Are you surprised to learn that hearing loss is about more than just your ears? Ears are the means of hearing, so the harm done to them because of aging, injury or disease is why someone can’t hear, but did you know there’s more to it than the loss of one’s hearing bleeds into a number of other aspects of their life. It is a dramatic change for somebody who has always had the ability to hear. Consider some ways that hearing loss has a profound impact on more than just the ears.
Earning Capability
A 2006 report released by the Australian firm Access Economics states there’s a connection between earning potential and hearing. They found that an individual with hearing loss will potentially make about 25 percent less than those that do listen, but why?
There are many things that could affect earnings. Someone who works without any hearing assistance device like a hearing aid might miss out on weighty material. They might show up for a business meeting at 4 when it was really at 2 pm, for example. Employers tend to value those with shrewd attention to detail, and that’s a challenge when you can’t hear the details.
Working environments can be loud and chaotic, too. A individual with hearing loss can become confused with that sound around them. They will struggle to talk on the telephone, to listen to customers and to understand what colleagues are saying because in a loud environment the background sounds like clicking keyboards or an air conditioner engine become pronounced.
Relationships
Some of the very same problems at work become a problem at home. Hearing loss has the potential to cause conflict, particularly when the individual with the problem continues to deny it. Little things such as saying “what” a lot during conversations and turning the TV up too loud irritate friends, family members, and spouses.
They may attempt to intervene and encourage this individual to recognize their hearing loss, and that leads to friction, also. It’s very common for someone with hearing loss to isolate themselves and refuse to go out and spend some time with other people. They struggle to keep up with conversations, so that they so what the can to prevent them.
Mental Health Concerns
The issues at work and house take a toll on mental health over time. A 2014 study performed by the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders found a cause and effect relationship between hearing loss and melancholy. Their study suggests an increased risk of depression, especially among women and individuals under the age of 70. Their risk of depression goes from 5 percent to approximately 11 percent with hearing loss.
A second study from the Senior Research Group suggests that the chance of mental health problems including depression, anxiety and paranoia goes up when a person with hearing loss does not use hearing aids. The study participants who didn’t wear hearing aids reported everything from feelings of despair to sudden fits of anger more frequently than those who did wear them.
Safety Issues
Security is always a concern for the hearing impaired. Most security systems, while it’s a smoke or carbon monoxide detector or a perimeter alert, work based on sound. They exude a high-frequency noise if there is a danger. Even people with slight hearing loss can have trouble hearing high pitched tones.
Personal security becomes a problem when a person with hearing loss spans the road or drives a car, too. Sound serves to indicate problems like a car coming down the street or a horn honking.
Cognitive Functioning
Medical science has made a connection between cognitive decline and hearing loss. It isn’t clear why people with hearing loss have a greater risk of dementia. The current theory is that the brain struggles to listen and to compensate, it robs other vital functions like short-term memory.
A 2011 study conducted by Johns Hopkins Medicine discovered that even someone with minor hearing loss is twice as likely to develop dementia. Moderate hearing loss increases the risk by three times and a person with severe hearing impairment is five times more likely to get Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. Hearing health is just one factor in memory loss conditions, but it is an important one.
When a person has hearing loss, it’s true there is probably something wrong with their ears, but that’s just where it starts. The fantastic news is that getting help in the form of hearing aids and other treatment options reduces the chance of mental health issues, dementia and the various issues associated with hearing decline.
