The stress of hearing loss on relationships

When there’s a hearing loss without a hearing aid, there is always tension in your relationships. It is always there; it might lighten up but it will never really go away. Unless a hearing loss is diagnosed and corrected with hearing aids that tension will continue to grow worse as the hearing loss worsens.

In this busy world where everyone is running off in different directions at top speed, it’s hard enough to communicate effectively without adding in the factor of not being able to fully hear everything going on around you.

Without even realizing it, people who develop an undiagnosed hearing loss will attempt to read lips to gain understanding of what’s being said. But even the best lip-readers can miss a lot of information because only about 30 percent of speech is visible. Many letters and words look the same on the lips, which can cause misunderstandings. For example, “p(ail), b(ail), and m(ail)” look the same. Imagine the confusion and anger this can cause. Since people don’t even realize they are losing their hearing, they tend to blame the other person – “stop mumbling!” or “you never told me that”. This can easily result in responding inappropriately because you heard the wrong phrase. Of course, this can happen without a hearing loss, but it becomes an everyday complaint when you honestly can’t hear and are not using hearing aids.

This lack in the communication process can break down relationships over time. The hearing impaired person becomes angry because they feel that people are not giving them enough information to be able to interact effectively, and the hearing person becomes angry at having to repeat everything. This anger on both sides builds up over time and colors every aspect of the relationship.

An easy way to preserve your relationships and your quality of life, is to get your hearing checked and get yourself a hearing aid.