Tinnitus Severity Is Reduced with Reduction of Depressive Mood

This 2012 study also includes a full free text. And, although the results are not surprising, it offers additional evidence of the relationship between depression and tinnitus; and it also demonstrates how tinnitus may be alleviated by treating any underlying depression. And so, when compiling a list of barriers to habituation, I believe we should also include depression, for it affects so many of us.

PLoS One. 2012;7(5):e37733. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037733. Epub 2012 May 22.

Tinnitus severity is reduced with reduction of depressive mood--a prospective population study in Sweden.

Hébert S1, Canlon B, Hasson D, Magnusson Hanson LL, Westerlund H, Theorell T.
Author information

Abstract
Tinnitus, the perception of sound without external source, is a highly prevalent public health problem with about 8% of the population having frequently occurring tinnitus, and about 1-2% experiencing significant distress from it. Population studies, as well as studies on self-selected samples, have reported poor psychological well-being in individuals with tinnitus. However, no study has examined the long-term co-variation between mood and tinnitus prevalence or tinnitus severity. In this study, the relationship between depression and tinnitus prevalence and severity over a 2-year period was examined in a representative sample of the general Swedish working population. Results show that a decrease in depression is associated with a decrease in tinnitus prevalence, and even more markedly with tinnitus severity. Hearing loss was a more potent predictor than depression for tinnitus prevalence, but was a weaker predictor than depression for tinnitus severity. In addition, there were sex differences for tinnitus prevalence, but not for tinnitus severity. This study shows a direct and long-term association between tinnitus severity and depression.

Reference:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22629449​

Full text version:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358289/​

 

I believe depression plays a part in tinnitus , but antidepressants also cause it as well... so we are damned if we do and damned if we don't.....

 

What about nondrug alternatives? Like CBT? And, of course, it is important to use a good support network, like the one we have here.

Please know too that most people do not report their tinnitus worsening on antidepressants. But, of course, I agree that anyone who tries a new drug--and their tinnitus worsens-- should discontinue it, unless their physician believes it is absolutely necessary. Many drugs may spike our tinnitus--from Xanax to vitamin B12. And I personally try to avoid every one of them.

take care!

 

This makes perfect sense, especially after reading @Silvine 's great posts in the 'Back to silence' thread. This most likely also explains why my T reduced A LOT right after we got our first baby in November. I think increased oxytocin in the brain also plays a role in this.

 

Makes perfect sense to treat underlying anxiety and depression.
If I were to go down that road, I would do a neurotransmitter test first ( have done these in the past) to reveal where my brain chemicals sit before adopting a hit and miss antidepressant regime. I don't think there is a universal fit for depression. It must be catered for the individual.

 

Why do drugs when you can exercise? It helps me so much more than any pill i have ever taken.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09/30/exercise-protects-brain-from-depression-swedish-study-finds/

 

Indeed, Tinnitus perception is routed to the pre frontal cortex when the amygdala is roused by the signal and attaches emotional salience to it. However...being happy depresses the amygdala's activity as you can't feel two opposing moods at the same time, other brain areas throw it off the pitch.

There's an evolutionary psychology reason for this. Positive emotions are hardwired into our brains operating system by nature to encourage us to do things which increase our genes survivability or replication. Basically your entire body and mind are a gene preservation and replication machine. You are their survival unit.

In 500'000 years of pre history your mind evolved a reward system to encourage you to do things which aided your genes' chances of fulfilling the executive order. These things are the positive emotions; they push you towards good things : the negative emotions (like fear) push you away from bad things.

If both emotions operated at the same time you would end up in total stasis (neither seeking reward or avoiding danger) and your genetic neural programming for these traits running together would be weeded out of existence, it's one or the other.

Think of the balance as like being a pair of scales. If you have a lot of positive emotions in one side you need a lot of negative ones in the other side to swing them over. They do however teeter back and forwards in small increments due to the trails and tribulations of life. Tinnitus stress can be a big weight on the negative for a while and depress your mood but a big positive one (like the birth of a child) can get it swing the other way soon enough.

Given the analogy...how do you feel your mood would be if you didn't care about tinnitus?

Revoke it's right to be on your scales, you're the boss!

 

I've enjoyed being back in my strength/core class called Gladiator--one of the stations in the circuit is to slam a medicine ball on the floor over and over for a minute. Pretending that the ball is tinnitus and slamming it on the floor gives me the double-whammy of exercise endorphins and the feeling that I am beating the living s*** out of my tinnitus. Makes me feel powerful!

 

This makes perfect sense. Depression makes you focus on negative things in life. Tinnitus is often asociated as something negative. Thus depression makes you focus more on your tinnitus. The more you focus on tinnitus, the worse it tends to get.

 

Indeed, there's even a name for it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias#In_physical_and_mental_health

Which if you're not objective can lead to this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affect_heuristic

And eventually create this situation...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_marker_hypothesis

 

I read a study similar to this one I think from the UK or Canads if I am not mistaken that said that tinnitus was more common in obsessive introverted personalities with tendency to be negative, anxious or depressed.

