Hearing Loss

Lesson 1: Emotional Trauma of Hearing Loss

Sense of Fear

Many of us don’t realize how much we rely on sound until we can’t hear anymore. A sound can wake us up, warn us of danger, delight us, inspire us, or even annoy us at times. We get so used to sound that we don’t notice it until it’s gone.

How many times have you listened to the radio, your stereo or had the television on while you were reading, cooking, knitting, working, or any number of activities? You were able to hear what was going on around you – whether in your house, your office, your car, the mall, the stores or walking down the street. There’s no end to the number of places you could be and rely on your hearing to keep you aware of things going on in the background.

Not only does sound help keep you aware of your surroundings, it helps keep you feeling connected to the world around you. It’s normal and natural to feel fear when that ability to monitor your surroundings is lost.

To combat that fear you must arm yourself with other means of feeling secure. First and foremost is our eyes. Without hearing, we use our vision more and more. But we can only see what’s in our visual range. If you’re out walking on the street, you can’t hear someone coming up behind you. You can’t hear cars, you can’t hear horns, you can’t hear the sound of bicycles, skateboarders and skaters. You feel like a sitting duck and it's nerve-wracking.

When you’re out at night you might see the headlights of a car coming up behind you, on particles of dust in the air in front of you. You might see many things you didn’t notice before and you may notice your peripheral vision is sharper. We do learn to compensate.

In Missing Words: The Family Handbook on Adult Hearing Loss, Dr. Donald Holden says, "One of the most crippling fears that people with a hearing impairment face is insecurity."

Since losing my hearing, I find the house too big. Whichever room I'm in, I don’t know what’s going on in the rest of the house. If I can't see out into the rest of the house, I’m uncomfortable and very insecure. Since it’s not practical to move, I’ve had to find ways to work with what I have. Being alone in the house can be very frightening, even during the day.

The best remedy for that has been my dog. We’ll talk about hearing ear dogs later, but right now I’m talking about the ordinary family dog. There are very few dogs who won’t alert their family to a knock on the door, someone on the front step, someone in the backyard, and certainly an intruder. Having a dog in the house lets you know things are fine. If the dog is relaxed, you know nothing is amiss.

It’s natural to feel fear when you feel cut off. It’s natural to feel startled when suddenly someone is upon you and you had no idea they were coming. It’s natural to feel fear when you’re driving along and suddenly see flashing lights but didn’t hear the sirens.

Losing your hearing might make you afraid to be alone – to go anywhere alone – to live your life the way you lived it before. Like most fears, it can be faced and dealt with.

Optional Reading
Please refer to:

• Missing Words: The Family Handbook on Adult Hearing Loss, pages 106 - 108

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