Habituation May Not Be What You Think It Is...

Now after about 6 years with severe, high frequency tinnitus, and having spoken to quite a few people (people known to me and trusted that also have tinnitus), including many doctors, I have come to several general sad conclusions:

1. Tinnitus is usually forever.
2. Habituation just means you don't feel you would rather die any more. You hear it just as loud, you hate it just as much, but it just doesn't evoke the panic feeling any longer.
3. There is way too many people trying to make money on the internet promising to "make it better."

 

Yes. I believe full habituation occurs when one can resume "normal" life (or the "new normal" life which involves avoiding noise, sound enrichment, etc.) and become numb to the loud noise in the head/ears. I think a person can both dislike and become numb/surrender to the noise at the same time. People with severe tinnitus may only experience partial habituation, or may take a long time to experience full habituation.

 

I like how you expressed it -- Surrender. That pretty much sums it up.

 

The sooner, the better too. I'm still a newbie to this condition though so what do I know. Lol.

 

Yeah, that's basically it Matt. I'll add one more: You've worked through the grief of losing what you once had and have begun to move on again.

"Surrender" is a bit loaded. It could also be seen as reaching an uneasy accommodation that allows life to resume with some normalcy.

 

Most definitely! I thought habituation would mean the noise disappears into the background somewhere. However, after a year and a bit with tinnitus, I’ve realised habituation is just learning to live with a sound that is always there - but not panicking when you hear it, like you said.

 

I thought habituation is the brain filtering out the sound because it's "used to it"?

 

My mom habituated and she only hears her tinnitus if she searches for it or talks about it.

There are thousands of people who habituate this way.

 

I severely dislike the term habituation because it comes with a lot of empty promises. I also severely dislike this idea that tinnitus without emotional reaction equals tinnitus not being a problem. I'm not going for habituation, I'm going for silence. Habituation is just a step on the way there.

 

Yeah, it’s like that for one of my closest friends as well. She says she never notices it unless she’s actively looking (or rather hearing) for it.

 

I am not sure if the sound is filtered out or removed so much as it loses priority in your conscious thoughts and in doing so no longer solicits a negative response or anxiety.

I always hear my tinnitus, but I have realized there is a difference between hearing it and listening to it.

 

Yup. I often say that habituation isn't such a great state to be in. People tout it as if it was a success story, but for me the only difference is that I don't mention anything to the rest of the world anymore (and so they think I'm doing great). It still is a constant annoyance and massive drop in quality of life, but it doesn't catch me by surprise and trigger panic anymore.

I don't personally call that habituation. Her tinnitus stimulus has simply lowered its volume enough that the brain can't passively notice it among the rest of the signals it has to process and instead requires a conscious effort to amplify it. Similarly, there are many noises in our daily lives that are pretty low volumes and we don't really notice them unless we actively search for them.

That's the difference between (passive) hearing and (active) listening. She just can't hear her tinnitus, but she can listen to it.

 

I genuinely think it’s different for different people. Tinnitus itself is nigh on impossible to accurately quantify in terms of characteristics and what people experience, therefore accurately defining ‘habituation’ is equally as difficult. I personally know quite a few people with tinnitus who don’t hear it until they listen for it then forget it again, another couple who it bothers mostly at night and myself who’s brain was totally decimated by more noises than I can count.

Is it there if I think about it? Yes, the same 5 or 6 noises (it’s a bit of a party in here so separating the noises is hard so I’m never sure). But more often than not, as soon as I think about something else, it ceases to exist for me.

Do I hate it? Not anymore.

Does it bother me? Mostly to such a small degree that I could only have dreamed of a few months ago. I can be hearing it loud and clear (I can hear it anywhere and everywhere), but it’s just noise now, it doesn’t register as tinnitus. I don’t feel I’ve gained a lifelong burden and I’m usually unaware I’ve lost silence, so I guess it’s just normal now. I don’t feel broken anymore so I don’t feel the need for someone to fix me, and therein lies the peace I guess. But like I say, everyone is different xx

 

I haven't been on here very actively anymore in an effort to get back on track but one of the main reasons why I've been able to go back to living entirely normally with no change (except for noise protection of course.) is directly correlated with the fact that my tinnitus stimulus reduced in volume to the level where I have to actively listen to it to hear it rather than passively hearing it against the day like my first few weeks/months after onset.

The value of being at that level is priceless.

 

I know it's different for different people. I had it very mildly for many years. It was barely there, but I knew it was tinnitus. Then one day, wham - full volume 5 kHz constant (but influenced by certain head movements). I don't even consider what I had before tinnitus now by comparison. I think a lot has to do with you a person's overall state of mental/emotional stability and health as to how they react to it. I had about a period of 6 months of full on panic, but that subsided and I just live with it now. Audiobooks are my savior.

