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[I who love music]

If I "check in" on my tinnitus and it's not there, do I say "I don't hear my tinnitus and that makes me happy" or do I say "I'm annoyed for checking in on my tinnitus"?

@I who love music how long before I notice a difference?

I wouldn't say either of those things.
I think the object of the technique is to form a new pathway in the brain. I wouldn't advise 'checking in' on the tinnitus, ever. And I wouldn't form a response for being annoyed at checking in on tinnitus either.

Simply steer your thought of tinnitus to an honest response of how you feel about tinnitus when you hear it.

Other folks have written wondering how it can work, or when will it start working.
Well, I noticed I was feeling relaxed and happy before I noticed my responses were getting fewer. Please read that again. I don't know how else to say it.

In other words, I first knew it was working within a few days because I was feeling different. After a few energetic, happy days, it dawned on me .. I was responding less to my tinnitus. I was not hearing it as often. Thus, the energy and happiness, and isn't that what we're after?

 

[OddV]

@I who love music yes it is what we're after... I'm not "checking in" on my tinnitus intentionally, it's almost an involuntary action sometimes... But I'll take your advice on that one... Thanks again for bringing this technique to our attention.

 

[Tenna]

@I who love music I remember when I first came to this forum how it saddened me greatly to see you so troubled through your posts. Lately has been the biggest joy reading all of your posts, it's fantastic to see you do so much better, a very moving post!

*BTW, do you feel this new way of thinking and living has any effect on your hyperacusis?

 

[Sound Wave]

I first read about it here on this forum, I don't remember who posted it.

You know what, I think it was me. I first read it from somebody else, and I got inspired by it. After that I replied to some threads with that and I remember you liking it. At the end it really doesn't matter who it was - it was this forum and all of us!

 

[I who love music]

@I who love music I remember when I first came to this forum how it saddened me greatly to see you so troubled through your posts. Lately has been the biggest joy reading all of your posts, it's fantastic to see you do so much better, a very moving post!

*BTW, do you feel this new way of thinking and living has any effect on your hyperacusis?

My hyperacusis flares up in response to very high pitched sounds.

 

[Lisa88]

@I who love music
I have been trying it for a couple of days now. Thanks so much for letting us know about the technique.
Just one more question. One of my responses seems to be, "Bollox, that sound again. I can't stand it and worry that it may never go". This is probably not a response you used, right? Worry seems very counterproductive. Although it IS a response.

 

[I who love music]

@I who love music
I have been trying it for a couple of days now. Thanks so much for letting us know about the technique.
Just one more question. One of my responses seems to be, "Bollox, that sound again. I can't stand it and worry that it may never go". This is probably not a response you used, right? Worry seems very counterproductive. Although it IS a response.

That's perfect.
You're describing your feeling, not describing the volume / sound.
You may be wondering how to tell if this works. Don't get hung up listening to your tinnitus. In the days ahead, try to notice how these new responses change.
It gets easier.

 

[Emgone]

Thank you for this post and sharing your thoughts! I'm new here and found that this is something I've been doing since I developed tinnitus (without really realizing I was doing it) and it has been the only reason I have been able to keep my stress level about it low.

I've recently started meditating, and instead of focusing on my breathing while I clear my mind, I chose to focus on my tinnitus. It actually helps me feel pretty relaxed and before I know it, I don't really 'hear' it anymore and am instead just breathing deeply. I think it's the same principle - by acknowledging the tinnitus, I am practicing acceptance and not giving it the 'power' to stress me out. I'm so glad you have found this working for you too.

 

[Claire43013]

WONDERFUL! After 40 years, that's amazing and such an inspiration for others on here to read. I used the same technique as you, and that's really what finally made habituation possible for me. I would "hear" it then tell myself, "Ugh, that sound again, well I hate it now, but I will forget about it again" or some variation of that. I never thought about it, but I think you're right about being honest with yourself. Congratulations!

 

[Lisa88]

OK, @I who love music
It is OK to say, Grrrr, there's that sound. I'm irritated, angry, not bothered etc.
But maybe it's not OK to say. Grrrr, there's that sound. It's loud. Louder than yesterday. It's irritating me ...
Is that right? Don't describe the sound while you are making your response. And don't describe it as the sound is doing something to you. But just purely your reaction to the sound.
So you are the subject of the sentence, and not the object. If that makes sense?
So sorry. Just want to clarify how you went about it. Getting there gradually Thank you.

