For Those Who Have Habituated... How Do You Control It?

[Marie79]

So I may have gotten to another level of habituation but unfortunately it has so far caused me distressed. I thought it was getting better and then I look for it REALLY hard and there it is and even in some cases even louder.

I think it is just that many times I just don't hear it. The hard part for me with this is that when I do my mind is tricked and I think it's back or much louder then I can't NOT hear it.

I know true habituation is when you can decide when to hear it and when to tune it out. Has anyone had trouble with this when they got to that point?

I am such an idiot I spent 20 minutes in my car thinking "wow I don't hear it" then BAM there it was and now it won't go away

 

[hartje5]

How I envy you! You will get there, you're showing signs of habituation! Don't be so hard on yourself. Everyone that has habituated says its a 'natural' proces. You can't force it. It just happens. Your driving, you living, good for you! You're doing the right things, just be patient.

 

[Mike L]

Sounds like you are on the right track.

Did you get your wisdom tooth out yet?

 

[linearb]

I would recommend this book, for tinnitus and general well being:
https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Mind...09332&sr=8-1&keywords=making+the+mind+an+ally

 

[Marie79]

Thank you guys. I did get the tooth out and no issues thank god!!

 

[yonkapin]

It takes time and it can definitely be a roller coaster of emotions.

It's best to keep yourself busy: work, exercise, socialize, do something creative, read books, play video games, etc - anything that engages you cognitively and distracts you from thinking about your tinnitus is beneficial to your recovery and habituation. The more persistent you are at engaging in activities that require your full attention, the more natural ignoring your tinnitus becomes.

The worst thing you can do is sit around and analyze your tinnitus constantly. I've made this mistake myself and found I was doing much better when I was staying busy.

 

[Karl K]

I've come to terms with my high pitch T and my mind no longer reacts in fight or flight mode. I have a hum or droning as well that I'm trying to habituate to but at the moment I'm finding that a lot harder to do. I've recently returned to work and as its an outdoor job I'm finding it a help in masking the T noises and once I come home I stick the TV on, start cooking, listen to music, talk and basically learn to manage the condition. I was absent from work for 5 months due to anxiety mostly related to my T and after much consideration I decided to return just to try something different to break the vicious circle of trying to ignore the sounds but at the same time relax at home. I'm glad I returned to work, its helped me focus on other things apart from the noises and I think that's a big part of habituating to T. Its tough but at the moment I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel (for now) and hopefully the T won't get any worse.

 

[Path Maker]

One thing I've learned that's true for many things is the saying: What you resist, persists.

This helps a lot with thoughts/situations that produce anxiety. Because often we then place a sort of "double anxiety" on ourselves - a situation arises (in this case, you hear the tinnitus again) that makes us anxious, and then we become "doubly" anxious with thoughts like, "I'm not handling this well/how will I ever handle this/etc. etc."

It's not a smooth journey to learn how to handle this, but it is SO handleable. When you get anxious (about hearing the tinnitus, or anything else that causes anxiety), try to GENTLY focus on dismantling that "double" anxiety. Meaning, try not to "fight" the thing that's making you anxious. (I think this kind of fits in with the Back to Silence method).

Just sort of find a way to say to yourself, "Well, there it is." And then you have accepted it being there, instead of MAGNIFYING it by getting into a whole internal fight with yourself about it (I don't WANT it! WHY is it THERE? I am AFRAID/SAD/one catastrophic thought after another <<-- see what happened here? WHAT YOU RESIST, PERSISTS).

SO just say, "Well, there it is." Period. Don't resist it. Because accepting it makes you THEN ABLE to move on to the next BETTER thoughts. Thoughts like, "Hey! I've been doing so well with this. Hey! I have a new and growing HISTORY of moments and hours and days when I've been doing so well with this. Hey! I had these good times before, and after this little blip, I have them to look forward to again."

See? Gently accepting and moving on is like a shock absorber method of coping and getting past the moment, and back into the better times.

I wish you the best in continuing on well!!!

 

[zeroday]

In my case of habituation the ringing never stops and is unmaskable...but my mind has embraced my T... We all know the sun rises in the morning and sets at night...we don't think about it and the fact the earth is moving...

My mind has embraced my T in much the same way...its there but it is as normal as the rising and setting of the sun...hope that makes sense...

