Is this a valid reason to wanting to be deaf?

N

Nega5

New Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hey guys I'm new here and I'm going through crisis due to my hyperacusis. I'm planning on going deaf. I don't know how but I just wanna ask...

I have lived with my hyperacusis all my life which makes me sensitive to celebration sounds such as clapping, cheering etc. that gives me immense panic attacks and trauma in some of the worser cases. I'm autistic if that is a good reason.

The main thing that caused this crisis was thinking that I was able to attend comic conventions and being proven wrong. I realised with such sensitive hearing, i'll be worried all of my life.

I now have come to a revelation that everywhere I go, im gonna be on edge due to risks of hearing clapping which could cause panic attacks for me.

Yes i have tried getting over it, oh and i can't stand music for these reasons so im not gonna miss much in that.

I spent 500 bucks on two pairs of earplugs too and they just don't work. I feel that my ability to hear is a curse. Not a gift.

So please, is it a good idea for someone like me? Is it a valid reason? If so, should i join in on the deaf community? And how?
Thank you. I just wanna end this agony.
 
No, I can tell you from walking a similar path that it is insanity plain and simple. You know what autistic kids use? Those hardcore noise blocking earmuffs. Your earplugs don't work and will never work because it's not their job, their job is to stop sound when it is at damaging levels. Talk to a doctor, talk to a therapist, talk to an audiologist. Hyperacusis unlike tinnitus can be dealt with by adapting or changing what is outside instead of the far harder task of dealing with tinnitus ever-present and basically neurological. All to say, don't burn down your house to kill a spider, idiots make the news for that. You may be turning away a beatable opponent for a life long foe. I've seen postings exactly like this in other crevices of the web, I can say you are not alone. And that this is almost always the symptom of deeper interconnected things. I thought I was autistic, hell I would probably even be diagnosed high functioning, and I share the same allergies to certain foods, and that's the one thing that really changed my ability to handle shitty amount of sound i was hearing, turned out I had also lost another 30db in the middle of my hearing range. I adjusted my hearing aids, I took time to adjust, I thought on what could be causing the hyperacusis and what i could do about it that was most intelligent. Knowing that the shadows in my life were longest just before the sun came back. I quit my job, moved out of the city and changed my diet, environment, and routine. Who would have known being unhealthy would make me feel unhealthy and think unhealthy.
 
Nothingless said:
No, I can tell you from walking a similar path that it is insanity plain and simple. You know what autistic kids use? Those hardcore noise blocking earmuffs. Your earplugs don't work and will never work because it's not their job, their job is to stop sound when it is at damaging levels. Talk to a doctor, talk to a therapist, talk to an audiologist. Hyperacusis unlike tinnitus can be dealt with by adapting or changing what is outside instead of the far harder task of dealing with tinnitus ever-present and basically neurological. All to say, don't burn down your house to kill a spider, idiots make the news for that. You may be turning away a beatable opponent for a life long foe. I've seen postings exactly like this in other crevices of the web, I can say you are not alone. And that this is almost always the symptom of deeper interconnected things. I thought I was autistic, hell I would probably even be diagnosed high functioning, and I share the same allergies to certain foods, and that's the one thing that really changed my ability to handle shitty amount of sound i was hearing, turned out I had also lost another 30db in the middle of my hearing range. I adjusted my hearing aids, I took time to adjust, I thought on what could be causing the hyperacusis and what i could do about it that was most intelligent. Knowing that the shadows in my life were longest just before the sun came back. I quit my job, moved out of the city and changed my diet, environment, and routine. Who would have known being unhealthy would make me feel unhealthy and think unhealthy.
Click to expand...
I see what you mean. I have tried earmuffs, and yes, i could still hear everything. The problem with me is the only way to not get scared of clapping is to not hear it AT ALL.

Earmuffs don't do this.
 
You're here because you want help, but you have all the answers. It's not a revelation but a reality that most people will express their joviality with noise. The idea is to deal with that reality and adapt to it, that means dealing with the stress, (panic attacks) and the stressor (talk to a professional of any kind, doctor, therapist, or someone who knows what you're going through), don't think you can solve you're dandelion problem by pouring acid on your flowers, are these metaphors straight forward enough? What do you do in your day to day life that has people clapping all the time?
 