 

[I who love music]

Hi Lisa,

No. It does the opposite. I think because it's part of CBT, "Attention shifting" or something like that.
I had success with something like this years ago. A psychologist told me I was a "Shrugger" and that my headaches were caused in part by my tense shoulders. She told me to drop my shoulders every time I walked through a doorway. After a few days it was habit. Same thing with tinnitus. Every time I notice my tinnitus now I tell myself how I feel about it. Shifting my response to my feeling about tinnitus instead of the volume, frequency... etc... has become a habit and I no longer dwell on the sound of it. I've taught myself to respond to my tinnitus in a new way. And it seems that part of my brain just isn't that interested in how I feel about it. Because the responses are getting fewer all the time. And that means I'm hearing it less. For the person who is going to listen to their tinnitus, measure it and compare it to the last time they heard it, this is not going to work.

 

[I who love music]

Key Words

Don't say-
I think it's louder, I wish it would go away.
It's ringing AND hissing now.
I heard the door slam now my tinnitus is going crazy.
I think I'm habituating, it's only buzzing in my left ear.
Tinnitus is awful. How can I go on?

Do say-
It's weird but I feel frightened hearing it now. key word - Frightened
I don't have time for this, I'm angry about having tinnitus. key word - angry
They say I'll get used to it, I'm so tired of waiting. key word - tired
Everytime I go in this store I'm distracted by tinnitus. key word - distracted

The attention is shifted, by you, off a description of tinnitus (louder, ringing, hissing, crazy, buzzing, awful) and ON to a description of a feeling about tinnitus (frightened, angry, tired, distracted).
I have no idea how this works. But in just a few days it was as if part of me was saying, "I have no time for this."
And my feelings of calm and happiness were the first signs that this was working. Did I check to see if my tinnitus was still "There?" Yes, I did. But quickly my thoughts went from the descriptions of tinnitus to my feelings about tinnitus - as I trained them to do.
So far, so good.

 

[Leah]

Woo hoo!!! Will give this a try, thanks so much!!!

 

[SoulStation]

Key Words

Don't say-
I think it's louder, I wish it would go away.
It's ringing AND hissing now.
I heard the door slam now my tinnitus is going crazy.
I think I'm habituating, it's only buzzing in my left ear.
Tinnitus is awful. How can I go on?

Do say-
It's weird but I feel frightened hearing it now. key word - Frightened
I don't have time for this, I'm angry about having tinnitus. key word - angry
They say I'll get used to it, I'm so tired of waiting. key word - tired
Everytime I go in this store I'm distracted by tinnitus. key word - distracted

The attention is shifted, by you, off a description of tinnitus (louder, ringing, hissing, crazy, buzzing, awful) and ON to a description of a feeling about tinnitus (frightened, angry, tired, distracted).
I have no idea how this works. But in just a few days it was as if part of me was saying, "I have no time for this."
And my feelings of calm and happiness were the first signs that this was working. Did I check to see if my tinnitus was still "There?" Yes, I did. But quickly my thoughts went from the descriptions of tinnitus to my feelings about tinnitus - as I trained them to do.
So far, so good.

This is so well explained. Bless you sir.

 

[Lisa88]

Yes, Thanks so much @I who love music
Will keep trying.
I am a university trained musician and have worked as a sound engineer too. So measuring texture, intervals and volume of sound is so part of who I am. This is a challenge. But definitely one I will continue to take. Seems such a great technique. Thank you so much for sharing, and writing such a clear explanation.

 

[Blinkysimon]

Thank you for writing this and I am very very happy for you. I'm confused as I'm not getting relief from it. When I say I'm mad that I have to deal with this and the noise is still there and I'm still mad then what? It will keep going and going just as my emotions are doing the same. Do you have any guidance?

 

[Leah]

I am not doing so well today.
Trying the technique and want it to work. I do not expect overnight results but I have been having more bad days that good.
Any hints on this technique would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[I who love music]

Thank you for writing this and I am very very happy for you. I'm confused as I'm not getting relief from it. When I say I'm mad that I have to deal with this and the noise is still there and I'm still mad then what? It will keep going and going just as my emotions are doing the same. Do you have any guidance?