 

[Engineer]

I've had his happen to me 3 or 4 times. Excellent habituation, then 'discovering' it again. What I mean by discovering is a return of the anxiety and perception. Thankfully, In my case these occurrences have diminished, and hopefully
I'm in a stretch of long term habituation. It's a bad feeling when you think all you have attained has quickly been lost. Despite this feeling, the accommodation is easier each time if you can keep the anxiety down, and that is the work. Keep up the hard work, every time you achieve a new level of habituation, you experience something that may regress but is ultimately attainable in the long term.

 

[Ears Hurt]

Some days are just so hard, ya so brutal at times. I think the ear pain is the worst. It never seems to let up.

 

[I who love music]

So I may have gotten to another level of habituation but unfortunately it has so far caused me distressed. I thought it was getting better and then I look for it REALLY hard and there it is and even in some cases even louder.

I think it is just that many times I just don't hear it. The hard part for me with this is that when I do my mind is tricked and I think it's back or much louder then I can't NOT hear it.

I know true habituation is when you can decide when to hear it and when to tune it out. Has anyone had trouble with this when they got to that point?

I am such an idiot I spent 20 minutes in my car thinking "wow I don't hear it" then BAM there it was and now it won't go away

Quit thinking about it and do the BTS method.

 

[EddieMar]

BTS method

Whats' the BTS method?

 

[I who love music]

Whats' the BTS method?

There's a video about it on the first page of the Back To Silence thread. It works for me.

 

[erik]

There is no such thing is controlling your T. It cannot be controlled. However, you can live with it to the point where it doesn't bother you.

Habituation is just basically getting "used to it" to the point where you are not actively seeking out T or care about T even when you do hear it. It comes with time and patience, and is a natural progression of having T. You will get there!

 

[EddieMar]

There is no such thing is controlling your T. It cannot be controlled. However, you can live with it to the point where it doesn't bother you.

Habituation is just basically getting "used to it" to the point where you are not actively seeking out T or care about T even when you do hear it. It comes with time and patience, and is a natural progression of having T. You will get there!

@erik
Have you habituated? How long did it take you?

 

[erik]

@erik
Have you habituated? How long did it take you?

That is a good question. I suspect it took me a 1.5 years but I may have not been fully habituated even then. It is difficult to know for sure because I didn't exactly know what habituation would "feel" like at the time. But now several years later, I feel I am habituated because I can go for very long periods of time without even thinking of my T. I am pretty active playing sports, mountain biking etc and activity does spike my T but I am mostly oblivious to it and just carry on about my day. To fully get to this point it took me a few years.

 

[EddieMar]

That is a good question. I suspect it took me a 1.5 years but I may have not been fully habituated even then. It is difficult to know for sure because I didn't exactly know what habituation would "feel" like at the time. But now several years later, I feel I am habituated because I can go for very long periods of time without even thinking of my T. I am pretty active playing sports, mountain biking etc and activity does spike my T but I am mostly oblivious to it and just carry on about my day. To fully get to this point it took me a few years.

Thank you... gives me hope.

 

[Ed209]

My experience is the same as eriks. As more and more time passes, it becomes a lot easier. I believe true habituation is reached when your subconscious learns to stop pestering you about the noise. Or you could say, when you learn to teach your subconscious to stop pestering you. It's all too easy to get so wrapped up in your tinnitus, emotionally, that you find yourself becoming paralysed by it. This is particularly true in the first couple of years or so. Everybody is different, however, and we all have different T, but statistically speaking the vast majority of you will adapt and move on.

Just look at the amount of new members who sign up here, and then disappear once the acute stage is over. This is when T is at it's worst: uncontrollable anxiety, unwanted emotions, depression, etc, are all really common and can make people lose control of their minds. Quite literally. Thoughts quickly turn catastrophic, and future aspirations disappear in a puff of smoke.

The mind controls everything. It has the keys to the car, and if you let it drive when it's out of control, the car is likely to lose control as well. It's all about restoring order and regaining control.

Over time - for the majority of people - the grip T has will slowly fade, and a normal life will begin to manifest itself. You cannot force yourself into this state; it takes time.

 

[Gary P]

Having had it bad for over a decade now, I find that my brain 'forgets' about it sometimes. The trick is to never think about it because the second you do....right back to noticing its there. It was much easier years ago

 

[Nikopol]

You dont. That is the point. You let go. If you are trying to control it, you are trying to fight it and therefore you focus on it more, negating any effect of habituation.

