How a Hearing Loss Can Affect Your Life – Part 3

It is often difficult for friends and family to get a hearing loss patient to go for a complete diagnosis and exam. Hearing loss patients so often live in denial that they have a problem. They are almost as difficult to draw out of their denial as a person with an addiction. One could say the patient is addicted to hearing clearly and is in denial of the fact they can no longer do so easily. Anger, withdrawal and confrontation are often symptoms exhibited by early stage hearing loss patients. They are often angry with loved ones who suggest they have a problem, they will withdraw from those who are making them angry and they will usually confront those who suggest they have a problem with excuses and blame.

Hearing loss patients often blame others for their problem, accusing others of not speaking clearly or whispering on purpose so they are unable to hear clearly. Conversations can become extremely difficult and patients will often find others avoiding speaking to them entirely. It can become so difficult to interact with someone with hearing loss that the patient can lose much of their day to day contact with family and friends. This can be so disheartening to the hearing loss patient that they may sink into a depression that is much like those who experience the grief of losing a family member.

Hearing loss can affect patients and their family much like a death in the family. Denial, which is one of the stages of grief, is often the first symptom of hearing loss. Family will tell the patient they may have a problem when they find themselves repeating simple conversation over and over again. Family members will not understand fully what the exact problem is; they will only know for sure there is much anger and frustration within the family’s day to day interaction. Simple conversations over dinner will become difficult; as hearing loss progresses these same conversations may become impossible. Dinner at an intimate restaurant will no longer be an option for a long-married couple, as one of the spouses may not even be able to hear the dinner specials recited by the waiter.

Hearing loss affects patients in a vast number of ways. From simple dinner conversation to large social functions, such as weddings, can become a trial of concentration and frustration. Hearing loss patients often have to intently concentrate on what others are saying in order to understand and follow a simple conversation. The more ambient noise in the room, the harder it will become to understand what others are saying. A simple hearing exam and diagnosis can greatly ease the patient’s difficulty. Hearing aids, the most often prescribed treatment for mild to moderate hearing loss, are a greatly effective tool. Modern digital hearing aids fine tune the sound entering the ear canal and make simple conversation much less difficult and should be one of the first things considered when a diagnosis of hearing loss is made.

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