I would say, "I'm twice as mad as before." You're doing good.
But I would certainly avoid saying, "The noise is still there.." That is a description/measurement of tinnitus.
As far a guidance, I'll tell you this - When I started this technique, I had a real good feeling about it. And I didn't expect the positive results to happen so fast. So when I answered the tinnitus call with a new response it was almost exhilarating. And when my tinnitus seemed to finally disappear, I knew I had entered unchartered territory in my brain and I was almost scared I'd screw it up because it was too good to be true. So automatically this strengthened my determination to NEVER NEVER measure my tinnitus again. If if someone asks me what "kind" or frequency of tinnitus I have, I vow to never describe it again. Not to myself or anyone. But I can tell you this, once in a while I hear it and I'm not bothered at all, and quite happy to say that.

 

[I who love music]

I am not doing so well today.
Trying the technique and want it to work. I do not expect overnight results but I have been having more bad days that good.
Thanks

Ya, here's a hint-
Be more specific. "Not doing well," and "Having more bad days" are not measurements of tinnitus, which is a good thing. But they're not really measurements of your feelings. How about hitching a positive thought to a true feeling, "I'm glad to think these sad days will be gone in the future."

 

[Leah]

Thanks, everyone.

 

[Blinkysimon]

Thank you very much for glue guidance. What do I do with the fact that the tinnitus is causing my head to ache all the time? Say my head hurts bad?

 

[Silvine]

Verbalise what your're thinking and do it in the mirror. First using the Word "I" and then in the second person using the word "You're"

Very important: Make eye contact with your self and jump from eye to eye each affirmation. The reason is that your eyes make movements called saccades all the time, this is an unconscious process and you do it to scan your environment for danger. It's an extra door into your unconscious mind. [we now think this is how EMDR works.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing

Next; stick to three word affirmations, the unconscious has the mental cognition of a 6 year old child, anymore than three is going to bring your conscious mind online and then you get the critical factor involved.

Next you need to repeat the affirmations up to thirty or forty times. This is based on a cognitive bias called the "Mere exposure effect"

http://psp.sagepub.com/content/27/10/1255.short

Note: an "affective judgement" is an emotional one.

Next you need to use "Trancewords" in your affirmation.



Trancewords are words which people use a lot as they have more significance to them on an emotional level.

I have a friend who likes to use the word "Marvelous" all the time; it's a trance word to him, it's linked from his linguistic cognition centres to a lot of nodes in his mind due to a process called "semantic netting" which is why he uses it a lot more than other words with the same semantic meaning.

You need to find out your own personal trance words (two will do) related to calmness and acceptance.

So the formula is : "Tinnitus is [your tranceword]" or "I'm/your feeling [ tranceword]"

This technique is very new but don't underestimate it, it's the equivalent to a nuclear strike on your T anxiety, and it's so powerful it's actually taught to special forces soldiers as a way to resist psychological interrogation.

 

[Lisa88]

Verbalise what your're thinking and do it in the mirror. First using the Word "I" and then in the second person using the word "You're"

Very important: Make eye contact with your self and jump from eye to eye each affirmation. The reason is that your eyes make movements called saccades all the time, this is an unconscious process and you do it to scan your environment for danger. It's an extra door into your unconscious mind. [we now think this is how EMDR works.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing

Next; stick to three word affirmations, the unconscious has the mental cognition of a 6 year old child, anymore than three is going to bring your conscious mind online and then you get the critical factor involved.

Next you need to repeat the affirmations up to thirty or forty times. This is based on a cognitive bias called the "Mere exposure effect"

http://psp.sagepub.com/content/27/10/1255.short

Note: an "affective judgement" is an emotional one.

Next you need to use "Trancewords" in your affirmation.



Trancewords are words which people use a lot as they have more significance to them on an emotional level.

I have a friend who likes to use the word "Marvelous" all the time; it's a trance word to him, it's linked from his linguistic cognition centres to a lot of nodes in his mind due to a process called "semantic netting" which is why he uses it a lot more than other words with the same semantic meaning.

