Tinnitus in a Time of Chaos Calming the Mind
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TINNITUSTODAY To Promote Relief, Help Prevent, and Find Cures for Tinnitus Vol. 45, No. 1, Spring 2020 Tinnitus in a Time of Chaos Calming the Mind Finding Mental Health Support Tinnitus Treatment Online Creating a Caring Community Apps for Managing Stress and Anxiety A publication of the Visit & Learn More About Tinnitus at ATA.org TinnitusToday Spring2020 09.indd 1 4/1/20 3:13 PM ATA thrives through the dedication of a vast number of people, all of whom make a difference. Join the Jack Vernon Legacy Society Jack Vernon co-founded ATA in 1971 to lead the way in researching a cure, developing effective treatments, and creating broad-based support and awareness of tinnitus. ATA invites individuals and organizations to join our journey. How can you contribute? Monthly or annual financial Gifts of stock contributions Gifts of real estate Name ATA in your trust or estate Deferred gift annuities Ask ATA to create a Tribute Page in Donations to ATA in lieu of flowers in memory of a loved one memory of a loved one Convert stock and/or real estate into a unitrust We hope you’ll be a part of the legacy of securing silence for those with tinnitus through a variety of treatments, as well as finding a cure for the millions who endure incessant noise and anxiety. For more information about adding ATA as a beneficiary or ways to reduce your taxes through charitable contributions, please contact Torryn Brazell, ATA’s Executive Director, via email at: [email protected] Table of Contents Vol. 45, No. 1, Spring 2020 PERSONAL STORIES SPECIAL FEATURES Distinguishing 22 | Between Tinnitus Took Trudy A Variety of Therapy Hearing Loss, 11 | From Perfect Health 4 | Options Offer Tinnitus, and to Thoughts of Suicide Hope for Coping Hyperacusis: A With Tinnitus Recommended How Mindfulness Tinnitus-Evaluation 32 | Helped Me Create Launching Peace With My Tinnitus 14| Internet-based Protocol for Tinnitus Care Audiologists Hearing Aids Can Mental Well-Being 45 | Enhance Hearing, Enrich Does Tinnitus Bother Lives and Well-Being 20 | You? It Might Be Time 51 | Weighed Down to Join or Form a by Noise Support Group TINNITUS TOOLS & RESOURCES Making Sense 8 | of Titles and Specialties of Mental Health Professionals SCIENCE & RESEARCH NEWS Understanding Speech 43 | in Noisy Backgrounds Using Machine With Normal Hearing 19 | Learning to Predict Apps for Calming Outcomes for Better Imaging Device | the Mind Multimodal Tinnitus 47 | for Investigating Tinnitus 10 Treatment Qualifying for 40| Disability Benefits with Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus Journalist’s Odyssey 49| Begins With YOUR HEALTH Tinnitus Questions on Support Group 30 | Tinnitus Sound 54| Locations Management Spotlight on Patient Assessing Hyperacusis 56| Providers 35 | in Tinnitus Patients Using a Less ATA NEWS Painful Approach Christopher Cederroth The Correlation 29 | Receives Prestigious Limitations of Between Award 38 | Medications for Glaucoma 42 | Tinnitus: Things The ATA and BTA Bring and Tinnitus to Consider 29 | Together Leading Tinnitus Researchers FROM THE BOARD CHAIR Meaningful Support is Available and Can MANAGING EDITOR Change Lives Joy Onozuka American Tinnitus Association We know our thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors PUBLISHER influence our general sense of well-being as well as our Torryn P. Brazell, CAE immune system. But when it comes to tinnitus, it’s difficult American Tinnitus Association to predict how the condition will impact someone because PODCAST PRODUCER AND WRITER each person responds differently to the intrusion of this John A. Coverstone, AuD unwanted sound. Sentient Healthcare, Inc. We don’t yet understand why 80 percent of people with EDITOR-AT-LARGE tinnitus aren’t particularly bothered by it, while 20 percent Robert Sweetow, PhD find it disruptive, even incapacitating. Among the latter group, University of California, San Francisco tinnitus typically interferes with sleep and concentration, EDITORIAL ADVISORY PANEL James A. Henry, PhD Jill Meltzer, AuD which can have a negative ripple effect on work, socializing, National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Chair, Board of Directors and one’s mental health. Left untreated, those negative Research (NCRAR) stressors can trigger or exacerbate anxiety and depression. