PTSD and Hearing Problems

[Marlene]

Does anyone else have a hearing problem in addition to PTSD?

I have Central Auditory Processing Disorder. Basically my ears take in the raw sounds of life but the processing of that sounds into words, daily noise, etc. in my brain gets messed up. So that I have trouble hearing and understanding what people around me are saying...especially when there's other noises around.

Sometimes I've found that my hypervigilence actually helps me in this area. I've used lip reading, studying people's facial expression, body language and gestures to try and fill in the words that I miss in normal conversation. Being extra obvervant of my environment comes in handy. I also tune out extra noises around me...self-preservation from trying to understand bits and pieces of so many things and with PTSD working to keep myself from being overwhelmed by too much noise.

I just wondered if anyone else dealt with this addition issue.

Lisa

[anthony]

I have lost some hearing due to my military career.... lots of loud noises, being around aircraft a whole bunch.... things like that.

[Marlene]

Forgot to write above that I also lost my hearing as a child due to scar tissue covering my ear drums from many multiple ear infections. It was surgically repaired and mostly recovered. Recovered enough to join the army. Although it has gotten worse with age and the CAPD. Also, when my stress levels go up, I find that people speak like they have a dimming light switch on their sound control. Their volume goes up and down...only in my head though.

Anthony...do you find that your hearing loss affects your PTSD? Or that your PTSD affects your hearing loss? Or not at all?

Lisa

[empowered]

Hi Lisa,

I have also had problems with processing sound, which makes listening and processing language very difficult.

The ears do far more than hear!

I have spent the last 4 years doing the Tomatis listening program to retune my ears. The results have been amazing. I'm due to have another listening test and do maybe another program.

My emotional health has improved, the program helped me deal with the trauma.

I've had alot of changes in my body. I had a stroke when I was about 2 or under which left me with R sided weakness.My balance has improved soo much I can now ride a bike. I can now step onto an escalator without having to hold on with both hands.

There has also been amazing changes in my singing. You can't sing in time or intune if your ears don't process sound effectively.

We all have a dominant ear, with R ear dominance the R ear hears the sound and directs it straight to the language centre in the brain.Sound gets processed quickly.With L ear dominance the sound takes another route, in the process the message gets confused.

I was very L ear dominant 4 years ago.Talking and listening was exhausting! Not anymore.

[Lisa]

I have hearing loss in both ears. The cause isn't known, but they think I was either born with it, or that mumps did the damage when I was 3. I have loss of high and low frequencies (one ear sounds tinny, the other like I'm underwater), and nerve conduction damage because of a 'floppy' ear drum. This affects the clarity of sound. The hearing impairments make it difficult for me to tell where sounds are coming from, and how far away they come from. My localisation problems gave me hell at work, I was always ignoring my phone when it was actually ringing, and picking it up when someone else's phone was ringing!

Additionally, I also suffer with Tinnitus!

As I've lived with this hearing problem since a young age, I just adapted to it with the use of lip reading, tone, facial expression, gesture, body language, and, at times, pure guesswork! It's advantaged my skills in reading nonverbal communication. I didn't realise how bad my hearing is, and how much it affected my life (and my confidence) until I started wearing hearing aids last summer.

The tinnitus plays havoc with hypervigilance. And so does my hearing 'confusion'. Not clearly hearing things, or where or how close they are, makes it hard for me to tell what sounds are... and this is never good when I am hypervigilant because I have trouble reassuring myself. For example, I can 'feel' the vibrations of car sounds before I hear them at night (I don't know if that's what normal hearers can do too or not), or I tend to 'feel' a gnat flying by my face rather than hearing it... imagine that when you're hypervigilant! I go 'WHOA what the **** is that!" before I figure it out.

However, I do find that there is an advantage... when I am in 'sound overload' during the day, I can take my hearing aids off and tone down the sound a little. However when I'm really hypervigilant or anxious, I feel a need to hear, and at night as I can't sleep with hearing aids in, I don't think that helps.

