Wow!!! I need to share this with my friends and family.
Just this week at my assessment for a cochlear implant, I was given a half hour of cognitive testing at the end of a long morning with the audiologist. I was already quite worn out by the strain, and did not feel I did as well as I should have on a couple of the tasks I had to perform. I was bothered by that, but I do recognize that if I am watching a movie with a complicated plotline, I have been struggling to keep up as I am reading subtitles and trying to hear at the same time. Yes, when my brain has too many “windows open” like a computer, it is very stressful and can actually impair my processing of everything I am taking in. So I can understand the link to cognitive decline, for sure. I will be tested in a year’s time so it will be quite interesting to see how I do then.
And absolutely, profound hearing loss impacts domestic relationships, and social interaction. It is just so much work, it is easier to avoid contact. Being homebound during Covid has actually brought a certain relief on the one hand, but on the other hand, when I have to go out, it is beyond stressful with everyone masked and I am unable to read lips.
My mother, who can still hear a pin drop at age 92, used to make jokes about people who were hard of hearing. As my hearing declined, I took her to task for this. There is nothing funny about deafness. Unfortunately, it is a hidden disability.