So, Now I'm 28 and Have Hearing Loss, Is This Guy Saying I Now Am Losing Brain Function Too?

http://www.afr.com/lifestyle/health...by-hearing-loss-can-be-slowed-20160404-gnxku3

Seriously, what is the point? That was all I had going for me :/. Now I get to loss brain function too? Wonderful, what is next in my life?

 

Two words: Helen Keller.

Beautifully intelligent woman who developed her incredibly sharp mind and spirit while making the journey straight through the soundless darkness in which she lived her whole life.

YOU gonna be fine when you get on board the train of your life!! C'MON. Please help yourself.

Sending positive vibes. Please tune in for them!!!!!

 

I think the point is to protect your hearing and not to isolate yourself.

 

Google neuroplasticity. You can re-wire your brain for positive change, too. It's a gift and not a curse.

 

So, it doesn't say anyone "loses brain function".

What happens is those parts of the brain try to adjust for the missing input, and do things like create tinnitus. That's the permanent change.

When you were born, your started wiring itself, and through your childhood it wired itself the way it wanted to make you work. If something changes, like a loss of hearing, it rewires a bit to account for that. If they ever create a cure for hearing loss, the brain would likely wire itself back to the old way.

 

Yes, I am happy for her. I don't know much about her story, but Im not clear at all what she really accomplished other than surviving with help of caretaker. Not to make light of her situation...just saying I hope that I do more than just survive. I don't know her full story though, soaybe she did something else.

And yes I do appreciate your responses.

 

I have looked it up. That is the problem, they seem to act like bad things happen when hearing is lost to the brain.

 

Yeah, but articles seem to act like this rewiring due to hearing loss leads to bad things cognitively.

 

@jdjd09 Just for interest's sake! She was fiercely intelligent and did accomplish much when she was grown. My point in bringing her up, though, is that her deafness did not impact her intelligence. And if anything, she had to recruit so much MORE from her brain in order to learn and join the world, and she did it all in a state of profound deafness and total blindness, and way before any technologies existed to ease her way. She basically lost everything when only a 19-month old baby, then floundered and lived as a wild uncontrollable child till she was six and her teacher showed up. Her story is not one of mere survival, but of the blossoming of her intelligence like a plant having to struggle more than all the other plants in the garden. It's like she got a ton of concrete dumped on her head when she was only a seedling, and she had to make her way back through THAT.

So I wouldn't put too much stock in the above article!

Anyway, here's her story, just for interest's sake.

I would wish that you find articles that support how the brain grows, plasticizes, makes new neural connections, etc. All that is available to all of us. I recently began Tai Chi and guess what? It IS translating into a calmer inner world, which IS making things BETTER in the body.

Just gotta try stuff! And stay the course, my friend. Make your eyes search for reasons that say "YES."

"The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrast between the two lives which it connects."
- Helen Keller

Helen Adams Keller was born June 27, 1880, in the northwest Alabama city of Tuscumbia. Her father was a retired Confederate Army captain and editor of the local newspaper; her mother was an educated young woman from Memphis. When Keller was 19 months old, she was afflicted by an unknown illness, possibly scarlet fever or meningitis, which left her deaf and blind.

Keller was extremely intelligent and tried to understand her surroundings through touch, smell and taste. However, she began to realize that her family members spoke to one another with their mouths instead of using signs as she did. Feeling their moving lips, she flew into a rage when she was unable to join in the conversation. By the age of six, Keller later wrote in her autobiography, “the need of some means of communication became so urgent that these outbursts occurred daily, sometimes hourly.”

The birthday of her soul
Anne Sullivan came to Tuscumbia to be Helen’s teacher on March 3, 1887. Later Keller would call this day her "soul's birthday." Perkins Director Michael Anagnos had been wise to choose the strong-willed Sullivan, for few young women would have persevered through the tempestuous first weeks of the relationship. Keller hit, pinched and kicked her teacher and knocked out one of her teeth. Sullivan finally gained control by moving with the girl into a small cottage on the Kellers’ property. Through patience and firm consistency, she finally won the child’s heart and trust, a necessary step before Keller's education could proceed.

