If you occasionally experience ringing or buzzing sounds without an external source, you may be suffering from tinnitus.
Tinnitus is a common neurological condition characterized by the perception of a sound or noise in the head or ear, without any identifiable origin. Some cases are chronic, while others can be debilitating and affect your overall quality of life.
The American Tinnitus Association reports that over 50 million people suffer from tinnitus in the United States. The same study reveals that approximately 20 million people have been diagnosed with a chronic form, while two million experience severe tinnitus.
Tinnitus is not a disease in itself: it is triggered by underlying conditions, including:
Noise and age-related hearing loss
Disorders of the circulatory system
Head and neck trauma
Earwax blockages
Stress and emotional trauma, etc.
These disturbing, phantom sounds do not exclusively take the form of buzzing. They can manifest as hissing, clicking, blowing, rumbling, purring, whistling, or even music. In their most severe form, which varies from day to day, these noises can resemble very loud train whistles or high-pitched screeching.
Tinnitus patients experience discomfort ranging from mild to severe. And this condition can heavily impact their emotions. It becomes traumatizing when tinnitus becomes chronic and severe.
When you go through extremely stressful and overwhelming experiences, emotional trauma can set in. Severe tinnitus can leave you struggling with painful and upsetting emotions, as well as persistent anxiety.
What are the common causes of tinnitus?
Healthcare professionals and medical experts have identified the most common causes of tinnitus.
Let's review some of them.
Hearing loss
Hearing loss or damage to the auditory system can be age-related or noise-induced.
As we age, especially from 60 onwards, hearing deteriorates and can cause tinnitus. Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is more common in older people.
Noise-induced hearing loss can occur after prolonged exposure to loud music through headphones. Losing your hearing is a very high price to pay for a good time.
Tinnitus can also occur after brief or single exposure to acoustic trauma: gunshots, explosions, or music played through speakers at a concert.
Head or neck trauma
Head and neck trauma resulting from accidents, assaults, or violent shocks can lead to circulatory disorders and damage to the auditory nerve. This type of injury causes more intense tinnitus than other causes.
Earwax blockages
Obstructions of the ear canal by dirt or foreign bodies, earwax, or hair can disrupt eardrum function and cause tinnitus. In this case, early detection and removal of these blockages will relieve tinnitus. That said, a long-standing blockage can cause permanent damage to the ear and chronic tinnitus.
Medications
Certain prescribed medications can cause tinnitus. As this is a temporary side effect for most of them, symptoms may disappear if the patient stops the treatment.
Other ototoxic drugs can cause permanent tinnitus. Ototoxic substances damage the sensory cells involved in hearing and balance. These include antibiotics, cancer treatments, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, quinine-based medications, antidepressants, etc.
It is essential to consult your healthcare professional, pharmacist, or doctor before taking any medication.
Emotional and psychological trauma
Certain life events can cause emotional trauma. These can be one-time events like an assault, an accident, an injury, surgery, a breakup, job loss, or the death of a loved one. Ongoing situations, such as domestic violence, abuse, or chronic and life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, kidney failure, and tinnitus, can also trigger emotional trauma.
How we react and respond to trauma varies from person to person. Some experience emotional and psychological symptoms, others physical symptoms, or a combination of both.
Emotional and psychological symptoms may include:
Depression, fear, and anxiety
Mood swings, anger, and irritability
Shock and flashbacks
Confusion and inability to concentrate
Sadness or despair
Withdrawal and difficulty connecting with loved ones, friends, and colleagues
Physical symptoms of emotional trauma may include:
Fatigue, insomnia, and nightmares
Inability to concentrate and perform daily tasks
Muscle tension, aches, pains, and discomfort
Annoying sounds in one or both ears (tinnitus)
Psychiatric disorders such as stress, depression, anxiety, and emotional trauma can worsen tinnitus, especially in patients with severe underlying conditions.
Patients with chronic tinnitus are preoccupied with the incessant sounds in their ear or head and are unable to relax, rest, or sleep well. Lack of sufficient rest can lead to symptoms of emotional trauma such as fatigue, insomnia, irritability, restlessness, and mental and physical exhaustion.
Other causes of tinnitus
Other health problems that can cause tinnitus include temporomandibular joint disorders, metabolic and autoimmune disorders, vestibular disorders, etc.
Does emotional trauma cause tinnitus?
Several studies have shown that tinnitus and emotional trauma are closely related. For example, when we experience overwhelming events such as hearing loss or the inability to process sounds correctly, this can trigger emotional trauma, stress, anxiety, and depression.
