Positive Things Resulting from Tinnitus?

One way that people can cope with something difficult or stressful is through what I think they call “compensation.”

It’s essentially a coping strategy where one tries to make up for what was lost or damaged.

Does anyone use this coping strategy for their tinnitus and have used it as a spring board to bring about positive change in your life that you believe would have not occurred otherwise if you had not developed tinnitus? Has anyone perhaps even ever felt that developing tinnitus overall blessed you more than cursed you due to how it changed your behavior which brought about a better quality of life than even before your tinnitus?

Thanks for reading. Because of my tinnitus, my previous fear and pride was set aside, and I confessed to my few close friends that I would be interested in trying to be more than friends if they felt the same way. It was a no from all of them except for the last friend I asked who told me he wasn’t ready right now but he could see it happening and we should continue to hang out and see where things go. This may or may not lead to the kind of relationship I sought, but confessing is the closest I got to “compensation” even though the outcome is not clear yet.

There’s no way I would have said anything at all to anyone if it wasn’t for tinnitus as I would have been content enough in my old life to let things come to me should they come to me rather than put concentrated effort into playing an active role and face social situations that could feel uncomfortable for either party.

I’ve always loved foreign languages, so I also started learning Chinese in a semi-formal kind of way to try to compensate rather than simply dabble as I have in the past.

Again, I don’t know where this will lead and if it will be worth it in comparison to how much my tinnitus takes away from my quality of life, but it’s still something so I’m mentioning it.

After reading this, I’d love to hear your thoughts, feelings, personal stories, or any ideas you might have. I’d especially like to hear any creative or personally meaningful or significant ways you turned one of the worst non-life-threatening yet debilitating chronic afflictions into something special that required you dealing or struggling with ‘tinnitus’ in order to achieve.

 

This is a great thread. I actually felt like asking a similar question myself. You put it well, and it is a positive human trait to find the good in order to get through immense difficulty - to re-frame things.

The initial, "milder" tinnitus I had going on from February 2020 did result in some positives; I read War and Peace and lots of other larger novels as I found it hard to work in music as I had (so took to reading - which I would never have done in this dedicated way prior to the condition.) I spent more time with people as I found it distracting, and spent more time walking and being outside. It certainly shattered my pride and self sufficiency too, which had good aspects and negative aspects.

It has caused a lot of reflection, a lot of thinking about why choosing to live is the right thing to do, even with constant suffering. It has caused me to empathise a lot more with others who are ill or especially in chronic pain; I admit that before tinnitus I did not give this enough thought or really understand how sickness could change people. It has made me more merciful and even more intolerant of people mistreating each other, since we are all in a painful world together. I have made new friends from the online tinnitus community. I'm hoping to create a sound / visual installation focusing on the subject, which I obviously would have never thought to do prior to tinnitus.

It's harder to find positives about the "new" louder, harsher tinnitus I have had going on since September, however, since it disrupts sleep so much and makes it hard to sit still in an indoor space or to read anything more involved or do lots of things. I guess a positive here is that I'm doing EVEN more walking / exercise, and am having to deliberately choose a will to life daily even more. It is forging a kind of reliance I suppose. I do wonder if the exercise is all offset by the increasing amount of wine I'm drinking to deal with it, though! (I know it's not a good habit, but it certainly feels better than suffering the reactive, electrical, screaming noise sober.) I'm also socialising more since again, it is a distraction (and friends are kind enough to allow me to express frustrations about the condition and mostly always accommodate the increased sensitivity to sound. I am lucky in this way.)

I hope I can also find a positive to re-frame this new situation. Thanks again for the thread.

 

I think I have become far more compassionate to others in my life and to compensate to the screech have developed a very deep sense of calmness which extends to work and family challenges as well.

My quality of life is lessened by tinnitus but these are two worthy traits I wouldn’t have developed in the same way without this experience.

 

Tinnitus can lessen a person's quality of life there is no doubt about that. Try working through it by focusing on the positive things in your life and you will start of feel better about many things including tinnitus.

 

The state that these conditions have put me in has completely altered the path of my life. What once was a straight forward highway has now become a very small road of twists and turns where you'll never know when or where you'll end up. Tinnitus in combination with hyperacusis has definitely caused more harm than good, but some things which I would consider "good" has come out of it.

I had to replace some interests of mine that involved sound with quieter ones, and for that, I decided to pick up oil painting. That's something I would have never touched pre-tinnitus. The only prior artistic experience I had was making drawings as a kid, so oil painting was something really new to me. I've learnt a lot of techniques in the recent months, and am progressing which is very fun. It's therapeutic and quiet.

Other than that, I guess this whole ordeal makes you reflect on life in a way that you really wouldn't have done without tinnitus. I treasure the things I have, and the moments I make, much more. It has also invoked deep reflections on a spiritual plane.

Wish you well,
Stacken

 

I was thrown into similar circumstances after my second noise trauma. My life completely changed and didn't know quite how to deal with the tinnitus, even though I had previously habituated for eight years. Unable to listen to music through my HI-FI for over two years, one of my passions as an Audiophile. Worse to come was not being able to read a book, as concentration became impossible. Many days were an existence certainly not living. Getting up having breakfast and returning to bed and at times wishing I wouldn't wake-up.

From the depths of despair I found a glimmer of hope, by focusing on the positive things in my life and not giving up. Four years navigating my way through adversity but eventually, I became the victor and made me a much stronger person in all aspects of my life.

Michael

 

That is a good question and something I have been thinking about. Tinnitus was a slap in the face that bad things can and will happen if I don’t take proper care of myself. Previously I’d never wear ear protection, hardly ever put on sun screen when outdoors and generally avoided going for doctors visits. Now I put on sun screen and sunglasses when heading out, carry ear protection with me, proactively go for optometrist check ups and generally take better care of myself.