Panic disorders and deafness

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bwanaswan

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Long story short. Had been working in the hearing world all my life and lost what little hearing I had last fall. I work in a high public contact job at a hospital and when my ability to hear finally bottomed I contacted HR.
I asked for any help months earlier when I could see how fast my hearing was going. They said they would work on it and put things in place to help me succeed and I took it in good faith. Nothing happened and I stayed in my job doing the best I could until I couldn't even use the phone anymore and dealing with patients sent me into panic attacks.

Went to my doctor evaluated and after that me he took me off of work for stress, extremely high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and exhaustion.

Now I am out of sick leave and vacation time and have to go back to work or lose my job. Just thinking of going back there puts me in a panic, I can't sleep, can't think straight, and have had several panic attacks when I think about going into that situation.

I have had several panic attacks in the last months and often I can't see them coming. I never had these problems before my work life became hell.

Tomorrow I am meeting with HR and job coach to discuss me coming back but I am just sitting here shaking, sweating, my heart is pounding and I am scared to death to walk through that door.

I am at a loss of what to do. Before I was taken off work I would pace back and forth outside of work to make myself go in.

I really don't know what I am asking here but if anyone can relate or has advice I would sure like to know. The clock is ticking and I am going just a little bit nuts.

Thanks,

Chris
 
bwanaswan said:
Long story short. Had been working in the hearing world all my life and lost what little hearing I had last fall. I work in a high public contact job at a hospital and when my ability to hear finally bottomed I contacted HR.
I asked for any help months earlier when I could see how fast my hearing was going. They said they would work on it and put things in place to help me succeed and I took it in good faith. Nothing happened and I stayed in my job doing the best I could until I couldn't even use the phone anymore and dealing with patients sent me into panic attacks.

Went to my doctor evaluated and after that me he took me off of work for stress, extremely high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and exhaustion.

Now I am out of sick leave and vacation time and have to go back to work or lose my job. Just thinking of going back there puts me in a panic, I can't sleep, can't think straight, and have had several panic attacks when I think about going into that situation.

I have had several panic attacks in the last months and often I can't see them coming. I never had these problems before my work life became hell.

Tomorrow I am meeting with HR and job coach to discuss me coming back but I am just sitting here shaking, sweating, my heart is pounding and I am scared to death to walk through that door.

I am at a loss of what to do. Before I was taken off work I would pace back and forth outside of work to make myself go in.

I really don't know what I am asking here but if anyone can relate or has advice I would sure like to know. The clock is ticking and I am going just a little bit nuts.

Thanks,

Chris
Click to expand...

Hi, Chris,

I have slowly progressing sensorineural hearing loss, and have had a history of panic attacks (although they are unrelated to my hearing loss), so I can relate a bit to what you're going through.

Stress - no matter what causes it (a divorce, a health problem, losing a job, moving to a new home, the death of someone close, a big life change of some kind) can bring on depression and panic attacks. Losing your hearing is a pretty big life change. It's important to try to manage what's causing your stress as best you can, and seeing a doctor for medication and also sometimes talking about it with a therapist can be helpful. My panic attacks began after I went through a divorce, and were aggravated by undiagnosed asthma that worsened as I got older. I take medication to manage my asthma now, but I occasionally still have panic attacks, so I know how awful they can be.

It's good that you were able to take a break from work for a while, but now that you'll be going back to talk to HR about your future options, I guess the best advice I can give is to try not to think of going back in negative terms. If you're going to be meeting with a job coach, then try to think of that in a positive light. Hopefully, the job coach will have helpful information that will assist you in moving forward in good ways at work. Fear of the unknown is hard sometimes, but often situations that make us panicky turn out to be much less terrible afterwards than our fears made them out to be. The job coach is there to help you (at least that's what I'm assuming!), so try to keep that in mind and take full advantage of any assitance/advice/technology/job training they offer you.

Getting information about State vocational rehabilitation programs available in your area might also help you to manage your stress/anxiety levels going forward. If there are any deaf/hoh organizations near where you live, maybe contacting them would be helpful, and even if there aren't any near you, if you call or email them, they may be able to assist you in learning to manage your hearing loss. Doing positive things to help you gain more control over your situation will help you feel less stressed.

