Hearing Loss and Tinnitus of a Friend

Hey Guys,

so this is not my story but of a friend. He had sudden hearing loss when he was 15, and thats also how he got Tinnitus. he is 22 now. From his description he has moderate to severe T . He is in a derealization support group with me as well. I posted there smth. About how Derealization is not bothering me as much as Tinnitus and how bad T is. And then we discussed how bad T is and how DR is bad. What he wrote about T I collected and translated here.

His replies said the following (Its a german group so this is my translation):

"I got T when I was 15, 7 years ago. It was sudden hearing loss and it started with a numb feeling, pressure and hearing loss. The hearing loss unfortunately stayed, espescially the high-frequency noises I can only hear a little to not at all.

My T is always there if I am listening to it. If I am listening to it, its loud. I have a constant fast rattling.

A couple of months it stressed me and made me very depressed. But now I dont think about it at all. It doesnt restrict me at all. If smth restricts me at all it would be more my hearing loss not the T.
The pressure in my ears left. For me the Derealization is way worse. It pulls the rug out from under me.

If I think about it I hear it all the time. At the beginning I gave my ears a rest, but now I just do everything I want to. Well, I do watch out for my ears when I am going to a concert for example.I take my plugs with me so my hearing doesnt get worse. But apart from that I am doing everything normally. I am just doing it as if I wouldnt have T.

My Tinnitus is now a backround noise for me. I do not think about it like" oh today we are going to party, thats not good for my ears"
But at the beginning I also didnt think that I could ever get used to it."​

We communicated via facebook and he says that the derealization is worse for him. Which is good because derealization is "only" a change in the perception(sucks too). It is an alteration in the perception of the external world so that it seems unreal. I have this too since 1 year. But if I can ever say "Derealization is worse for me than having T" I will, be so happy!!!