Midterms and finals are stressful times for students. If you’re currently in school, you’re likely very familiar with the late-night cram sessions, multi-daily runs to Revival Coffee Co. and frantic typing that this time brings. While it may not seem connected at first, hearing loss could be a significant contributor to your finals stress, particularly when it relates to information recall and study exhaustion.
How Does Hearing Loss Impact My Recall and Energy Levels?
Students depend on recall and healthy energy levels to pass their exams. Hearing loss can impede both:
- Speech recall. A 2012 study found that patients with hearing loss showed increased demands on working memory, leading to poorer narrative recall compared to their counterparts without hearing loss.
- Energy levels. Even mild, untreated hearing loss can make it more challenging to keep up in class and participate in study groups. When you’re exerting more mental effort trying to hear and recall what teachers and your classmates are saying, you’re robbing your future self of the energy it takes to study for upcoming exams. All this mental exhaustion, a phenomenon known as listening fatigue, can contribute to the development of stress and, as a 2019 study found, potentially lead to greater auditory issues.
Exams are rarely fun, but a decreased ability to recall information combined with greater mental exhaustion can make them even less so. Luckily, hearing aids can help.
How Can Hearing Aids Help?
Hearing aids collect and amplify speech sounds, bringing you clearer communication. When you wear them in class, you can focus less on straining to hear, and more on processing and remembering the information. Many devices even have telecoil (t-coil) settings that connect to classroom loop systems, allowing you to stream the lecture right to your ears. If you take online classes, you can also connect your hearing aids to your laptop via Bluetooth®.
Extra Tips for Improving Classroom Understanding
In addition to wearing hearing aids, you can try a few of the following to accommodate your hearing loss in college:
- Ask the teacher to face the class when speaking
- Ask the teacher to record their lectures. You can listen to the lectures after class to solidify the information
- Join small study groups to improve memory recall
- Sit near the front of the classroom
By using hearing aids and employing a few of the above college tips, you can start your finals study off on the right foot. For more information on managing your hearing loss, contact Hearing Healthcare Center, Inc. today.