearing loss. If this rings true to you, it may help. It is the second and third paragraphs that are the most important

Best,

Dan

He said that cookie-bite loss was one of the worst kinds for two reasons. One is that most people don’t understand it well. They can typically hear high and low frequencies, but not the middle ones. So for people like me hearing men’s voices is a major issue. It’s a bit better hearing higher pitched voices, but even the it’s miserable.

But the social and psychological impact is really bad. In a conversation with multiple people, it’s stressful, tiring, and difficult to stay in the conversation. If someone says I bought a new stereo. You may get the first few words, but not quite understand “bought”. So it may a fraction of a second for you to figure out that he said “bought” and not “brought”.

Now you are behind and straining to catch up. Next he says, “I didn’t like the car.” But you are behind and only heard “…like the car”. So you don’t say anything or may make some dumb comment about him LIKING the car. Now you look stupid or are not listening. And at work this can be really bad.

I can definitely relate to what he is saying.

godavid, our are almost identical, LOL! So I know I’m walking in your shoes, even tho I don’t have anxiety issues.

Before my first pair hearing aids (decades ago) I had PARANOIA - not anxiety. I figured people around me muttered cuz they wanted to taunt me or something. My lifestyle didn’t put me in a place with large groups of socializing people, but in work situations I’d have difficulty hearing people talk to me across the room. That’s when my audiogram was WAY better!

Yes, wearing even excellent hearing aids in large groups now can be EXHAUSTING! Especially as younger folks talk rapid-fire (to my ol’ brain!). I’d typically try to just get a conversation going with ONE person on the sidelines, and that helped.

I’d say my first enlightenment with hearing aids was definitely with my newest pair: Phonak Lumity Life. The marketing message said they’d improve speech comprehension by about 10%. While that was initially true, I found that the more I wore them and leaned in to what was being said around me, the better they got. Slowly, over many months, I gained confidence getting repeated feedback that “By Golly, YES! I actually DID hear that correctly!” That built confidence and I do fine in places that aren’t noisy.

I’m still searching for the Holy Grail: aids that deliver exceptional speech comprehension amidst a babble of conversations and/or ambient noise. I haven’t found the solution yet! I’ve got dedicated programs to Speech in Loud Noise, accessory mics, combinations of gear, and truly there is no “winner” yet. So I keep searching.

I’ve lost the PARANOIA component of my hearing issues long ago, but totally empathize with your having anxiety (and prob’ly a good dollop of frustration and feeling inadequate) due to your hearing. Try to accept the reality that you’re different, come here for group “therapy” among the many of us with identical issues! And find other things that give you peace and contentment. We’re not all built to enjoy noisy, high energy, high stress situations.

If you need medication for your peace of mind, seek that out without remorse or avoidance. If professional therapy can help, go that route too! Thing is, no matter what Life deals us, we’ve still won a lottery of sorts. It’s how we work through the challenges that help define us and give us confidence. GOOD LUCK in your quest!

You are in excellent company. I have felt this myself and observed it in my father. We are not anxious people, but we have “zoned out”, out of frustration, in noisy environments. Here is what helped me: many times, upon leaving a loud environment with friends, my hearing friends have said in frustration “I couldn’t hear SQUAT in there!” My dear, it isn’t just us hearing aid wearers! Everybody feels such frustration. That alone made me feel much more confident. Do I still “zone out”? Sure. But with less anxiety. All the best.

In reply to @kevels55

My friend Rafe Saber died of blood poisoning in France. He had a huge Jaguar forum. 530,000 hits the last month. We talked a couple of days before he left for France on a working vacation; he stayed at a French Chateau with a friend. I wonder if he had Sepsis?

He was an incredible photographer; we shot together a number of times. A talented, principled and secretive person…now buried on the Chateau grounds. Several days into the stay-over was last contact. An email from him with some photos attached that were exquisite as usual.

Yeah Dave, your friend most likely died of Sepsis? One of my pals got Sepsis around the same time as me, the doctor misdiagnosed it on the first occasion as Flu, the second time also, on the third visit the doctor still insisted it was Flu, but big Dunk requested a second opinion from another doctor, and he immediately sent him via ambulance to the hospital ICU, he was so gravely ill, the hospital doctor said if he had waited another day, he would have probably been dead! Big Dunk, is now a shadow of his former self, he can barely walk, that misdiagnoses had a terrible long lasting effect on his overall general health… Sepsis is a killer, around 150k people in UK will contract Sepsis each year, approximately 48k will not survive… Cheers Kev.

