Stress and Tinnitus, the Relation Derived

10 000 years ago there were two 15 year old boys, named Ar and Arh, running and playing on the savanna. There were also two tigers, named Br and Brh on the savannah approaching the boys. Both Ar and Arh could hear tiger Br roaring. As a result, both boys got increased stress hormon levels. But only the boy named Arh had got a recent genetic defect that turned up his auditory system as a result of the increased stress hormon levels, making everything he heard sound much louder to him. He could therefore also hear tiger Brh which was hiding in the grass right behind him. But Ar didn't hear tiger Bg nor couldn't see tiger Brh. Only Arh started running as he heard tiger Brh. So tiger Brh attacked Ar and Arh could escape. Boy named Ar was lunch enough for both tigers Brh and Br so they let Arh go free and escape. Later years, Arh got 130 children, all with different women, and all of them carrying his genetic defect. As a consequence, most of Arh's children grew up and reproduced themselves since they could detect not only the apparent, but also the less apparent but more dangerous, treats on the savannah. Today everyone has the genetic defect inherited from Arh that reacts to stress hormons in our body by turning up the volume of our auditory system.

Does stress cause tinnitus? If stress turns up the volume of the auditory system, then it may amplify a tinnitus signal we had all the time. Once tinnitus is perceived by us, it causes stress. Stress maintains the increased volume of auditory system and we have a self generating loop.

Does that mean stress caused tinnitus? It was there all the time, right?