When Everyday Sound Becomes Torture

Here is a radio interview from the author of the buzzfeed piece about hyperacusis.

http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/2013/apr/23/hyperacusis-when-it-hurts-hear/

For anyone who missed it, here is the original piece. Well worth reading and it does not deny the horrible reality.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/joycecohen/noise-kills-when-everyday-sound-becomes-torture

 

I read this a few weeks ago (buzzfeed article) and haven't been the same since. I was so afraid that I started to overuse ear protectors and went a little crazy!

 

Thanks for sharing that story dan. That’s quite a story. I skimmed thru it, and I think I’ll read it again, more than three times. Dreadful, it's an awful thing for a person to endure.

 

There is a short-movie about Dietrich Hectors, the Belgian guy mentioned in the first article. The movie is called 'Ruis', which means Static, white noise. It's not a good idea to watch if you already anxious about your tinnitus or hyperacusis. You can find it on YouTube, but it isn't of much 'entertainment' if you don't understand Dutch…

 

do you have a link to the full movie?

 

No, unfortunately the full movie is not on YouTube yet.

 

I wonder if anyone here can relate to the following article?
It is quite a long read.........

http://www.buzzfeed.com/joycecohen/noise-kills-when-everyday-sound-becomes-torture#.uadEEXJBd

ok sorry I can see that @dan already posted this back in april..........

 

I know this is an old thread and old article, but the good-bye notes really hit you home.

 

I've seen and read some of these stories as well but in my view they should come with a disclaimer that states that these cases involve a very small subset of patients with very severe symptoms who have not been able to improve, possibly because they have not yet found the correct treatment.

I do not want to downplay the severity of hyperacusis in any way, as I know from experience that it can be horrible and that no-one will truly understand what it's like if you don't experience it yourself, but what these stories do is that they play into the fear and anxiety of people who just go the condition, which leads to avoidance behavior which is counterproductive in treating it.

It's not uncommon to hear that people even commit suicide after very recently acquiring T and/or H, as they are convinced that they will never improve or habituate, while the reality could have been very different for them with time and treatment. I have no doubt that all the horror stories only contribute to their fears, and might even push them over the edge.

Recently I came across a similar article in my native language which basically stated that your life is over if you get T&H, so I e-mailed them politely asking them if they could at least include a small footnote that there are also people with T and/or H who either improve or habituate, and who go on to live a full life, but they refused as their articles need to be as 'exiting' as possible....

 

I totally agree with you, I am a sufferer myself. I have good and bad days, today is a better one with H.

I guess the writer just wants a story people (normal people) are afraid of. The sufferers are seen as zombies.
Same with some ENTs, they even think I am joking.