As for things that might help when you feel a panic attack coming on, different techniques work for different people. Deep breathing exercises help some people, or meditation, yoga, or listening to relaxing music. Exercise can also help - even just going for a walk to clear your head and get some good endorphins pumping through your body. For me, distraction works (deep breathing just makes me hyperventilate, which isn't helpful at all :laugh2:) so if I'm with someone and feel panicky, I ask them questions to get them talking about themselves - even about the weather or what they had for dinner, or what their plans are for the weekend, etc. If I'm alone, I turn on the tv and watch a comedy or something interesting about travel or history or nature. Sometimes, I "phone a friend" - just hearing another person's voice and sharing a laugh is often enough to snap me out of a panic attack.

It's difficult to remember and believe when you're having a panic attack that you're going to be OK, but that's really the most important thing to remember and keep reminding yourself: You're going to be OK :wave:
 
Last edited:
I do not think anxiety, panic attacks are somehow particularly prevalent in people with hearing disorders.
As it happen, I know plenty of perfectly well hearing pple who suffer with this unfortunate malady.

It could be you were pre-destined to suffer from anxiety anyway, even if you wouldn't lose your hearing, who knows. so perhaps you should treat your anxiety as separate from hearing loss and treat it as primary disorder, the hearing loss being a trigger for the panic attacks?

Nevertheless, it's obvious loss of hearing is causing you severe disability and distress.
so I wondered - since you wrote "your hearing finally bottomed" if there is a chance to get Cochlear Implant for you? it could be the right option since you relay so much on your sense of hearing?



Fuzzy
 
Crickets said:
Hi, Chris,

I have slowly progressing sensorineural hearing loss, and have had a history of panic attacks (although they are unrelated to my hearing loss), so I can relate a bit to what you're going through.

Stress - no matter what causes it (a divorce, a health problem, losing a job, moving to a new home, the death of someone close, a big life change of some kind) can bring on depression and panic attacks. Losing your hearing is a pretty bit life change. It's important to try to manage what's causing your stress as best you can, and seeing a doctor for medication and also sometimes talking about it with a therapist can be helpful. My panic attacks began after I went through a divorce, and were aggravated by undiagnosed asthma that worsened as I got older. I take medication to manage my asthma now, but I occasionally still have panic attacks, so I know how awful they can be.

It's good that you were able to take a break from work for a while, but now that you'll be going back to talk to HR about your future options, I guess the best advice I can give is to try not to think of going back in negative terms. If you're going to be meeting with a job coach, then try to think of that in a positive light. Hopefully, the job coach will have helpful information that will assist you in moving forward in good ways at work. Fear of the unknown is hard sometimes, but often situations that make us panicky turn out to be much less terrible afterwards than our fears made them out to be. The job coach is there to help you (at least that's what I'm assuming!), so try to keep that in mind and take full advantage of any assitance/advice/technology/job training they offer you.

Getting information about State vocational rehabilitation programs available in your area might also help you to manage your stress/anxiety levels going forward. If there are any deaf/hoh organizations near where you live, maybe contacting them would be helpful, and even if there aren't any near you, if you call or email them, they may be able to assist you in learning to manage your hearing loss. Doing positive things to help you gain more control over your situation will help you feel less stressed.

As for things that might help when you feel a panic attack coming on, different techniques work for different people. Deep breathing exercises help some people, or meditation, yoga, or listening to relaxing music. Exercise can also help - even just going for a walk to clear your head and get some good endorphins pumping through your body. For me, distraction works (deep breathing just makes me hyperventilate, which isn't helpful at all :laugh2:) so if I'm with someone and feel panicky, I ask them questions to get them talking about themselves - even about the weather or what they had for dinner, or what their plans are for the weekend, etc. If I'm alone, I turn on the tv and watch a comedy or something interesting about travel or history or nature. Sometimes, I "phone a friend" - just hearing another person's voice and sharing a laugh is often enough to snap me out of a panic attack.

It's difficult to remember and believe when you're having a panic attack that you're going to be OK, but that's really the most important thing to remember and keep reminding yourself: You're going to be OK :wave:
Click to expand...


Thank you for your heart felt reply.

I guess the hard part is the unknown and how HR has handled this from the get go. I've been tossed under the bus so many times I know how road kill feels.

There maybe other things that I can do but I sure don't think it is high public contact anymore. At 54 I think that ship has sailed. I'm hoping for some resolution so I can move on with my life. I don't mind the not hearing so much as dealing with several people a day that find it a bother to deal with me. If I were a few years older I would just retire.