Sullivan started with the techniques developed by Perkins' first director, Samuel Gridley Howe, when he worked with Laura Bridgman 50 years earlier. She fingerspelled the names of familiar objects into her student’s hand. She also innovated by incorporating Keller’s favorite activities and her love of the natural world into the lessons. Keller enjoyed this “finger play,” but she didn't understand until the famous moment when Sullivan spelled “w-a-t-e-r” while pumping water over her hand. Keller later wrote:

Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! …Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life.

Keller wrote of the days that followed, “I did nothing but explore with my hands and learn the name of every object that I touched; and the more I handled things and learned their names and uses, the more joyous and confident grew my sense of kinship with the rest of the world.” Sullivan fingerspelled to her constantly, and coached her in the give-and-take of conversation. Many people believe that Helen’s love of language, her great articulation and grace as a writer and public speaker were built upon this foundation.

Exploring a new world
In May of 1888, Sullivan brought Keller to Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, where a new world of friendship began: “I joined the little blind children in their work and play, and talked continually. I was delighted to find that nearly all of my new friends could spell with their fingers. Oh, what happiness! To talk freely with other children! To feel at home in the great world!”



After that visit, Keller spent nearly every winter studying at Perkins: “In the school where Laura Bridgman was taught I was in my own country.” Keller studied French, arithmetic, geography and other subjects. She especially enjoyed the library of embossed books and the tactile museum’s collection of bird and animal specimens.

In the fall of 1891, Helen wrote a story she called “The Frost King” as a birthday gift for Anagnos. Delighted, he published it in the Perkins alumni magazine. Soon Anagnos was informed that Keller’s tale was very similar to a previously published story. It appears that Keller had read the original many months earlier and recreated the story from her memory, believing it was her own creation.

The accusation of plagiarism was extremely wounding to the 11-year-old girl and her teacher, and in 1892 Keller and Sullivan left Perkins and did not return. Fortunately, Keller later forgave Perkins for her unhappy experience. In 1909, she donated many braille books to the Perkins library, and in 1956 she officiated at the dedication of the Keller-Sullivan building when it became the home of the school’s Deafblind Program.

Throughout her life, Keller devoted her energies to humanitarian pursuits, advocating for economic justice and the rights of women and of people with disabilities. She asserted her right “to feel at home in the great world” and through her eloquence and tireless activism, she fought for the same right on behalf of all people.

Read Frequently Asked Questions about Helen Keller »

Suggested citation for scholars:
McGinnity, B.L., Seymour-Ford, J. and Andries, K.J. (2004) Helen Keller. Perkins History Museum, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA.

 

The point is not what her accomplishments are; it is that she lived a happy life despite her circumstances. She has good advice for you:

“A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.”

"Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties."

"Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world."

"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."

"Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties."

"I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times; but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers."
​

 

I am on the same wavelength as you. I have always defined myself as a smart person who is supposed to achieve something. I am currently working on a maths doctoral thesis, but it has been massively delayed by my thoughts that I am becoming less intelligent because of my tinnitus. I used to be a child prodigy, now people are sometimes surprised that I can't remember simple things.

Nothing is more horrifying to me than "just surviving", being alone with my regrets for decades to come.

I thought I had a golden ticket, but is my life just a cruel joke?

But you know what? That's all nonsense. I'm still smart, it's just that I'm obsessing over my tinnitus instead of obsessing over my maths. I'm treating all of this tinnitus research and opinions like it's the subject of my doctoral thesis.

 

You guys need to learn to "think positive". What is the point in dwelling on all this negativity?

 

I need to know whether my IQ is in freefall, because it will determine my career path.

Thinking positive seems silly to me. Better to think "how can I find out whether it's worth being positive"?

I am going to throw myself into my work, and see how I do. I won't be on this forum for a while probably. I need to know whether I've lost a step.

 

I very much doubt that your IQ is in freefall. Catastrophising based on some random internet article is pretty much the worst thing you could be doing.

 

I think it is always "worth being positive"!! And I don't mean sitting there while a mudslide is covering you and chanting, "Aum! Today the sun is shining somewhere!"

What I DO mean is: Be FLEXIBLY positive. Of COURSE we have goals and desires. Of COURSE we should strive for them.

