Coping with the Grief, Anxiety, and
Isolation of Hearing Loss

As people with hearing loss ourselves, we understand how hearing loss can take a toll on your mental health. We want to offer you hope and encouragement, share what’s helped us and others, and highlight the research that can help you feel better.

Hearing Loss and Grief

Many of us experience grief when we lose our hearing.  We may feel anger at the unfairness of it, deep sadness about what’s been lost, or depressed about our future. We may go through typical stages of grief, like denial or bargaining. Cycling through these emotions is common.

Like with most grief, the grief from hearing loss can improve over time, especially with treatment, support, and even therapy when needed. Many people find their way to a type of acceptance, eventually feeling ready to learn how to manage their hearing loss — and even help others along their hearing loss journey.

Hearing Loss and Isolation

Being able to participate and feel included is important to all of us. Our hearts and our brains need people, connection, and activity.  But hearing loss can separate us from others and impact our sense of belonging, leading to loneliness and isolation, even depression.

Acknowledging and accepting our hearing loss can be a first step in staying connected. Hearing aids may help with depression, possibly by boosting social engagement. When people finally get hearing aids, they often find they can laugh with their grandchildren again, perform better at work, and resume activities they enjoy or even find new ones.

Support groups can break the cycle of isolation and build connection, too. Everyone is welcome at our free online HOPE support meetings. We also have chapters in Renton, Northwest Washington, and Panorama Continuing Care Community in Lacey.  And we host other events throughout the year where you can relax and find friendship with others who’ve been there.

Hearing Loss and Anxiety

When one of our senses fails us, worry and anxiety can follow. How bad will my hearing get? Will I miss a fire alarm, or the sound of a car coming my way as I cross the street? What if I can’t hear my baby cry or understand my doctor? Will I be safe?

Communication challenges can impact our confidence around others, leading us to feel awkward and anxious. We ask questions that have already been answered. We attend a lecture with friends, but we can’t participate in conversation afterward. At a comedy show, we miss the punchline while others laugh. It hurts when people think hearing loss is a joke, or that we’re clueless or incapable, when really, we just can’t hear.   
To ease our discomfort and embarrassment, we might bluff, pretending we understand others. But pretending isn’t a solution. What does help, then?

Hearing aids and other hearing tech can improve our social engagement. Counseling can provide anxiety management strategies, including ways to ease social anxiety and gain confidence. Meditation and other stress management techniques may be of benefit.

Hearing Loss and Fatigue

Hearing loss makes our brains work harder. We’re repeatedly straining to make sense of what’s been said, and that can drain our mental and even our physical energy.

Taking “listening breaks,” such as stepping out of a challenging hearing situation to rest and recharge, can reduce fatigue. For example, if you’re at a noisy party or meeting, find a quiet space to decompress for a few minutes—no guilt or apology needed. And of course, hearing aids reduce the effort we need to hear.

Tinnitus: A Mental Health Challenge All Its Own

That ringing, buzzing, clicking or other noise only you can hear might be tinnitus. Sometimes, tinnitus is mild and manageable, or it can be so distressing that we feel anxiety, depression, and stress.  Either way, treatment helps.

Hearing aids and masking devices can minimize the noise, as could a white noise machine or a fan. Sometimes medical treatment or changing your medication can help. Counseling, including tinnitus training therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy, could also help.