Annoyed — Think I'm Gonna Crazy

just started after my birthday in April. think im gonna go crazy! How the hell does one live with this?

 

You live with it by keeping your reactions to it to a minimum ... battling T is like punching air ... you can not win, so best save your energy for the good stuff ... we all here hoping for a cure, it`s coming closer every second ... hang in there.

 

Sorry that you have to suffer T after your birthday. It is understandable to be a bit traumatized by T because it is a very alien sensation, and the body is still trying to figure T out.

Remember when T is new, it usually traumatizes its victims to the point that the normal parasympathetic nervous system is taken over by the limbic system which functions in 'fight or flight' mode, and things will appear a lot worse than they are. You will be easily scared and the brain will zoom in on any bad or threatening sensation and magnify its significance. You will be flooded with distorted thoughts at this stage, especially 'catastrophic thinking' about the future (like my future is doomed or there is no future), as well as 'all or nothing thinking' (like my life is not worth it with T ringing). Beware of these thoughts. They are called cognitive distortions, a term used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and they can create havoc in people mental suffering if not challenged. Our reaction to T can determine the degree of suffering or its intrusiveness. So we need to understand where these thoughts come from, defuse and counter them as much as possible. By doing so, we gradually remove the fear or phobia of T and then meaningful habituation will begin to happen over time. You can read Dr. Nagler's writing 'Letter to A Tinnitus Sufferer' and hopefully you will learn to counter/challenge your distorted thought:

http://www.ata.org/nagler-letter-to-tinnitus-sufferer

You can also read up as many success stories as you can. You will realize that most people went through the initial struggle like you, wondering how the heck to live with this T ringing 7/24. But many people do get better over time. Try to learn their insights or strategies to see if you can apply in your case. In the mean time for new T, it is best you have some masking going asap. Here is TT's resource thread for new T sufferers and it contains masking tracks too. Take care and God bless your recovery.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/