But: If life tosses a few curveballs and some tomatoes, well, keep in mind that these curveballs come among all the BEAUTY:

the wonderfully-pitched strike zone balls;

and sun-drenched dawns;

and golden friendships;

and four working limbs if we're lucky enough, and a head and working mind and eyes to see;

and having grown up in a place where you got to get an education and learn to read (so many don't);

and were spared dread/fatal childhood illnesses because you got immunized;

and you are warm in the winter and dry in the rain, and on and on ...

In addition to life's curveballs, most of us are SATURATED IN BLESSINGS WE OFTEN TAKE PURELY FOR GRANTED WHEN WE SHOULD BE NOTICING THEM EVERY DAY.

Sooooo, if life tosses some curveballs, then maaaaaaaaaybe ...

We should become good at hitting curveballs. Or at least swinging at them. Adapting plans. Not out of a sense of resignation and loss, but with the spirit of adventure. Often the twists and turns make life VERY interesting. There ARE things that happen when we are "made" to change our paths that we often look back on and later are very, very thankful for them.

 

What is the value of negativity?

 

So, here's the important takeaway from this article:

Ryugo's work has shown intervention with a hearing aid can slow the loss and reduce the effects in the brain. He has demonstrated this in mice, and the model is now about to be tested in humans at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The intervention stimulates the auditory system, which in turn prevents further unwanted brain changes.

The men who resist the hearing aid are the ones who end up isolating themselves, eventually leading to depression, and from there to earlier-onset dementia. There's a lot going on in this article that's far beyond a cut-and-dried conclusion that hearing loss per se leads to dementia. That's just not set in stone. Many brilliant people have hearing loss and continue to function with active healthy minds into their eighties, nineties, and beyond.

 

I very much doubt that your IQ is in freefall. Catastrophising based on some random internet article is pretty much the worst thing you could be doing.

My Grandmother has quite severe hearing loss and is fit and healthy. She's in her 90s and very bright and onto woman. She lives in her own house and does everything herself. And she is very happy/lives a full life.

 

Ok, maybe this is going to sound inappropriate, but it's an issue I think needs to be brought up. How many honest relationships did Helen Keller have? AKA, a love life? Dating, relationships, etc.. Not just accomplishments in the professional world or in the world in general. Not that she didn't accomplish things.

If there is anything I noticed in this world, is the saying all if fair in love and war seems to ring true. People don't want to listen to my problem in real life, and I don't blame them. But, it's near impossible not to bring it up. If I am saying what a lot in a conversation, I'm going to have to explain why. I'm unclear how to be happy with this uneven hearing and noise that effects me. I'm unclear how I will ever be able to have sex again, as a guy yes you need to be able get "your thing up". I really question how I'm going to be able to ever do that again with this mood I am in. Be in the mood for sex while this is going on? No girl is going to put up with this. Much less dating, who wants to date a miserable person? Sorry, we can say, "well the right girl will". No, the right girl may stick around later on after a relationship has built up. But, the right girl isn't going to do it from the start with a miserable person.

I see no idea how I'm going to hold a conversation with a new person with this noise. This entire things is crazy. I am not able to concentrate on much. I may be going on a date next week. Guess what, no idea how to make that work with this going on. Not even sure why I'm attempting, given what is going on. But, I can't stand this life right now.

 

Catastrophising based on some random internet article is not so smart to be honest hahha

 

No. Nobody is going to tell you the right girl will put up with what you are doing right now. So you are right about one thing -- no girl is going to put up with that. On a daily basis you show a hopeless, gloomy, negative, and defeatist attitude. It has nothing to do with your problems, your hearing loss, or your tinnitus. It's all in your attitude and outlook on life. And it will only stay that way if you choose for it to be.

wait... after all that whining, you are telling us you have a date??? Stop focusing on all the problems! That's great you might have a date! Make the best of it and stop setting yourself up for failure.

-Mike

 

Okay, yes, as the poster above said, enjoy your date! I wouldn't want to deter you!

But to address your overall last post, I also have to agree with the poster above. I am only going to say what I am going to say here because of what you've just written (and have been writing), not because I am bossy nor the boss of you.

But really, @jdjd09, Michael above is right. It's your attitude. You take all the black crayons out of the box and only use them to create dark pictures with.

