|
Hearing impairment, particularly if not appropriately
managed, is a leading cause of deprived life quality, and is
accompanied by a large number of long-term social, psychological and
sometimes physical consequences.
People vary in the way they react to their hearing loss, and
the variation extends to include the type and severity of the
impairment’s consequences on the affected individual.
Denial is a very common first response upon the discovery of
the presence of hearing loss, without any difference whether the
assessment has been made by a family member or a hearing
professional.
Denial could simply be the result of feelings of inadequacy
or being different from those with normal hearing, and could be due
to the common inaccurate and erroneous information about hearing
loss and hearing instruments as well.
Many people hold myths about the issue of hearing loss, such
as the belief that hearing loss should first be detected by the
impaired person, not knowing that hearing impairment is generally an
insidious and a gradually progressive condition that is difficult to
be self-diagnosed.
There is also the false notion that hearing problems cannot
be helped, which on the contrary can be largely helped in almost all
cases particularly with the advent of the newly advanced hearing
instruments’ technologies.
A common belief among people is that hearing impairment means
not being able to hear sounds loud enough.
The truth is that hearing impairment extends far beyond the
issue of loudness to include the issues of speech understanding and
comprehension in various listening environments.
Other people are under the impression that hearing loss is
not a big issue, and that is incorrect as this condition results in
a large number of adverse effects when not being properly managed,
most of which are psychological.
People who suffer from hearing loss experience extreme
difficulty communicating and participating in social activities
resulting in great social problems that include isolation,
withdrawal, distraction, problems at work, problems with family
members and inattentiveness.
However, based on a large number of studies it was found that
the most devastating consequences of hearing loss are psychological
that include stress, anxiety, distrust, insecurity, lowered
self-esteem, defensiveness, anger, frustration, depression and
aggressiveness.
These conditions are common in normal hearing individuals.
However, the distinguishing factors between these normal hearing
people and those with hearing loss are the fact that the effects of
unmanaged hearing loss can be pervasive, and that progressive
hearing loss is insidious and is capable of debilitating the
individual’s progress in various life stages.
The management of hearing loss by means of hearing
instruments substantially improves the quality of life of the
hearing impaired person and can successfully alleviate the
accompanying social and psychological consequences of hearing loss.
In order to allow a sense of normality for the hearing
impaired person we need the implementation of appropriate
management, rehabilitation as well as setting realistic expectations
to achieve this goal, and by the employment of all possible medical,
technical and rehabilitative resources, even people with significant
hearing loss can enjoy an appreciable degree of normalcy in their
lives.
Prepared by: Rania
A. Abul-Rub
Head Audiologist
Jordan Hearing Aids
Company
|