 

Mine keeps changing, and is sometimes much worse than at other times. If this makes sense, I've "habituated" to even the loud tinnitus, by itself, for the most part, but not to the added pressure and/or hormonal mood change that sometimes accompanies it.

 

Totally agree with you. I wonder if I hadn’t panicked so bad initially then would it even have become so much of an issue? I will say this though... I think there’s a lot of self deception and settling for less involved. I can convince myself I’m ok day to day, and I suppose I am, but sometimes it hits me that this has really affected me and the person I was doesn’t really exist anymore. This really has changed me, life feels exhausting now, everything feels a lot less colourful, I just feel kind of blurry and maybe a little lost, but maybe that’s what habituation is. Carrying on with something you can’t do anything about and getting to a point where you believe you’re happy. But deep down, I know life is not the same at all. I guess I’ve just trained myself to forget that I used to be happier. It’s such a difficult thing to explain and to truly grasp, even if you’re the one going through it. Sometimes I thought ‘this isn’t going to kill me’, and sometimes that brought relief, sometimes disappointment. Such a bizarre condition.

I’m glad you have your audiobooks, they’re great. Stories can go some way to taking you away from yourself and when you’re dealing with something relentless, that can really help can’t it xxx

 

Your comments about habituation are interesting and I think all of them are true, if one chooses to look at it from your point of view. I believe habituation does exist, for tinnitus is a very common condition that many people have and are able to live their lives doing everything that they want to so this is proof that habituation is obtainable.

However, it does have some limitations for we are all different and a lot will depend on the severity of the tinnitus and how it affects a person's mental and emotional well-being. My post: The Habituation Process, on my started threads goes into it in more detail.

Michael

 

How do I habituate to no sleep? My brain has refused to switch off for more than 2 years!

I'm disabled because of the inability to sleep!

 

If you mean Jastreboff and the coping industry you're right.

There should be another Nuremberg-like process prosecuting all these quacks.

 

Hey, I’m sorry. I feel for you. I understand there are a lot of people on this site who have an extreme variety of tinnitus and then there are others who come here worrying about something minor. Including me. Most of what everyone is saying about habituation is true but point no. 1 is not true.

If you’re a new to suffering and reading this. Know this:

Most people who experience tinnitus have it for a short period of time, after which it goes away or reduces.

Nearly everyone I know who had tinnitus, now say it’s gone, or not noticeable. I also have a friend who hears it in a loud restaurant and he doesn’t care at all. I have it come and go in 4 forms. Thankfully nothing extreme. I am a very happy person once I got over the anxiety.

I appreciate your situation but most people who come here for support don’t need to hear that “it’s forever.” It’s always necessary to have hope in whatever you do.

 

Yes, and all the supplements, hearing aids, and audiologists who claim to be able to "help."

They are just profiting off people's desperation with this affliction, providing minimal, if any benefit.

 

My hearing aid helps me. According to this very forum, I'm not the only one.

 

Same for my mother, step father, and multiple others I know including high-functioning college instructors and federal researchers. In many cases and with many afflictions, we have the power to determine whether we succumb to our conditions or learn how to make the most of this life we have and to adapt our lives to what life throws us. I'll also share that I have recently found it deeply comforting to consider that there was never any guarantee that my life would always be comfortable. I have been very lucky to have lived a life so full of rich sonic experiences that I now have a constant memory of those experiences ringing through my head all day (lol)

 

My hearing aids are also helpful, no question.

 

My tinnitus goes away for 5-12 days but it always comes back. It is difficult when it returns so I get by knowing I will have quiet soon.

 

My hearing aid helps me too - to hear. It’s a powerful, giant industry with many ‘influencers”, the claims to help tinnitus are dubious. Caveat emptor.

 

The hearing aids help me for two reasons.

One is that the hearing aids can play white noise. This allows my tinnitus to be partially masked at all times.

The other is that, for some reason, a little bit of amplification helps with my tinnitus as well. I'm not sure why this is the case, but I find my tinnitus is definitely more tolerable when I use "masking noise + amplification ON" than with "masking noise + amplification OFF." So the amplification does help some, even though my hearing is normal (according to an audiogram). Again, I'm not sure why this is the case, but empirically it is true for me.

 

"Habituation from tinnitus is possible."

Me reading this with hyperacusis: H'mm ok.

 

Habituation makes it so that the medical community doesn't have to give a damn.
It's like having any chronic medical condition but giving up on people helping you.
So either you kill yourself or you keep going.

And god help you when it gets worse because you just might.

I'm very envious of those whose tinnitus "goes away for a few days". That would give me so much crazy hope and living would be night and day. That would be closer to success than "getting used to it".

Habituation, in my opinion, is not success, and I cringe when I read about those on here as a success story, it's building a thick skin and coping mechanisms beyond what normal people have.

But you shouldn't have to, and you did nothing wrong to deserve this constant torture, even if it becomes all you remember hearing.