What Is Known About How Anxiety Affects Tinnitus?

[Hil]

I'm just curious how anxiety would be able to affect it, if its presence is due to something else! But I do believe anxiety can affect it. What is known about this?

 

[Reinier]

In my personal experience not a lot. For the simple reason: First my tinnitus starts to go up and after that my anxiety level goes up. Not the other way around.

 

[linearb]

Anxiety, in general, refers to a state of hyperarousal. This relates to various stress hormones, but serves the evolutionary purpose of making the senses more acute. So, while there may not be a direct correlation, it can be a feedback loop: being anxious can increase your perception of T, which can make you more anxious, ad infinium until at some point your body runs out of noradrenaline and it plateaus.

In my personal experience not a lot. For the simple reason: First my tinnitus starts to go up and after that my anxiety level goes up. Not the other way around.

Yup, this was the case for me for a long time; however, spike days don't generally get much of an emotional response from me anymore, it's just a matter of spending more time thinking that tinnitus is obnoxious than I would otherwise.

That said, when I do end up in an anxious state for other reasons, my tinnitus is always more pronounced, along with other sensory issues...