I think you're the only one that can decide what is right for you. Everyone
threshold to certain sound are difference and you'll getting difference opinions . I feel this something you should talk over with your doctors they know you better at least I hope they do and should be able to give the best advice for your situation .
 
Your problem with noise might be worse as you loose hearing/become deaf.

Look up recruitment and you'll understand. I have a friend with it and even tho she's profoundly deaf, she suffers from it really bad. Any noise and it's painful for her :(

Are you going to loose hearing by surgery or just listening to loud music and damaging your hearing?
 
NaidaUP said:
Your problem with noise might be worse as you loose hearing/become deaf.

Look up recruitment and you'll understand. I have a friend with it and even tho she's profoundly deaf, she suffers from it really bad. Any noise and it's painful for her :(

Are you going to loose hearing by surgery or just listening to loud music and damaging your hearing?
Click to expand...

I lost all of my hearing about 3 years ago. Now noise can be extremely painful for me. Plus I suffer from severe tinnitus. I went to a sporting goods store and bought ear muffs that people use on a firing range. I bought the maximum blockage and they worked. We went to a huge 4th of July event which in the past I just could not handle. I enjoyed the day and night very much without any pain. They only cost $25.
 
Nega5 said:
I see what you mean. I have tried earmuffs, and yes, i could still hear everything. The problem with me is the only way to not get scared of clapping is to not hear it AT ALL.

Earmuffs don't do this.
Click to expand...

Have you tried the earplugs and earmuffs together?
Or maybe earplugs and noise canceling headphones playing any sort of sound you find preferable to clapping?
At least then you could pick and stop the noise. Tinnitus on the otherhand picks its own soundtrack - and can't be turned off.
 
I'm a bit confused by Angel and Naida's comments. If the people in question are "profoundly deaf" and/or have "lost all of their hearing" how are loud noises painful? Is the auditory signal gone but replaced by one of pain instead?
 
If you looked up recruitment you would understand that it is like striking a chord on the piano in terms of intensity, how one working hair in a chorus when put to the right stimulus can prime the brain for sound when in reality not much auditory information was recieved. Those with profound hearing losses like my dad can have loss that slopes to or from that point. And the distinction between 100% no outside auditory information and profound hearing loss is considerable. Also take into account that if one has a profound loss and wears hearing aids the sound that is useful is minimal and often recruitment makes it just painful noise.
 
Last edited:
And okay, earmuffs.. you look at your problem in a vacuum, any issue with the neurology of your brain will surely continue, you will just have another set of problems. If you are diagnosed autistic then your works done for you other people have lived with the same sensory issues. If not then who knows what underlying undiagnosed chronic condition you may have, encephalitis, hearing loss, or a host of different things. If it is just the way your brain is and blah blah, you work it out you structure your life around it and deal. Yeah it's your choice your body, but I can't help thinking it would be bloody stupid to do without consulting a professional ..not the freaking web.
 
Last edited:
Gobae said:
I'm a bit confused by Angel and Naida's comments. If the people in question are "profoundly deaf" and/or have "lost all of their hearing" how are loud noises painful? Is the auditory signal gone but replaced by one of pain instead?
Click to expand...

All to do with recruitment. Google it and you'll understand. :)
 
In the end I did that. Very strange/interesting situation.

It also looks like Angel's statement that she's "lost all of [her] hearing" isn't accurate since as "the hair cells in the cochlea become ineffective, they "recruit" their (still working) neighbor hair cells to "hear" the frequency the damaged hair cell was supposed to hear, in addition to the frequency the still working hair cell was supposed to hear. This increases the signal from the still working hair cells". Source - nchearingloss.org This means people with recruitment must have some residual hearing.
 
Gobae said:
In the end I did that. Very strange/interesting situation.

It also looks like Angel's statement that she's "lost all of [her] hearing" isn't accurate since as "the hair cells in the cochlea become ineffective, they "recruit" their (still working) neighbor hair cells to "hear" the frequency the damaged hair cell was supposed to hear, in addition to the frequency the still working hair cell was supposed to hear. This increases the signal from the still working hair cells". Source - nchearingloss.org This means people with recruitment must have some residual hearing.
Click to expand...