Thanks,

Chris
 
Audiofuzzy said:
I do not think anxiety, panic attacks are somehow particularly prevalent in people with hearing disorders.
As it happen, I know plenty of perfectly well hearing pple who suffer with this unfortunate malady.

It could be you were pre-destined to suffer from anxiety anyway, even if you wouldn't lose your hearing, who knows. so perhaps you should treat your anxiety as separate from hearing loss and treat it as primary disorder, the hearing loss being a trigger for the panic attacks?

Nevertheless, it's obvious loss of hearing is causing you severe disability and distress.
so I wondered - since you wrote "your hearing finally bottomed" if there is a chance to get Cochlear Implant for you? it could be the right option since you relay so much on your sense of hearing?



Fuzzy
Click to expand...

You could be right on the anxiety thing and all, but I didn't have any of this till my ears went south.

I'd be covering old ground but I have been turned down 4 times now for CI.
They say I've been deaf or HOH so long they don't think my brain will adapt to it. Will not OK for insurance.

Thanks,

Chris
 
bwanaswan said:
You could be right on the anxiety thing and all, but I didn't have any of this till my ears went south.

I'd be covering old ground but I have been turned down 4 times now for CI.
They say I've been deaf or HOH so long they don't think my brain will adapt to it. Will not OK for insurance.

Thanks,

Chris
Click to expand...

Well, everybody's different, and what can cause panic attacks in one person may not in other people. Some people go their whole lives without ever having a panic attack.

If your panic attacks are being caused by your hearing loss and the stress from that, then they will hopefully become fewer and farther between as you learn the skills and gain the knowledge to live with and manage your hearing loss - regardless of whether you ever get cochlear implants. It's not going to happen overnight, but you will get there eventually. Even if you do have to change jobs, you may find aspects of whatever you do next that are just as rewarding as the job you currently have. And if not, then you might find that now is the perfect time to start doing other activities/hobbies that you enjoy (painting, photography, carpentry, coaching, volunteering, etc.) - there's more to life than work, after all :aw:
 
bwanaswan said:
You could be right on the anxiety thing and all, but I didn't have any of this till my ears went south.

I'd be covering old ground but I have been turned down 4 times now for CI.
They say I've been deaf or HOH so long they don't think my brain will adapt to it. Will not OK for insurance.

Thanks,

Chris
Click to expand...

This is bull. 100%. find someone else. they just don't want to pay.
Read Beverly Biderman book Wired for Sound - her brain adapted alright despite being deaf for so long, if hers could - so can yours even better.
fight them, fight, fight, fight!

of course, you have to be aware of all the extremely hard work that is ahead of you. but if you are willing... you can improve your hearing, certainly better than what you have now. are you willing to work hard?
btw for the life of me I don't get why so many born deaf are accepted while you, who are functioning as hearing, is denied. search me...:roll:

[ame="http://www.amazon.ca/Wired-Sound-Journey-Into-Hearing/dp/1895579325"]http://www.amazon.ca/Wired-Sound-Journey-Into-Hearing/dp/1895579325[/ame]


Fuzzy
 
panic attack person myself but many reasons why..All I can give you is practical advice have paper bag with you and breath in and out until it pass it gets blood gas back to normal...We make the attacks worse by over breathing it horrible feeling.
many people think they having panic attacks but it can be disturbance of temporal lobe of brain maybe dr check it out it easy to sort out.
good luck
 
Interesting response about the CI... if you desire it, try to find a second opinion- unless that is why you've been turned down 4 times.

IF (and I hope it doesn't happen) you do lose your job, look into SSDI for short term so at least you have some income coming in. Because your hearing bottomed out and caused your work to suffer and unable to do your job properly you've met one of the criteria. JMHO- you don't have to apply.

Good luck and I hope that either there are ways to ease your job and returning to it or they can offer some sort of lateral move to something less hearing dependent (less phone use).
 
Cochlear implant is not relate health your chemical body function in nerve. health is specialist only all disorder

Sent from my SGH-I337M using AllDeaf App mobile app
 
I IN your area of age and big life change start my panic attacks I feel it coming up from pit of stomach move up body and feel like got seconds to live.even thinking about it gives me shudders that why don't often answer these questions..has doctor mention beta blockers
 
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