Meaning of Habituation?

Does it mean you don't hear the tinnitus anymore, like you can tune it out?

Or does it mean that you can hear it but it doesn't bother you?

 

Hi @Hil,
You might still hear your tinnitus but won't bother you and can carry on your day and enjoy your life again....lots of love glynis

 

It means you're not paying attention to it. You 'tune' it out.

 

It means that you hear your tinnitus when somebody talks about tinnitus or you think about it else it's not there

 

It's there, it's as loud as ever, with as many different frequencies.
But I don't notice it for a long time, and when I notice it, I don't care no longer.
I never though I'd get there, because I can basically hear it everywhere. Under the shower, in the cinema, in a restaurant with many people talking, in the car, when walking past a loud main street.

Up until recently I would notice it all the time and barely be able to think about anything else.

 

Habituation can mean different things. FOr some people it means that they don't hear it unless they specifically tun their attention to it, because they're able to tear their thoughts away and mostly think about other things. For othersit means that they don't really think about it, but just doesn't bother them. But yeah, habituation means that T is still there, but you are either able to tune it out or you don't care.

 

I'm habituated.

For me it kind of means both things. It's there, but most of the time it's like it's not there because it doesn't bother me, therefore I don't notice it.

When I do notice it, I don't care at all.

 

Same here, but not habituated yet.

 

It is a sequential process. First, one does not react emotionally to the noise. Second, the lack of reaction facilitates not paying attention to it.

 

I can't see how one can habituate if your tinnitus is so loud nothing can mask it?

 

Hi @Richard zurowski ,
My tinnitus is really loud and hard to mask but masking works better set below your tinnitus as makes your brain push to hear your masking sound and push through your tinnitus barrier .
I can hear my tinnitus but now have no emotional distress to it although it is a right pain to have in your life.
Positivity keeps me going on everything I do and everyone in my life...... habituation can happen when you least expect it....lots of love glynis

 

@glynis . That's what I like about you Glynis. A positive outlook on life. This forum wouldn't be the same without you.

 

@Richard zurowski ,
Aww thank you for your kind words....lots of love glynis x

 

If you don't care about it, it's no problem if you can't mask it.
For example, after my T got bad, it was real hard for me to concentrate and be productive at work, 'cause the T just occupied me completely. Nowadays, I can concentrate like I did before. The T is surely there, but I just don't notice it, same as with the air conditioning or my colleagues talking.

The problem is that habituating really is a fight. It's not just a pill you swallow and everything's fine. You have to battle constantly to get your mind to understand that your the master and not your T.

For me, the key was positive thinking. Every time I get bothered by my T or my hearing loss or the constant fullness in my ear, I actively tell myself that it's no big deal and that it's not life-threatening and that it just is impacting my life and my mental state because I allow it to. In the beginning this doesn't work, and it is really hard to do, but with time it works.
Well, the hardest part is probably not even that, but starting to do this at all, because this whole stuff sounds somewhat stupid.

 

Not only have I habituated to my T it has become "me"...nothing masks my T except my mind and when I choose to concentrate on it it becomes my companion...I can not even imagine life without my T...

 

Habituation is a real thing--I wasn't hearing it for 80% of the time unless I thought about it, but it got louder lately. Now I hear it all the time but it really doesn't bother me as much...and I've noticed that I am forgetting about it again if I am really focused on something...so I know I'm on the right path. It's not like in the beginning when it was all I could think of and caused me so much distress and anxiety. I don't react emotionally anymore but it took me quite a bit of time and some CBT counseling. I'm in my third year now and even though it got louder, I'm still so much better. I live my life and am able to work. I have fun and it's better than I ever expected it to be.