While emotional trauma cannot cause tinnitus, it can exacerbate its symptoms in patients with underlying conditions. Understanding this correlation is a crucial step in the treatment and management of tinnitus.
People living with tinnitus often experience its emotionally draining effects daily. Canadian actor, author, and singer William Shatner, recounting his story and struggle with tinnitus, said: "There were days when I didn't know if I was going to survive, the screeching in my head tormented me so much."
William Shatner developed tinnitus because he stood too close to a special effects explosion during filming on the set of Star Trek. Although he suffered from noise-induced tinnitus, the emotional impact was considerable and challenging, until he sought help.
The distressing sounds experienced by patients cause major distractions that affect their emotional processing systems and overall quality of life. In extreme cases, when you can no longer control your thoughts and don't know when the discomfort will end, suicidal thoughts may arise.
Studies on tinnitus and emotional trauma
Several studies have established the relationship between tinnitus and emotional trauma. A study from the University of Illinois showed that tinnitus patients process emotions in the brain differently from people with normal hearing. The research team leader, Professor Fatima Husain, noted that tinnitus is associated with anxiety, increased stress, depression, and irritability.
Other work has shown that stress and emotional trauma can worsen tinnitus or increase its severity. A survey conducted by Gomaa and colleagues at Minia University in Egypt found a direct correlation between the duration of tinnitus and the intensity of stress. Patients with high stress levels suffered from severe tinnitus or had suffered from it for a long time.
A study by Herbert, Szczepek, and Mazurek documented emotional stress in people living with tinnitus. It revealed that 52.8% of patients saw their tinnitus intensify during periods of extreme stress. Additionally, 53.6% of people reported that their tinnitus reappeared during stressful periods in their lives.
The main lesson from these studies is that understanding the relationship between tinnitus and emotional trauma or stress-related disorders can have major implications for therapies and patient management.
Managing emotional trauma caused by tinnitus
There is no clinically proven treatment for severe or chronic tinnitus. That said, early diagnosis and management can help control the condition and reduce its impact and burden. If you suffer from tinnitus, there are several ways to manage emotional trauma.
Avoid living in isolation
People suffering from emotional trauma tend to isolate themselves and cut themselves off from friends, family, and colleagues. But living in solitude eventually worsens tinnitus. Staying connected with others allows you to get help faster and heal more quickly. Here are some ways to get help:
Talk to a counselor or healthcare professional.
Participate in social activities: cooking classes, dinner parties, movie nights, beach parties, volunteer work.
Meet new people by joining a club related to your interests, or by reaching out to your neighbors or colleagues.
Reconnect and maintain ties with old friends, for example, through alumni associations.
Join a support group for people living with tinnitus or going through emotional trauma. Interacting with other patients will reduce your feeling of isolation, and hearing others' experiences will encourage you throughout your recovery.
Adopt a healthy lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle will increase your body's ability to cope with the trauma and stress associated with tinnitus. Here are some health tips that can help you:
Get enough sleep
The annoying and intrusive noises of tinnitus cause mental exhaustion and can disrupt your sleep cycles. Insufficient sleep can worsen the symptoms of your emotional trauma and prevent you from maintaining your emotional and mental balance. Try to get seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
Avoid alcohol and drugs
Alcohol and hard drugs can worsen the symptoms of your emotional trauma. They also heighten feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression.
Eat a balanced diet
A balanced diet helps improve your physical and mental health. Good nutrition will increase your energy levels, reduce mood swings, and help you manage emotional trauma.
Relax and reduce stress
Deep meditation and relaxation can reduce emotional trauma, depression, and feelings of anxiety related to tinnitus. There are many ways to relax.
You can try relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, or deep breathing exercises. You can also set aside time for favorite activities and hobbies that make you happy.
Treatments
The primary goal of tinnitus treatment is to reduce its impact. Although severity varies from patient to patient, here are some recommended treatment options:
Wearing hearing aids
Exposure to loud noises can damage the eardrum, cause hearing loss, and tinnitus. If you are a musician and regularly exposed to high-pitched sounds, you should use hearing protection to protect your auditory nerves from potential damage.
Sound therapies
Sound treatments involve using external noise to mask the patient's tinnitus. These therapies can also distract the patient from the sound or reclassify this noise as a sound to ignore.
Conclusion
Emotional or psychological trauma cannot cause tinnitus. However, if you are already living with tinnitus, emotional trauma and other psychiatric disorders can worsen your condition.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Early detection, preventive measures, and treatments can help you manage the emotional distress associated with tinnitus.
If you notice the first symptoms, consult a doctor or audiologist for help.