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs In some cases, tinnitus is so disruptive a person may Gail M. Whitelaw, PhD question whether life with tinnitus is worth living. My Department of Speech and Hearing Science message here is don’t give up hope. I have met so many The Ohio State University people who have gone from extreme lows brought on by DIGITAL DESIGN & PRODUCTION TEAM tinnitus to living with tinnitus without feeling particularly JML Design, LLC burdened by it. Things can and do get better with help! ADVERTISING In recent years, the tinnitus research community has Tinnitus Today is the official publication of the turned its attention to examining the effect of tinnitus American Tinnitus Association. It is published on quality of life as opposed to such things as tinnitus three times per year in April, August, and pitch and loudness. That shift is significant because the December and mailed to members and donors. The digital version is available online perception of tinnitus — even when it’s loud — may or may at www.ata.org. To grow your company’s not bother someone; hence, the impact on quality of life is brand reach, contact [email protected]. the central issue. ATA HEADQUARTERS While the percentage of people severely impacted by American Tinnitus Association tinnitus is relatively small, it is a huge and an unacceptable 8300 Boone Blvd, Suite 500 number, in my mind, because help is available. Tools Vienna, VA 22182 USA T: 800.634.8978 (Toll Free) for managing tinnitus exist and many skilled healthcare T: 202.800.6590 providers, including tinnitus-trained audiologists and mental www.ata.org health professionals, are capable of understanding the TO GIVE TO THE ATA emotional distress caused by tinnitus and helping patients American Tinnitus Association work through it. PO Box 424049 We at the ATA are also here to help, so if you or Washington, DC 20042-4049 someone you know is struggling with tinnitus, please reach The American Tinnitus Association is a non- out to us via email at [email protected] or telephone at profit corporation, tax-exempt under 501(c) (3) 1-800-634-8978. of the Internal Revenue Code, engaged in educational, charitable, and scientific activities. Tinnitus Today magazine is © copyrighted by the American Tinnitus Association. ADVERTISEMENT Publication of any advertisement does not in any way or manner constitute or imply ATA’s approval or endorsement 2 TINNITUS TODAY SPRING 2020 of any advertised product or service. FROM THE PUBLISHER ATA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jill Meltzer, AuD, Chicago, IL—Chair The ATA Will Never Tell John Minnebo, MBA, Philadelphia, PA—Vice Chair Bar-Giora Goldberg, San Diego, CA—Secretary You to Just Get Used David Hadley, MBA, San Francisco—Treasurer Ron Zagel, Grand Rapids, MI—Assistant Treasurer to Tinnitus Phillip Gander, PhD, Iowa City, IA Michael E. Hoffer, MD, FACS, Miami, FL Tinnitus can be debilitating and finding people who Jeannie Karlovitz, AuD, Downington, PA grasp its negative effects can be hard. This can leave a Gordon Mountford, CPA, South Pasadena, CA person feeling alone and boxed in by constant sound. Robert Travis Scott, Baton Rouge, LA No one should feel that way. But how do you find help if LaGuinn P. Sherlock, AuD, Bethesda, MD— everyone you’ve spoken to — from your family physician, Immediate Past Chair friends, and family to your ENT doctor — has said “You’ll Robert M. Traynor, EdD, MBA, Ft. Collins, CO just have to get used to it”? Joseph Trevisani, New York, NY When the ATA says we’re here to help you that means Ted Turesky, PhD, Boston, MA we will share credible information on treatments and tools Melissa Wikoff, AuD, Atlanta, GA for tinnitus management and point you in the right direction Torryn P. Brazell, CAE Jinsheng Zhang, PhD, Detroit, MI Publisher Torryn P. Brazell, Vienna, VA—Ex-officio for utilizing healthcare resources in your local community. We will never tell you to get used to it! HONORARY DIRECTOR Tinnitus that upends your life by taking away your ability William Shatner, Los Angeles, CA to sleep well, concentrate, socialize with friends, and ATA SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE relax isn’t something to “get used to.” It’s something that The opinions expressed by contributors to Tinnitus Today Michael E. Hoffer, MD, FACS—Chair affects your mental and physical health, which can further University of Miami Health System, are not necessarily those of Miami, FL USA contribute to a downward cycle in quality of life. the publisher or the American Tinnitus Association. This Carey D. Balaban, PhD In this issue, you’ll discover a growing network of mental publication provides a variety University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA USA health professionals and tinnitus-trained audiologists who of topics related to tinnitus for Shaowen Bao, PhD are available to help you work through the anxiety, stress, informational purposes only. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ and depression that can accompany tinnitus. ATA’s publication of any adver- Christopher R. Cederroth, PhD If an audiologist who assesses your hearing and tinnitus tisement in any kind of media Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden believes you need more support working through the does not, in any way or man- Marc Fagelson, PhD emotional turmoil of intrusive tinnitus, he/she can and ner, constitute or imply ATA’s East Tennessee State University, approval or endorsement of Johnson City, TN USA should refer you to a therapist. If your circumstances any advertised product or Fatima T. Husain, PhD prevent you from seeing a therapist, there are resources. service. ATA does not favor University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, You can get help online and through such tools as or endorse any commercial Champaign, IL USA product or service.