You need to find out your own personal trance words (two will do) related to calmness and acceptance.

So the formula is : "Tinnitus is [your tranceword]" or "I'm/your feeling [ tranceword]"

This technique is very new but don't underestimate it, it's the equivalent to a nuclear strike on your T anxiety, and it's so powerful it's actually taught to special forces soldiers as a way to resist psychological interrogation.

Not sure I understand this. I understand the power of CBT, the theory behind EMDR and personal trance words. And I have come to understand focusing on our response to tinnitus rather than tinnitus itself.

But saying "Tinnitus is marvelous" or "Tinnitus is wonderful" etc seems to put the onus back onto tinnitus, and at the same time does not seem very believable.

Are you using this method? Has it worked? Can you give more examples of things to say?

Thanks.

 

[Mike34]

Sorry, @I who love music
Don't mean to bombard you with questions. But this seems a really important thread.
If acknowledging your irritation with tinnitus as per post by @OddV is part of the process, wouldn't this then highlight the irritation and therefore strengthen the sound?
Or do our thoughts naturally over time turn more positive (CBT)?
Cheers.

I think the whole point is to discontinue the cycle of anxiousness associated with the sound. If you move away from measuring/being addicted and more towards "acceptance" (because that's really what this is), hopefully you'll notice it less. Acknowledging your response instead of the loudness itself is a technique to do that. This is just another (I'm not putting it down - but will try it) way of coping/accepting.

 

[Katkin]

@I who love music - Has this method stopped you getting spikes? I have got an awful spike today, the type that is high pitched and whiney, hard to ignore.

 

[I who love music]

@I who love music - Has this method stopped you getting spikes? I have got an awful spike today, the type that is high pitched and whiney, hard to ignore.

I had a day long spike not too long ago, from snoring with a cold.

 

[Leah]

I also would appreciate some examples of correct words to use.
Will reread this thread in detail, thank you all for contributing to this forum and explanation of the process.
I have learned more from you than the tinnitus psychologist I saw.

 

[I who love music]

Just got back from a noisy Christmas party. Had lots of fun, was on guard for loud sudden sounds. And responded to my tinnitus only once while I was there, meaning I only heard it once. Played some music, ate too much, and the crying babies didn't bother me at all. Last year, before this technique, was a different story. I remember at last year's party being all stressed out, running upstairs from time to time to be alone and pretty much letting tinnitus run the show.

 

[billie48]

Very interesting thread and success story with a good technique from I Who Love Music which he so generously share with the newer tinnitus sufferers. I understand the merit of his technique. It is really mindfulness based technique. Mindfulness emphasize awareness of our sensations/emotions without judgement, and not running from it (because doing so will amply the fear for it and perpetuate the fight or flight response of the amygdala of the limbic system).

So when we hear the tinnitus, we don't want to run from it. We acknowledge its presence, such as saying 'Oh, there it is' and not 'Oh no, I can't survive this loud sound for very long'. The first acknowledgement is non-judgemental. The 2nd one induces fear and stress.

CBT is quite effective when we counter our distorted thoughts (cognitive distortions) with more positive and realistic ones. Silvine is obviously someone educated in neuroscience and how our mind & emotion work. Continuous & repetitive positive affirmation over time is basically self hypnosis of the subconscious mind. To me it is also a CBT related technique to counter the often negative thoughts with positive affirmations. To say tinnitus is harmless is perfectly positive and realistic, because it is. Eventually those folks who habituate to their loud tinnitus are basically coming to the same conclusion in their mind that tinnitus is harmless (though irritating or distracting at times), and therefore they can learn to accept it and move on with life.

So perhaps a good combination of the two is to say 'Oh I hear it. I may not be happy about it now, but it is harmless and I know over time I will get used to it like everybody else'. This will help the brain ignore tinnitus over time, and is a more realistic statement than saying 'I love you tinnitus', or 'You are my good friend, tinnitus' and you end up not believing in it yoursel, or say 'This loud tinnitus is so unbearable I can't survive with it for long" (which puts tinnitus into a crisis and mortal threat and your brain will monitor it non-stop).

 

[Leah]

Thanks, just what I have been doing.
Also been doing the affirmations in the mirror.