Controversial Topic: Can I Fully Mask Tinnitus During the Day?

One thing with habituation from my experience as someone who is a significant way there is that it is not a switch, the path is windy, and there is only a little you can do to hurry up the process, though I imagine there are things you can do to slow it down. It is going to take time, maybe a good bit of time to get there. Be patient, be kind to yourself, be brave, do what you need to do to get through this highly traumatic part of the journey (limited judicious use of benzos can be life savers), and reach out to us folks that have traveled the same path.

 

Thanks, I have an appointment with a specialist in December.

 

We are not just inexperienced "people who immediately point to habituation..." I have had extremely diverse, annoying, strange auditory symptoms that can be heard above heavy traffic noise and construction in the street. In the vast majority of cases, these very disturbing sounds diminish or disappear, and the brain learns to filter out the rest. The part of the mind that reacts with fear and anxiety to the remaining tinnitus, eventually gets bored with it and your focus is diverted. You cannot control the primitive section of the brain, which does not understand logic or attempts to quell emotional responses when it mistakenly perceives tinnitus to be a danger signal. The more you try to control tinnitus, the more the brain thinks there's a life-threatening situation which ramps up your anxiety, and hampers habituation. Setbacks are a normal part of the habituation process, the trick is to not make it worse.

 

Thanks, those are all good. The last one you posted was one that I listened to for the first 2 months since onset.

 

Was it always this way or has it gotten worse over time? How long did you take to habituate? Thanks.