Definition of Tinnitus — The Word "Perception"!

I absolutely hate the word "perception" in the definition of Tinnitus!!!

"Tinnitus (TIN-ih-tus) is the perception of noise or ringing in the ears."

That definition can make others think we're all crazy, like we're imagining it. I have the feeling that when a friend or family member learns I have this the first thing they do is hit Google. They read the definition and think that I just imagine I hear things.

Then they read the huge percentage of the population that has it. Yeah, a huge percentage of the population does have some varying degree of it. But there is that minority of us that have a very loud debilitating volume of it.

 

The definition of the word seems accurate however :

per·cep·tion
/pərˈsepSH(ə)n/
noun
the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

 

That word doesn’t need to describe Tinnitus. This is real, not perception. Look like we are loco.

 

The word makes tinnitus seem like a psychiatric condition??

 

Perception is awareness. It is very real to T and non T people. It has nothing to do with "loco".

 

Not quite. It's not psychosis, since you have to have chemical imbalances in the brain for that (if it's not caused by alcohol or drugs etc). Tinnitus is caused due to irritation or damage to the ear nerves, or any structures of the middle ear, so imo that means it's not a psychiatric condition.

 

It seems like people are more upset by the word based on cultural/social interpretation vs the actual meaning of the word.

 

If you are given anti-psychotics that stop hallucinations (which are mostly auditory with psychosis), that won't stop your tinnitus. So yes culturally, but also if we are working on solutions for tinnitus, we need to not conflate it with psychosis imo.