You and your family should be much more attentive of your hearing levels according to researchers at the Institute for Deafness and other Communication Disorders. They have found that people with hearing loss have a much higher chance of suffering from depression at some point during their lives. This correlation has left many people to reexamine the way that they approach their hearing health. We will take a closer look at the study, how to prevent hearing loss, and how to treat hearing loss and depression.
How To Prevent Hearing Loss
The concept behind preventing your hearing loss is rather simple: try not to expose yourself to various loud noises that you will encounter throughout your life. Do not sit up front at a concert and try to avoid using earbuds when you exercise. However, avoiding loud noises is not always possible for some people. That is why hearing protection is a very important aspect of saving your hearing health. Wear ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones on the job sites, your hearing and other parts of your health will certainly thank you for it.
The Study
Almost 18.000 people decided to take part in one of the largest and most comprehensive hearing studies that has ever been completed. The individuals were told to report their hearing loss to the institute, except for people over the age of 70 who had to be tested in a clinic setting. Once all of the results were gathered, the volunteers took a written test to show whether or not they had depression.
The results of the test were very interesting to say the least. People from all over the country showed that people under the age of 70 had very high levels of hearing loss and also had an 11% rate of depression to go along with it. The people over the age of 70 had high rates of hearing loss, but did not see the same numbers when it came to depression, something that interested the researchers greatly. The bottom line is that hearing loss is responsible for depression in many cases.
Treating This Depression
Treating depression that has been caused by hearing loss can be a rather difficult task because it is a two part illness. Most people would say that it is pertinent to treat the hearing loss. If you have surgery or have a hearing aid installed, then you have the ability to hear and take part in all parts of your life that you were not able to as a result of your hearing. This can be enough to pull people out of their depression. Still, it can still help to have a doctor prescribe an antidepressant to help as well.