Very very few people are actually 100% deaf, they might be very very profoundly deaf and classed as deaf but are not actually 100% deaf. That's where the problem comes.

The OP unless he's getting his hearing nerve cut in surgery, will unlikely become 100% deaf.

I'm classed as being very profoundly deaf (all my hearing is under 110db) very little hearing at all. My Naidas do a very good job at helping with loud sounds.

There's also a problem about your UCLs. The distance between your UCLs levels and just being able to hear, can be very small. That means a lot of sounds will be painful / uncomfortable.
 
would any doctor do it I would doubt it....once done no going back
 
Gobae said:
In the end I did that. Very strange/interesting situation.

It also looks like Angel's statement that she's "lost all of [her] hearing" isn't accurate since as "the hair cells in the cochlea become ineffective, they "recruit" their (still working) neighbor hair cells to "hear" the frequency the damaged hair cell was supposed to hear, in addition to the frequency the still working hair cell was supposed to hear. This increases the signal from the still working hair cells". Source - nchearingloss.org This means people with recruitment must have some residual hearing.
Click to expand...

I'm not going to argue about how deaf I am since it doesn't really matter. Every test I have had and I have had a lot of them show "NO RESPONSE" in both ears "total traumatic hearing loss". Hearing aids were not an option for me.
 
NaidaUP said:
Very very few people are actually 100% deaf, they might be very very profoundly deaf and classed as deaf but are not actually 100% deaf. That's where the problem comes.

The OP unless he's getting his hearing nerve cut in surgery, will unlikely become 100% deaf.

I'm classed as being very profoundly deaf (all my hearing is under 110db) very little hearing at all. My Naidas do a very good job at helping with loud sounds.

There's also a problem about your UCLs. The distance between your UCLs levels and just being able to hear, can be very small. That means a lot of sounds will be painful / uncomfortable.
Click to expand...


That's interesting. If this is true, and given the advances in hearing aids, the amount of people going from aids to implants would be shrinking(depending on the hearing).
 
To OP: Being on the spectrum with sensory sensitivity (not at your level, though, on the sounds), I can say that your best bet is to wear earplugs and the actual industrial-type sound protection type of earmuff together, possibly secured to be held tighter to your head with like a sweatband or scarf or hat or something. It looks weird, but that (or alternatively, headphones blasting music, which is something you said you wouldn't be able to handle) is one of very few ways I can handle the all-around experience of vacuuming. You might well need to combine noise-canceling strategies with standing up for yourself (or getting someone else to help you do so), assuming you are in an environment where you can actually get people to quiet down for you and not somewhere like a big concert or stadium, which you might do well to avoid entirely if possible.

Basically, avoidance (of inevitable large gatherings you don't *have* to attend where your methods would be deemed almost completely ineffective), proactivity (staving off as much input as possible with blocking strategies), and advocacy (getting people around you to SHUT UP).

Do note, though, that any non-permanent noise blocking, particularly if worn for long periods, is likely to increase your sensitivity when you are not wearing it. I second some of the replies advising you to see a professional, as they may have better methods than suggested here.

*looks at OP date* That is, IF you're still here.:aw:
 
You're on edge everyday because you might hear people clapping??? That is.....a weeeeeee bit paranoid.

I mean it's not like all appliances everywhere are connected to a clapper, so people would be clapping all day. I mean c'mon now. Let's be a little realistic. People just don't break out into random clapping. Avoid places where their might be clapping, or where ear muffs or something.

As someone who used to hear and is now profoundly deaf, reading about someone purposefully deafening themselves because that might hear someone clap at any given moment makes me a tad infuriated. Yeah yeah you got problems and Im probably being insensitive....but my god!!!! That's crazy.
 
I think it's more a widescale problem with sound. I have a similar thing on a lesser level (though it tends to be worst with discordant/cacophonous sounds). I can understand where he's coming from (my sensitivity having pushed me to tears in one instance), but it's not a smart idea, especially since there's no going back.
 
Back
Top