Normalise Your Tinnitus

Tinnitus blights our lives.
There is no question about that.
Internal head noise is so hateful.
Sometimes I don’t even know how to survive the very moment I am living in, in order to reach the next hateful moment.

In the total absence of any effective treatment, let alone a cure, we have to look to psychological adjustments to get us by.

Unfortunately I haven’t found any ‘earth shattering’ discoveries - but I do utilise just a couple of aids.

A first thing in the morning meditation session, when I suspend all conscious breathing, having asked my diaphragm to breath for me, which it does beautifully, at its own rate.
I hear my sounds, but notice no emotional reaction to them, for the following half hour.
That’s as close to bliss as I can ever reach.

My other ‘Ace in the Hole’ is the age-old practice of autosuggestion.

As a desperately withdrawn child I had used autosuggestion to great effect, years before.
(But that’s a whole other story.)

I have now decided to see my Tinnitus as ‘normal.’
To the normal healthy person, internal head noise would be abnormal of course.
But to us poor souls with Tinnitus, it has unfortunately become the norm.

Each morning as I open my eyes, Tinnitus noise hits me with that daily realisation which is so horrible.

I just say to myself:
“Easy Dave - Hiss Normal.”

By expecting Tinnitus, I effectively rob it of its shock value.
When the noise begins to bother me again, later in the day, I simply repeat my mantra,

“Easy Dave - Hiss Normal.”

I repeat this several times a day.
I feel I am coming to see my sounds as normal, and therefore, more acceptable.

Psychobabble? - who knows?

All I can tell you is that it helps me folks.

Dave x
Jazzer

 

This is really helpful to think of it this way! Thank you for the advice. I think these sort of thoughts will help train the brain to get used to it.

 

Went on holiday to Europe for 9 days. Out of those days I had 8 of complete silence. I thought about that and concluded that I hadn't even thought about the tinnitus. But after returning home and 2 days later the tinnitus fired up to a spike that was unbearable, then it went quiet for 2 days and again it went off. Most days I can ignore the ringing and hissing. When I wake most mornings its mild but by not letting it over rule I can go on about my day. Not that there's a lot to do being retired other than the mrs. wanting to go shopping somewhere.

 

I'm glad you've found something that works for you. It's just shy of two years since I first came here and I haven't been able to get myself to see it as normal, because frankly... it isn't.

 

I know it isn’t.
But I remind myself that it is because it has become the norm.

Much as we desperately need treatments and cures, there are none.

The field of ‘tinnitus treatments’ is littered with now defunct gizmos and gadgets.
My point is really that experimenting with psychological concepts may help us to get through the day with less distress.

Just an idea.