In reply to @cvkemp

I admire your philosophy up to a point, that point being, every human needs human contact/interaction. Anxiety results when that interaction becomes difficult or missing, for various social reasons including hearing loss. Suddenly it becomes an awareness of “I can’t contribute/participate/understand/etc.” - i.e. “I don’t belong”.

Anxiety, an early symptom of that lack of connection, may evolve into ‘dropping out’ by avoiding social situations or depending on only a limited circle of contacts you feel safe/comfortable with. In my case, my wife and dogs became my only safe contacts, while having increasingly frequent bouts of anxiety, depression, & physical ills, but taking no meds.

It also doesn’t help when others treat you like an outcast. E.G., my dog’s veterinarian once told me to have my wife bring the dog next time because I couldn’t understand her in the echo chamber she calls an exam room.

Group therapy, akin to these posts, is helpful in knowing we hearing disabled, are not alone. And I’ve been recently helped by buying a pair of JEP20s, which improved my hearing significantly more than the previous 5-yr old Phonaks. Beyond that, walking my dogs daily for an hour or more is a major stress reducer.

There are things out of our control that have a very definite impact on our lives, sometimes good, often bad - that we cannot ignore: the death of a loved one, sudden financial threat, destruction of our home, divorce, a major illness, etc. We have to learn to live with or reduce their impact on our lives. The big question is “how?”. Sometimes, the answers aren’t easy.

@Toyman1

I spent a couple of days in hospital for a day surgery procedure. That became an overnight stay.
I arrived. They had me prepare and lye down in the ward for a while.
I had my Phonak Audeo Paradise P90R’s on. This was a year ago. Here everyone had to wear surgical masks. I did. All staff did.

I could hear everything people behind me said with no difficulty. (remember in the ward I was on my back being made ready for the procedure.)

Cardiologist came and stood at the base of my bed in the ward; I’m lying down.
I couldn’t understand a word he said. He was about 7 feet away.

At that time the hearing aids were about 8 months old. The dispensing audiologist and I had met at least 10 times. I couldn’t hear. And I was concerned about battery life with the rechargeable batteries.

In reply to @kevels55

My mom died of sepsis in February. She wanted to go, but I don’t think from that. I think she hid her symptoms until the low blood pressure caused her to throw clots which led to strokes. She was less than a month shy of 90. She had sepsis in the fall also, and I think the antibiotics damaged her kidneys. Don’t mess around with sepsis if there is any doubt. It also took my maternal grandmother. A nursing home denied my aunt’s suggestion that she had a UTI until it went systemic. She went deliriously. The stuff nightmares are made from.

WH

In reply to @kevels55

Scotty,
Interesting story I can relate to, but I have to ask, has the source of the Sepsis ever been determined - that is, what caused it?

I’ve been admitted to hospital 32 times, typically for 5-6 days each time, over the past 7 years with a diagnosis of Sepsis. Four diagnoses, starting with Leaky Gut Syndrome and the latest being Cholangitis, have been used, but a cause of the Sepsis has never been determined.

Treatment is typically hanging IV antibiotics (Zosyn) to get it under control, then sending me home with an oral antibiotic.

For the past 6 years, I’ve been on a prophylactic regimen of taking one antibiotic every day (3 different ones on a rotating schedule.) Meds must be gram-negative effective to help.

A couple of years ago, after taking large doses of Tylenol to combat the uncontrollable, shaking chills and high fever (typically 104.0F/40.0C), and refusing to go to hospital, my wife was unable to awaken me for over three hrs (coma?). I eventually woke up to find our three kids standing in front of me - she’d called them, saying I was about ‘gone’. We then went to hospital.

Kidneys & liver were starting to shut down (later confirmed by blood tests) & vomiting had begun (Septic Shock). ER doc said I almost waited too long to come in.

I’ve never experienced PSS (Post Sepsis Syndrome) but have wondered if the recurrent Sepsis or the antibiotics have contributed to my hearing loss (which started long before the Sepsis did).

Related discussions