If you suffer from tinnitus—a ringing, buzzing or whooshing sound in the ear with no external source—you’re not alone: nearly 10% of American adults have experienced tinnitus in their lives. The noise can be distracting, frustrating and even debilitating for some. There is no cure for tinnitus, but there are many management strategies available, and one that’s emerging in prominence is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT for short. CBT has been endorsed as an effective, evidence-based management approach for tinnitus by the American Academy of Audiology and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy was not initially developed for tinnitus; actually, it was designed for depression. The goal of CBT is not to end the condition, but how you respond to it, and that therapeutic technique proved valuable for tinnitus, too, as well as many other conditions such as insomnia, chronic pain and anxiety.
CBT emphasizes mindfulness, acceptance and habituation to change the patient’s thinking patterns regarding their condition. Patients are encouraged to change their internal dialogue of negative thoughts and accept that which they cannot change, enabling them to move forward in their lives with the condition.
How Can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Help with Tinnitus?
When you suffer from a condition as subjective and nuanced as tinnitus, it can be easy to fall into thought patterns such as “no one can help me.” What we often don’t realize is that thought patterns like this encourage us to avoid others and disregard help, which actually worsens the emotional effects of tinnitus.
Many of our emotional challenges stem from unhelpful or distorted thoughts, like “no one can help me.” With a trained counselor or psychologist, the patient examines these negative and dysfunctional thoughts, feelings or behaviors and works to correct them in order to disassociate the tinnitus sounds from the negative emotional responses. Some specific practices of CBT applied to tinnitus typically include relaxation techniques, activities for distraction, changing thoughts about tinnitus and education about health, sleep hygiene and the auditory system.
CBT will not make tinnitus go away, and it will not make tinnitus quieter. It does, however, improve the patient’s emotional response to tinnitus.
Can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Help with My Tinnitus?
If this all sounds positive to you, great! Consider getting your tinnitus evaluated and discussing with a hearing health professional what management strategies work best for you. Our specialists at M.K. Larson Audiology are well-equipped to have that conversation with you.