According to the study, getting rid of the issues affecting the person would cause significant reduction of tinnitus in most, with the exception of folks who had tinnitus due to hearing loss caused by damage.

I never abuse my ears, don't use headphones and 99.9% of the time my noise exposure is TV, traffic in the city and just conversations. (basically what everyone else is exposed to)

I started to suffer from vertigo in late october and that brought tremedous anxiety, at first I was so focused on the vertigo I didn't even notice tinnitus, and now that vertigo is dissipating very slowly and my brain has gotten sort of used to it, tinnitus has become sort of bothersome.

Interestingly enough three days ago my tinnitus disappeared for a while because I had no vertigo and I was extremely happy.

 

http://www.medicaldaily.com/tinnitu...ression-could-reduce-inner-ear-ringing-262690

studies that show that tinnitus reduces greatly after patients treat their depression!

 

Similar for me. Had a period of vertigo and migraines. Never had that before. Could no longer control my body. This brought tremendous anxiety. Exactly at this moment, my T started like crazy. 2-3 high-pitched tones in my head. Pure hell. It became clear I had a burnout as we call it here in Germany. I was mentally and physically exhausted, job, kids, private, other tasks.
Migraines and vertigo went away, loud T, high blood pressure and anxiety stayed. Anxiety went down a little bit, depression kicked in (never had clinical depression). High tension still there. And loud T. Something around 15 kHz oscillating in my head. No relief. Sometimes I am lucky and can cope better, or T goes down a little bit.
I keep surviving for my kids and my wife. Compared to many others (if one can compare at all), I see my T as profound or catastrophic, unmaskable, ultra-high. As Billie sometimes writes "like a laser beam". Like T of @dan, @RaZaH, @billie48, @Telis. Difficult to ignore, difficult to habituate to IMHO.

 

Martin I have some questions for you:

1. How long did you vertigo stay with you?

2. Have you looked for help with cognitive therapy, or many other therapies dealing with the mind?

3. how loud is your tinnitus? can you hear your own breathing?

I understand you, Vertigo devastated me emotionally, I am barely starting to recover, however I ve read that long term tinnitus could be a symptom of mental distress, and those who have had that devastating effect of vertigo can understand how it destroys our inner peace, I told my spouse that if I don't feel better emotionally I will look for some mental services.

 

Thanks for your answer.
Good that you starting recover. Yes, it takes time.

1. Just two weeks. It was exhaustion and anxiety.
Sometimes it comes back, but this is all anxiety.

2. Yes, I do CBT with my psychologist. Also did the ABCDE model (Henry & Wilson book about Tinnitus).
Trust me, I really go on with my life. I work, I care for my family, I go out. Always with a buzzing, screaming head.

3. I can hear my T even in the shower. Not always, but oftentimes.
I am sure if it would be lower, habituation would have kicked in already.
Yes, I can hear my own breathing. I can hear everything. No hearing loss in the low frequencies. The problem is the pitch. 15 kHz T cuts through everything.

For example I have now finished my work. Will go to the soccer field doing training with my teams. Listening to crickets then, but that is ok.

 

I do feel a link between these two, the hard part is that one inlfuences the other ... and Tinnitus is definitely a mood breaker ... some test have been done to reduce depression with usage of very small amounts of a certain illigal psychoactive substance .. I will try the experiment in the next coming months and if anything good comes out of it will report! may we all find peace and silence soon! xxx

 

Yeah breathing has nothing to do with the volume of your T unless you breath at 15000hz!!! Haha

 

Is it joga breathing?

When my T worsened I had indian friend from Dubai close to home in Croatia. We did joga.

He teached me breathing exercises. Breath in with belly button slowly 4 sec and then wait 2 and breath out. all time concentrate on belly button. better even to hold noce closed, and breath on one hole, then breath out on another. and then change holes. concentrate on belly how it is going up. fell belly button in head.

It takes thought away from tinnitus. And relaxes. How do you do it?

 

@Christian78
How do I do what? Breathing?
Normally I guess. I was just asked in the thread here if I hear my breathing. Yes, I can hear it if I listen to it.
And why do I listen to my T? Good question. Maybe because I have no other choice. I haven't found a way yet not hearing it. Oh yes, if I am standing in a waterfall, I don't hear it.
Do I react to my T? As we all know, we should not react to it. Yes, I still react to it, with high tension and higher blood pressure. Do I work on my reaction? Yes, on the conscious part I do. I work (with limits), I live, I enjoy my hobbies, I play with my kids. Does T disturb me? Yes, highly. Solving complex computer problems with a dog whistle in the head is no fun.
Is my T always the same? Yes, most of the time loud and oscillating in my head.
Is my perception the same? No, under stress it seems even louder. If relaxed, I can cope.
Is this a life? Not really.
I keep alive for my wife and kids.
I hope for better/quieter times, but I think that this will stay with me forever.
Why do I write all this? I don't know.
It just came through my mind.

 

I think the diaphragmatic breathing that is being suggested refers to Mindfulness Meditation.