Untreated hearing loss significantly affects your emotional and mental health. One area you may start to notice this effect is your stress levels.
How Hearing Loss Triggers Stress
When the little things you do daily, from grocery shopping to chatting with your coworkers, start to feel complicated or tiring, stress is a natural response. Over time, you might withdraw from social situations to avoid communication stress. That isolation only adds to your emotional burden.
Studies show that hearing loss can lead to a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression. Stress can be both a trigger and a symptom of anxiety and depression. You might notice these feelings arise in the following ways:
- Anxiety. Hearing loss may cause you to worry about missing important information, responding inappropriately or being excluded from conversations. This ongoing worry keeps the body in a heightened state of anxiety.
- Depression. Struggling to hear and communicate can make you feel isolated and disconnected from others. That isolation can, in turn, lead to depression.
How Hearing Aids Help
Hearing aids are not a direct mental health treatment. If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression or chronic stress, reach out to a mental health provider. They can help you develop coping strategies to manage these conditions as they arise.
Hearing aids make communication easier. They amplify speech and important background sounds, helping you stay connected without straining to keep up. You don’t have to guess what someone said or feel left out during group conversations.
Instead of avoiding the next Arcademie happy hour, you can confidently RSVP “Yes.” With your hearing aids, you’ll follow the conversation more easily and stay fully engaged.
Additional Stress Relief Tips
In addition to wearing hearing aids, you can minimize your stress with a few simple tricks:
- Practice deep breathing
- Listen to calming music
- Read in a quiet place
- Talk to your friends and family about your communication struggles
- Take a soothing bath
When you pair hearing aids with simple self-care habits, you make it easier to reconnect and enjoy quality time with the people who matter most. To learn more about how hearing aids can benefit your life, contact Hearing Healthcare Center, Inc. today.