It’s something lots of individuals cope with, but few want to talk about – hearing loss and its effect on personal relationships. Hearing loss can create communication hurdles that result in misunderstandings and aggravation for both partners.
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner isn’t it the perfect opportunity to show your love and appreciation for your loved one? A great way to do this is to have a discussion about your hearing loss.
Having “the talk”
A person experiencing neglected hearing loss has a 2.4 times more likely chance of developing cognitive conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease according to some studies. When the region of your brain responsible for hearing becomes less active, it can begin a cascade effect that can affect your whole brain. Doctors call this brain atrophy. You remember how the old saying goes, “use it or lose it”.
Depression numbers among those who have hearing loss are almost double that of a person who has healthy hearing. Individuals often become stressed and agitated as their hearing loss worsens according to research. This can result in the person being self secluded from friends and family. As they fall deeper into sadness, people with hearing loss are likely to stop participating in the activities they once enjoyed.
This, in turn, can result in relationship strain among mother and son, father and daughter, close friends, spouses, and others in this person’s life. It’s important to be patient and work together to determine solutions to communication problems.
Mystery solved
Your loved one might not be ready to inform you they are developing hearing loss. They may be afraid or embarrassed. They may be in denial. You may need to do some detective work to determine when it’s time to have the talk.
Because you can’t hear what your partner or parent hears, you’ll have to depend on external cues, such as:
- Avoiding busy places
- Turning the volume way up on your TV
- Starting to notice anxiety and agitation in social situations
- School, work, and hobbies are starting to become difficult
- Avoiding conversations
- Complaining about buzzing, humming, static, or other sounds that you don’t hear
- Frequent misunderstandings
- Not hearing important sounds, like the doorbell, dryer buzzer, or somebody calling their name
Plan to have a heart-to-heart talk with your loved one if you detect any of these symptoms.
How to discuss hearing loss
Having this conversation might not be easy. A spouse in denial might brush it off or become defensive. That’s why approaching hearing loss in the right way is so relevant. The steps will be pretty much the same but maybe with some small modifications based on your particular relationship situation.
- Step 1: Tell them that you love them without condition and value your relationship.
- Step 2: You’re worried about their health. You’ve read through the research. You know that untreated hearing loss can result in an increased risk of depression and dementia. You don’t want your loved one to experience that.
- Step 3: You’re also concerned about your own health and safety. An excessively loud television could harm your hearing. Additionally, studies show that elevated noise can cause anxiety, which may affect your relationship. Your loved one might not hear you yelling for help if you’ve fallen or somebody’s broken into the house. People relate to others through emotion. If you can paint an emotional picture of the what-ifs, it’s more impactful than just listing facts.
- Step 4: Schedule an appointment to get a hearing test together. After you make the decision schedule an appointment right away. Don’t wait.
- Step 5: There might be some opposition so be prepared. These could occur at any time in the process. This is a person you know well. What sort of objections will they have? Money? Time? Doesn’t see an issue? Do they believe they can utilize homemade methods? (“Natural hearing loss remedies” aren’t effective and can even be harmful.)
Be prepared with your answers. Even a bit of rehearsal can’t hurt. They don’t have to match those listed above word-for-word, but they should address your loved one’s concerns.
Relationship growth
If your spouse is unwilling to talk about their hearing loss, it can be challenging. Developing a plan to tackle potential communication problems and the effect hearing loss can have on your relationship will help both partners have confidence that their concerns will be heard and understood. In this way, your relationship will get stronger and your loved one will take measures to live a longer, healthier life. Growing together – isn’t that what love is all about?
References
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing#
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/hearing-loss-common-problem-older-adults
