April is Stress Awareness Month. That means there’s no better time to start managing your stress levels, which can be elevated if you experience hearing loss. Below we review how hearing loss and elevated stress are connected and how you can better manage your stress.
The Connection Between Hearing Loss & Stress
There are several ways experiencing hearing loss can contribute to stress:
- Listening fatigue. Listening fatigue describes the feeling of exhaustion one feels after exerting themselves during a conversation. If you can’t hear well, it can make it difficult to follow along, not miss information and respond appropriately. If you’re already stressed, fatigue can set in faster.
- Tinnitus. Tinnitus is the phantom ringing sound in your ear with no external sound source. For many, stress is a trigger for tinnitus, and in turn, tinnitus can make you more stressed. Tinnitus symptoms can also be distracting enough to make it difficult to communicate.
- Accessibility. People with hearing loss may run into barriers to accessing necessary aids, like hearing devices and ASL interpreters. This can certainly cause stress.
- Sensory overload. If you’re new to hearing aids, you may be overwhelmed by all the sounds around you. While sensory overload can cause stress, keep in mind that if you stick to wearing your hearing aids, you’ll eventually get used to them.
Tips for Managing Stress
Below are some tips for managing hearing loss-related stress:
- Take listening breaks. Whether you visit a quiet room or simply take out your hearing aids, a listening break is good for your ears and your brain.
- Be prepared. To minimize the risk of being stranded without the ability to hear, pack extra hearing aid batteries wherever you go.
- Ask for accommodations. Requesting accommodations from your school or workplace HR or disability office can ease the stress of communicating without necessary aids.
- Practice self-care. This looks different for everybody. One person’s self-care might look like going to yoga at M3Yoga while for someone else it might look like journaling or drawing.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call ENT of Athens today.