You NEED to change this. It won't be fast. It won't be easy. It WILL be possible and it COULD BE the adventure of your life.

Can you do this alone? Not if all you can do is pick up those black crayons over and over.

That is what counseling is for. Having a helpful HUMAN to talk with would be most helpful.

NOTHING shameful in it. What would be shameful is plodding on and on along a negative track, never changing your outlook.

There are counselors available, sliding scale fees, and if you don't resonate with the first one, find another.

Here: I saw one from my late 20s to my mid-30s, and it changed my life forever. Well, I changed my life, with help.

We all try to be too damned independent in this culture. It's force fed into us, that we can't be vulnerable and seek assistance. Guess what??? NONE of us is independent. Not for ANYTHING. Everything in this world comes to us through the help of others. Right down to the shoes you are wearing today, the keypad you are typing on, the food you will eat for dinner.

When I finally got up the guts to call a psychologist in my late 20s, the first three times I called, I hung up quickly. Then I made myself stay on the line the fourth time (a few days later). Then, when I was driving to my appointment, I saw the building, and needed to make a U-turn to get there, and what did I do? I drove straight on past the place, on purpose!!!! Then, I pulled the car over, pep-talked myself, and made myself drive back and walk in. I was CRINGING.

The guy came out, shook my hand, we went in and sat down, and ... ta da! It wasn't one-tenth as hard as I thought it'd be. And the rest was a 7-year odyssey to a new great place: my happier self.

DO this for yourself, @jdjd09. This is your primary thing. The rest of the health stuff and possible solutions will come from a BETTER INSIDE YOU. That has to be first. Okay?

 

Your brain is going to work less well as you age, just like every other part of your body. You can either obsess about that and stress yourself out, or take reasonable steps to mitigate it, accept it, and move on.

 

I watched the Miracle Worker on mute last week, cried the entire time.

 

cool you have a date lined up man. Went on a date myself on saturday, found a quiet outside place and had a beer or two. Things went well, and didn't think about my T even once.
It's true that girls don't fall for whimpy dudes complaining about their life all the time, but if there's anything more attractive to a cool girl, it's the story of a man who overcame his struggles despite all the setbacks he had to face. That's gonna take some time and effort, but getting out in the world is a step in the right direction.
I just found out one of my favourite artists Ryan Adams has extreme tinnitus and hearing loss in his left ear due to Menieres. He had to take a break for two years from performing to recover mentally and physically but guess what, he's back to performing live and putting out albums. He's got 50% hearing in his left ear now, but he's working with what he's got.

http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/ryan-adams-opens-up-about-tragic-ear-disease-20112110

 

@Michael2013 , well how is one suppose to not be negative or feel like shit with this hearing loss in one ear and also the noise? All this effects music and communicating with others? It literally effects me from going out to bars or noisy places? I won't do it. No other thing has effected me more than this, and I already was diagnosed with another serious chronic illness.

How can one be happy with this? How can one really move on? I seriously don't see it happening. I just don't understand how with this noise going on 24/7 and the hearing loss.

 

Yes, but not that much in your 20s. Thats crazy.

 

How do you have a good attitude with this though? At all, I really don't understand how? It's been about 4 months now. This is crazy. I have sought out help, they didn't help me. I sought out so much help I have run out of days to take off work now.

I have to basically wait until work is over to see a doctor that can help (none really can though it seems).

 

Given that things were looking positive before tinnitus and hearing loss breaking out...

...I'd say it has everything to do with that, actually.

 

This is probably true from the point of view that for every inspiring person, you can probably find 50, 100, or a 1000 who did not lead similar (inspiring) lives. And as it happens, Hellen Keller herself wrote the following:

"The few own the many because they possess the means of livelihood of all ... The country is governed for the richest, for the corporations, the bankers, the land speculators, and for the exploiters of labor. The majority of mankind are working people. So long as their fair demands—the ownership and control of their livelihoods—are set at naught, we can have neither men's rights nor women's rights. The majority of mankind is ground down by industrial oppression in order that the small remnant may live in ease."

I suspect the last sentence still holds true today (give or take).

Life with all its imperfections - such as disease, injustice, and poverty - is an everyday tragedy.