Hearing loss is an incredibly common condition with a variety of causes and treatment plans surrounding it. It can affect people of any age and from all different walks of life. While there are certain risk factors that increase the chances of losing your hearing, such as loud environments, age, genetic factors, and injury or illnesses, they all have similar results.
Many causes of hearing loss are also permanent. True, some illnesses and minor complaints can cause temporary hearing loss, such as impacted earwax, ear infections, and colds. However, damage to the internal structure of the ear is permanent. Even if you have something like an ear infection, if it’s left untreated, it can cause this damage.
As you’d expect, hearing loss affects your life in a lot of different ways. Children might have developmental delays, and people might feel less safe and aware of dangers. But one often forgotten effect is on the mental and cognitive health of people with hearing loss.
Communication and Connection
When someone has hearing loss, it becomes much more difficult for them to be involved in conversations. There are different degrees of hearing loss and how it affects communication. Some people might struggle in crowds or at parties, but they can communicate perfectly well in a smaller, quieter group. Others might struggle with any background noise at all, and some people find it difficult to even hear one person in a quiet room.
As you’d expect, this can lead to feelings of isolation. If it’s harder to communicate, it can become frustrating to even have a conversation, so you may naturally draw away from other people. You could avoid certain social settings.
This, in turn can lead to a feeling of disconnection with the world and other people. You might experience feelings of depression, as it feels as though other people don’t understand you.
Cognitive Health
Communication isn’t just important for our mental health and happiness. We also need to socialize to keep our cognitive health high. The link between hearing and cognitive health shows that cognitive decline can be quickened by hearing loss.
Your cognitive health refers to your ability to think and remember things. Your mind needs to be active to be healthy, much like your body needs to be active to stay fit. Communication is one of the primary ways to exercise our minds, so if you feel isolated and cut off, it’s easy for your mind to stagnate.
Dealing With These Challenges
It’s important to open up the lines of communication and find new ways to connect with people. Hearing aids can be a great help if you have moderate or severe hearing loss, as they allow you to hear people in conversations.
Otherwise, it can be helpful to connect with other people in a similar boat. Sign language can help you learn a new form of communication and you can speak to people who understand exactly what you’re going through. You can share coping strategies and make friends.
Whatever you do, keep your mind busy.
