Feeling Anxious? Hearing Loss Might be The Culprit

Anxiety is a condition that commonly occurs from feeling insecure in your environment; a situation where you have limited control when occupying it.

It may encompass a range of emotions, such as feeling unsure, confused, upset or worried about your presence wherever you are at the time. Anxiety, sometimes, is a healthy emotion to feel. For instance, many people understand that an anxious feeling can sometimes be a sign of occupying an unsafe environment, in which case, these feelings can demonstrate the need to leave and find somewhere safer.

That said, chronic anxiety can serve as a more difficult problem to deal with, and requires the help of a medical professional to manage. Many people deal with anxiety find themselves able to enact coping strategies such as controlled breathing, exposure therapy, and resting in a support network.

However, it’s also true that there could be medical issues involved in the causation of anxiety. Some of them are spoken of less frequently than others – but it’s important that we discuss the full range of causes to find the root issue and the best treatment possible.

It may be that your anxiety is related to hearing loss. This can occur when you have difficulties keeping up with conversations in a crowded environment. Additionally, many feel anxious when they have to present at a meeting or in front of peers because they won’t be able to hear properly to answer questions, or may be talking too loudly for other’s preferences.

But how can hearing loss cause you to experience anxiety? In this post, we’ll discuss a few potential reasons, and what to do about it:

Social Issues

Perhaps the most obvious example is that when you experience hearing loss, it’s harder to function in a social environment. Of course, this isn’t the case if the proper accommodations are made (such as fitting you with the appropriate hearing aid), but if undiagnosed, you may feel as though you’re unable to gel with a group as much as you once did.

Missing out on questions, remarks or retorts, feeling insecure about asking someone to repeat themselves, or finding it unpleasant to hang out in situations such as nightclubs where all the noise in the environment can swallow conversations will make it difficult for you to feel at peace and comfortable in a social group. If you’ve noticed these symptoms, it might be worth it to have your hearing looked at.

Fear About Declining Hearing

Of course, if you’ve noticed that you find it more difficult to hear, generalized health anxiety can come along with that. This is because the scope of your hearing loss is unknown, and of course our minds like to move to the worst possible scenario when we notice something is amiss.

It’s important to recognize that visiting an audiologist is the best means by which you can resolve this issue and understand the exact parameters you’re working with. If additional treatment is required, it’s good to know that hearing devices or other solutions can help in resolving the issue and providing you with a worthwhile outcome. This is so much more settling than worrying about declining hearing without any medical insight to understand your own particular case.

Anxiety About Not Being Accepted

We may fear feeling like ‘the odd one out,’ or someone who has to have extra concessions made for them in order to socialize or experience normal, day-to-day living scenarios.

Thankfully, this is not the case. Even those who experience full deafness manage to live full and actualized lives, with increasing accessibility to be found in all corners of society. Some hearing loss, which is much more common, can be mitigated by the use of excellent hearing aids, continual support from an audiologist to delay or prevent a condition from worsening.

With these contingencies in place, you need not fear worrying about functioning in day-to-day life. For instance, hearing aids can help resolve balancing issues that may have once served as an additional symptom of imbalanced hearing.

What Do You Do Next?

If you believe you’re experiencing any form of hearing loss, it’s important to have this checked out by an audiologist. Audiologists are hearing professionals that are well-versed in the auditory system, making them the perfect person to see regarding your hearing health or if you have questions about devices or treatment options.

Learn more about Professional Hearing Aid Associates, and schedule a consultation by contacting (785) 940-4101.