I also find that sometimes when I'm having trouble hearing, because I am having to concentrate on 'translating' sounds into words and making sense of what is someone saying, it becomes hard work, and slows my thinking process down.

[batgirl]

I voted yes, but my hearing problems relate to my autism, I have troubles with loud noises, constant noise, background noise, too many noises at once, and so on. I get something similar to Central Auditory Processing Disorder, though with me it's just called autistic overload. My brain can't take too much stimulation of any of the senses, hearing being one of the senses obviously.

[She Cat]

I voted yes, but I have Tinnitus! I don't know if it is part of PTSD or in addition to it. Whatever it sucks hearing that fricking buzzing sound all day long. Drives me batty some days.

[TDurden1937]

Hey - Ya, tinnitus. Really bad. Was a loader on a twin 3"/50 cal. anti-aircraft battery in the navy. Bloody bastards never even offered me ear protection. These are really big guns. This is a grate picture http://hmcshaida.ca/3in50.html Looking into the ass end of the gun so to speak, the breach, I stoop on the left loader position and put those shells you see piled up nice and tidy into the loader that sits above and behind the breach. It's the funny looking thing that no one could figure what it was unless you were told.

[CaliSparrow]

Hi Marlene,



I, like you, have CAPD. My ears have actually checked out "off the chart" in hearing ability. It is the brain that doesn't prioritize sounds where the problem lies. I'm interested to know if any research has been done regarding CAPD as a form of hypervigilance brought on by PTSD.

I also just recently experienced hypervigilance in other areas due to a current traumatic event. They persisted in the areas of sight, touch, smell and taste (which was odd but I required the most basic of foods - the plainer, the better).

On a side note, women in menopause experience CAPD where they miss out on certain voice inflections making what others say appear rude and condesending (I know, just what a woman facing "the change" needs). Also, men over 30 often are diagnosed with CAPD. So, if you complain that a man, ahem, doesn't listen to you when you were running water at the kitchen sink while asking them to do a chore for you - well, it's just not going to get through. There are plenty of websites & books that describe this disorder.

I take earplugs into the movie theater so that I can hear the movie and not the popcorn smackers ;-) this was useful in class as well, otherwise I'd be made fun of for taking offence to gum chewers or text messagers who aren't paying ATTENTION in class and are too entitled to take their fellow classmates into consideration!

Whew! Apparently, THAT one needed to get off my chest! CS

[cactus_jack]

I have hearing, smell and taste problems. They are not physical but mental because of the last wreck I was in. I hate it. Walking among the pins and not able to smell them. To cook dinner and not smell it. The eat dinner and not realize it's gone bad until I puke because I cannot smell it OR taste it. God I hate it.

[upstream]

CJ, ever consider going vegetarian? It might take care of that food poisoning thing.

[cactus_jack]

Yeah, it might. I have a very hard time digesting greases anymore. So I'm careful what I eat. Even then, to taste, is rare. I can get a hint, but that's about it. Unless I'm in a position where my back quits pinching the spine, and next thing I know my world just opened up, literally. It's like being in a dark room with a cyalume light. When you open the garage door, you see a rainbow, blue skies, birds tweeting, smiling children. So close to that. When my ability to taste comes up, I love it. It's just not often.

[CaliSparrow]

Hey Empowered,

Oh my goodness. My beloved voice teacher passed away a long time ago. I believe she mentioned the Tomatis Method to me. I would love to know more about it! Thank you, CS

[moog]

Like Anthony, I've had some loss in hearing due to my military service; although it is not severe. But I notice that when my anxiety level increase, causing me to become hypervigilant and then my hearing becomes sensitive. At times it's almost like "super" hearing but I can't focus on any specific sound or location; it all comes flooding in at me. Usually at the same time, my vision gets blurry but I am acutely aware of quick movements.

[ChrisB]

Marlene & All, Great informative comments. Yes! I do not "Process" all incoming sounds etc. because some become distractions to others as I rule out possible dangers around me. It makes me miss content during a conversation because until I sort out the danger, the conversation becomes lower on hierachy of safety. Does that make sense?