Tinnitus and the Emotions

The way we perceive tinnitus is very much linked to the emotional parts of the brain.

Our brains are very good at flagging things that we need to be alerted to. For example, a parent may recognise the quiet snuffle of their baby about to wake. Or we may normally ignore the noise our boiler makes, until it 'doesn't sound right'. The classic example is the creaking floorboard. During the day, we won't pay any attention to it… but at night-time, it gets flagged by our brains as being a potential threat.

Tinnitus and 'Flight or Fight'

For some people, tinnitus gets mistakenly put into this category of being a potential threat, so our brains are actively listening out for it and filtering it out from other noises. As a result it puts our bodies into a state of alert, preparing us for 'fight or flight'. And because the tinnitus is always there (because remember, it's a side effect of how our brains interact with our hearing), it keeps our bodies in a constant state of alert, making it hard to relax (necessary for a good night's sleep).

Once our bodies are in a state of 'fight or flight' it ironically makes us more sensitive to quiet sounds… including the tinnitus! So we set up a vicious circle, where the tinnitus feeds are emotions which feeds the tinnitus.

What Can Be Done About Tinnitus?

More than most people think! See the information on our Taming Tinnitus™ programme.