As for me, I am partially habituated. I can go for majority of time without it bothering me one bit. Actually got to point where hissing T relaxes me when I go to sleep, brain now accepts it as "sound of silence", sound it hears when its time to turn off. I had a good recommendation by one older doc, to rewire brain to associate T at night with sound that I find soothing by playing such sound below level of T.

 

[Rosemerry]

Just look at the amount of new members who sign up here, and then disappear once the acute stage is over. This is when T is at it's worst: uncontrollable anxiety, unwanted emotions, depression, etc, are all really common and can make people lose control of their minds. Quite literally. Thoughts quickly turn catastrophic, and future aspirations disappear in a puff of smoke.

The mind controls everything. It has the keys to the car, and if you let it drive when it's out of control, the car is likely to lose control as well. It's all about restoring order and regaining control.

Over time - for the majority of people - the grip T has will slowly fade, and a normal life will begin to manifest itself. You cannot force yourself into this state; it takes time.

@Ed209 Aww, this post just did it for me. Nailed it.

When I first signed up to TT, I was in a dark place. Literally, as it was in the middle of the night! Anyway, after 25 years my normal, loveable T turned on me, got kinda unbearable and I went straight to the catastrophic thoughts. Mind you, with a history of mild chronic anxiety, it's an easy trip for me! Anyway, here I am, in the middle of the night, can't sleep because of the noise. Start trolling the Internet, and see the same tired Tinnitus sites, with not much new info after all these years. Then I find TT - I think on Twitter first. TinnitusTalk was like a beacon in the night, a welcome ship you see when you fear you may drown in the ocean and then realize there is hope. All these intelligent, funny, interesting people are living their lives with this, just like me. There's even a link for audio background sounds - I clicked it and it immediately calmed me down. It makes me emotional to think about it. Thank you all for being here, thank you @Markku and everyone who works so hard to manage this site. I can't imagine coping with this without you all! I feel like a lucky girl. Rosemerry

 

[Ed209]

@Ed209 Aww, this post just did it for me. Nailed it.

When I first signed up to TT, I was in a dark place. Literally, as it was in the middle of the night! Anyway, after 25 years my normal, loveable T turned on me, got kinda unbearable and I went straight to the catastrophic thoughts. Mind you, with a history of mild chronic anxiety, it's an easy trip for me! Anyway, here I am, in the middle of the night, can't sleep because of the noise. Start trolling the Internet, and see the same tired Tinnitus sites, with not much new info after all these years. Then I find TT - I think on Twitter first. TinnitusTalk was like a beacon in the night, a welcome ship you see when you fear you may drown in the ocean and then realize there is hope. All these intelligent, funny, interesting people are living their lives with this, just like me. There's even a link for audio background sounds - I clicked it and it immediately calmed me down. It makes me emotional to think about it. Thank you all for being here, thank you @Markku and everyone who works so hard to manage this site. I can't imagine coping with this without you all! I feel like a lucky girl. Rosemerry

I agree rosemary, and nothing diminishes hope quicker than reading through a sea of negativity. Hope got me through 100%. Initially, it was hope that Autifony's drug, Aut00063, would come along at some point and save us all! Obviously, that was not to be, but when that failed I started to hope that my T could fade, or maybe disappear, one day.

What I found is that hope kept my anxiety at bay whilst I tried to rebuild my life. I tried to stay positive no matter what. However, after more and more time had passed, I realised T had slowly become less of a concern. As some people say 'fake it until you make it'. In my story, I went from months (well over a year at least) of despair, to not really caring about it anymore. That's not to say it won't get me down again at some point, but that's my mindset right now. I don't care about it, and because I don't care, all the baggage I had with it has gone away.

I only hang around here to share a bit of hope and positivity; and I agree, Markku and Steve have done an awesome job putting all this together.

 

[Rosemerry]

I only hang around here to share a bit of hope and positivity; and I agree, Markku and Steve have done an awesome job putting all this together.

Thanks so much for hanging around @Ed209! I've read so many of your posts that have helped. It reminds me of a favorite quote: "To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts." Henry David Thoreau. It is a huge deal to make someone's day go better. Thanks so much! Rosemerry