“If your ears ring, someone is talking badly about you.” We’ve all heard this statement before, right? We may even believe it’s true or consider it just another superstition… But have you ever wondered what that ringing is? Maybe yes, maybe not.
It is called tinnitus, the perception of a sound without an external sound source causing it. Who hasn’t heard that “ringing” that this popular phrase refers to? But it has disappeared, right? The problem comes when it stays there persistently… What can we do when we can’t stop hearing it and the doctors don’t give us any solution?
“To reassure those who suffer from it, I will tell them that you can live with it.”
-Santiago Segura-
When can we benefit from tinnitus treatment?
At first, the persistent perception of a sound without an external sound source causing it may or may not cause discomfort. Some people experience this and have internalized it as just another aspect of their life and manage to “forget” about the noise, ringing, or buzzing.
It seems like it is impossible to “forget” about tinnitus and not notice it, but it is not. Let’s take an example: when we live in a big city (or spend a lot of time in one), we do not notice the large amount of ambient noise in our daily lives. It is not that the sounds disappear, but rather that we accept them as something normal, and our attention is not focused on them, so we do not notice them unless we pay attention.
“When they tell you it’s going to be for life, you start to cry, but I also say that the brain gets used to it and ends up accepting the beeping.”
-Santiago Segura-
Then we realize that the traffic, people, construction work, etc. are still there and, if we want, we can hear them. This is what is intended when a person has persistent tinnitus. But this is not easy to achieve, and this is where psychological therapy for tinnitus treatment can make a difference.
Let’s start from the beginning. What do we call problematic tinnitus? Tinnitus significantly interferes with the life of the person who suffers from it, so that they perceive it constantly and with intense emotional discomfort associated with it. Thus, there are psychological aspects that can be worked on in the treatment of tinnitus to change this.
What is the first thing a psychologist does when treating tinnitus?
So, when a person comes to a consultation because they want to learn how to manage tinnitus, the first thing the psychologist will do is carry out psychoeducational work and inform them accurately. To do this, they will explain how psychological aspects influence and how to work on them appropriately, something that will be learned throughout the therapy sessions. Once this is done, you have to get adequate rest.
The constant perception of a sound can affect sleep; this is very important because if the person cannot sleep, it will be very difficult to work on everything else that will be proposed in therapy. Who has not experienced not performing after a night of little sleep? Below, we will work on various cognitive aspects that mark the difference between problematic tinnitus and one that does not.
“My message of encouragement is that those who have it should not worry, because sooner or later they will have to live with it and it will take a backseat in their life.”
-Santiago Segura-
These are attention, irrational beliefs (cognitive and metacognitive), and automatic thoughts. Starting with attention, you are trained to focus on other sounds and stop focusing on the tinnitus. This is not easy, but with perseverance, it can be achieved! In addition, tinnitus treatment must address the associated beliefs and thoughts.
These tend to focus on finding a reason to find a solution, or on anticipating which activities may lead to a variation in the perceived intensity of tinnitus. The reality is that going round and round about this is not going to help us to live better with this problem, so we have to change them through cognitive and metacognitive restructuring.
Not only that, tinnitus treatment goes further.
Another technique that is used and helps us with both attention management and sleep problems is relaxation. It is important to learn how to use it to reduce both the associated emotional discomfort and the perception of tinnitus itself. In addition, tinnitus sometimes causes us to put aside leisure and pleasurable activities, so we must become more active behaviorally and resume them. We may also avoid noisy environments, such as bars and restaurants, for fear of making our situation worse.
Because of this, once irrational beliefs and automatic thoughts have been restructured, it is necessary to work on gradual exposure and return to doing those things that help us socialize and recover our well-being. Finally, it is important to work on social support .
We must not forget that tinnitus is a very powerful tool for managing our discomfort, so it is important to learn to talk about our problems appropriately, as well as to seek support from people who truly empathize with us. Associations for people affected by tinnitus are a good resource for this… Let’s get our lives back!