Coping with Tinnitus at Work

[bodhisattva]

How do you guys cope at work? Conference calls, meetings etc?
I know i can keep the headphones on at my desk with white noise if i need but, how about those conversations where all you can hear is the ringing?

Thanks

 

[MattK]

Basically habituation is the overall key. That way the ringing won't bother you.

Until then play music or white noise when not on the phone. And while in the phone, try to focus on talking or listening.

 

[RicoS]

Funny you mention this, because at work it's the place I have had the most problems with it. I told everybody I work with that I have T and during meetings if you hear birdsounds it can be my phone because I just need a little noise to cancel out my loud T. Most people do not even notice it during a meeting and sometimes I do not use it anymore. 8 Months back I used earphones with birdsounds in every meeting. I guess that really looked weird talking with somebody who has earplugs in with sound, but at that time my T was just to loud in a silent room.
Last week I was at a meeting in anohter office from an other company and it was extremely silent there. Than you realise you T is not gone for sure...but 10 minutes in ...my brain started to focus less on it and on some point I didn't even notice it anymore. I guess from when my T started on a scale of 10 my T was a 8 or 9 going through everything and was hurting my ears and could not be masked. It than went to a 5 or 6 and now it is a 2 or a 3. (after 16 months total) So habitation is a real thing.

In the beginning I just could not live with it and went home from work after just 2 hours of work because I could not stand it anymore. There was no escape.... Coming home was also a nightmare because you knew that in there your T would scream also.

Most important is that you can concentrate on your work when you are at work but when your very depressed it really hard. It took me almost a year to get out of all the negativity. I guess I haven't realy smiled in a year. Every day felt as a nightmare. Now I'm a lot better and because I hardly hear it at work are feeling much better during working hours.

Thoughts go through my mind regarding when I had suicide thoughts in the beginning.....if I had done that....I would not be here anymore not knowing if my T would settle down. I guess that after more than a year it did.
It is still loud but my brain seems to block it so I realy don't hear it most of the time. Only when I'm in a silent room.

So keep your hopes up...time will heal wounds....perhaps not all, but a least makes life better.

 

[bodhisattva]

Thanks

Funny you mention this, because at work it's the place I have had the most problems with it. I told everybody I work with that I have T and during meetings if you hear birdsounds it can be my phone because I just need a little noise to cancel out my loud T. Most people do not even notice it during a meeting and sometimes I do not use it anymore. 8 Months back I used earphones with birdsounds in every meeting. I guess that really looked weird talking with somebody who has earplugs in with sound, but at that time my T was just to loud in a silent room.
Last week I was at a meeting in anohter office from an other company and it was extremely silent there. Than you realise you T is not gone for sure...but 10 minutes in ...my brain started to focus less on it and on some point I didn't even notice it anymore. I guess from when my T started on a scale of 10 my T was a 8 or 9 going through everything and was hurting my ears and could not be masked. It than went to a 5 or 6 and now it is a 2 or a 3. (after 16 months total) So habitation is a real thing.

In the beginning I just could not live with it and went home from work after just 2 hours of work because I could not stand it anymore. There was no escape.... Coming home was also a nightmare because you knew that in there your T would scream also.

Most important is that you can concentrate on your work when you are at work but when your very depressed it really hard. It took me almost a year to get out of all the negativity. I guess I haven't realy smiled in a year. Every day felt as a nightmare. Now I'm a lot better and because I hardly hear it at work are feeling much better during working hours.

Thoughts go through my mind regarding when I had suicide thoughts in the beginning.....if I had done that....I would not be here anymore not knowing if my T would settle down. I guess that after more than a year it did.
It is still loud but my brain seems to block it so I realy don't hear it most of the time. Only when I'm in a silent room.

So keep your hopes up...time will heal wounds....perhaps not all, but a least makes life better.

Thanks brother,
that is really good to hear. I'm out of work right now, which led to depression, anxiety and panic attacks, which led to my T. I'm trying to put myself back together and get a new job. Initially i thought this T was a temporary thing and i would ride it out THEN get back to work. Now i'm realizing that this is probably my new reality and I'm going to have to push myself to get back into the mainstream so i'm actively looking again.

Where i can control my environment, run youtube, fans, white noise, i can usually maintain. But when i get in a quiet office, well you guys know the drill. I was worried about that. Man it's tough enough to cope with the corporate world, without this additional handicap.

Stay strong and thanks for the words of encouragement!

 

[RCP1]

You need to get some discrete earphones/hearing aid that will slot in unnoticed into your ear canal and play some sounds during the day. To be honest most offices are around the 50/60 Db range pretty much all day so you wont have silence. Its tough - I work as a programmer in an office all day and I'll be honest its not too bad as the background noise of everyone else typing and talking pretty much covers up the T. The worst is the commute to work - That can be very noisy whether you drive or take transport - That's the trickiest bit. But if you plug in those earplugs and use Noise cancelling headphones it can be ok. The corporate world is tough so my advice would be to choose the job that will give you the best access logisitcally and has the best staff treatment. Hard to assess before you get in there but worth considering.

Chin up - 2 years until Autifony goes to market if the tests are passed... Keep thinking positive