Have You Named Your Tinnitus?

Larry OT

Member
Author
Benefactor
Oct 22, 2014
309
NJ
Tinnitus Since
05/2014
Cause of Tinnitus
Volume, meds and motorcycles
My therapist wants me to give my tinnitus a name.
Anyone name theirs? Do I really want to personalize it with an identity?
Other than "bitch" (not a female reference). I can't imagine a suitable name.
 
@Telis

I can find some humor in the process but I will let you know my therapists response to giving it a name next week.
I suppose I'm supposed to have some inner dialogue with "iT", who knows...
 
F***er
 
I have heard of this naming thing before, which seems pretty silly to me. Not to mention gives tinnitus more authority than it deserves, IMHO. But who knows, maybe it helps and I should try it.
Keep us posted, @Larry OT!
 
My therapist wants me to give my tinnitus a name.

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: :blackeye:

Anyone name theirs?

No.

Do I really want to personalize it with an identity?

No.

Other than "bitch" (not a female reference).

No, but you could try and say it out loud the next time you are with your therapist, provided he/she asks.

Expect a differentiated response depending on the sex of your therapist.

I can't imagine a suitable name.

Neither can I.

Consider if therapy is the right option for you.

Consider enlisting the help from the psychologists on this board, if you haven't already.

Dr. Gans has provided a worthwhile explanation of the role of psychotherapy and tinnitus in this post...

Thanks for all of your comments. It is baffling and frustrating for so many people that there is no cure yet. But new management programs like Mindfulness Based Tinnitus Stress Reduction (MBTSR), which I am happy to talk more about, focus on putting the responsibility for healing into the hands of the person with tinnitus (while hoping, like all of you, that someday there is a way to change the brain to cure tinnitus without causing more problems). Essentially, mindfulness based programs stress how you, with practice and consistency, can use purposeful attention to re-wire your own brain so that the focus of attention is not solely paid to tinnitus. The more evolved part of our brains (pre-frontal cortex) with its ability to use reasoning, can convince lower more unconscious parts of our brain (Limbic system--midbrain--amygdala) to relax and see tinnitus as a meaningless sensation rather than a body sensation that the brain must keep on alert. By stabilizing the brain (as can be done with the hard work of attention control exercises like meditation) we can then use reasoning to convince ourselves that the tinnitus signal can really just be let go of, much like we can let go of white noise in a room. This is simple but NOT easy. Like deciding to go on a diet, it takes discipline, time, patience, and consistency. Until there is a 'cure' even if these management strategies helps to relieve even a bit of the suffering (enough so you can at least function day-to-day) it certainly is worth the commitment. It's not that there is no possibility for a cure some day, but that day has not happened yet. So in the meantime I think it is important to look at ways in which we can help relieve our suffering on our own. I'd love to hear your thoughts...

...and it is not often that I use the words "worthwhile" and "psychotherapy" in the same sentence when the topic is about tinnitus.

Finally, consider doing a search on "neuropsychology" instead of "psychology" when/if scanning the Internet for ideas.

My suggestion.
 
I suppose I'm supposed to have some inner dialogue with "iT", who knows...

Personally, I find it difficult to have a dialogue with "someone" screaming at me.
 
I would maybe change therapist or do something else(n). I tried CBT in my early T days but i can´t say that it helped me anything at all. The lady told me that everything was just fine and that i should enjoy every moment still. But it wasn´t fine and i couldn´t enjoy any moment whatever she said. Maybe i visited the wrong therapist but it was just waste of money and time for me.
 
@attheedgeofscience

So for you T is a meaningless experience that you have habituated to?
Sometimes I can think it meaningless and keep moving on my day.
But when I'm overwhelmed, meditating it away as meaningless is a bit daunting.

Sometimes I simply accept it as fighting it only makes it worse.
That's half way to making it meaningless.

Sometimes I have to prove I am stronger and show it who's in control by simply not caving in.
My actions rather than re-actions to T make it happen.

These are all different approaches that have been effective depending on my mood and abilities at any given time.

How do you get by with it? What's your mindset?

When I am not distracted by it, a dialogue comes into play whatever the terms.
 
after careful consideration, I believe nameless is best.
It should have no meaning or defining entitlement.
It's not a friend or foe, it is just is something that I will continue to try and make meaningless...in some way, to give myself the strength to see clearly and hear...well, through the maze.
At least that's how it seems to suit me for now.

But isn't this process part of the approach to how we deal with it. I'm still getting to the place called Habituation. I'm just looking for the path that works in my head, and I am open to anything that May fit in that process.

Thanks for the dialogue on this. I appreciate the input.
 
So for you T is a meaningless experience that you have habituated to?

Habituated? Not exactly. Quote from the report from the Swiss professor of neurosurgery I saw two weeks ago: "Acceptance of tinnitus is absent".

How do you get by with it?

I don't. On the other hand I have been keeping busy by looking for real treatment options during the past year or so.

What's your mindset?

I have an all-or-nothing personality; a life without quality of life, is not a life at all. That's how I see it.

I believe there are at least some potential treatments coming our way within the foreseeable future. One mindset is to just get along until some of these opportunities present themselves.

Regarding psychology and tinnitus: tinnitus is not a disease of the mind; it is a disease of the brain. Psychotherapy will therefore not work. Just like antidepressants will not work against an ingrown toenail.
 
I have an all-or-nothing personality; a life without quality of life, is not a life at all. That's how I see it.

I believe there are at least some potential treatments coming our way within the foreseeable future. One mindset is to just get along until some of these opportunities present themselves.

Regarding psychology and tinnitus: tinnitus is not a disease of the mind; it is a disease of the brain. Psychotherapy will therefore not work. Just like antidepressants will not work against an ingrown toenail.

Well, somewhere between all or nothing there is some help that gets me though a day...sometimes.
"All" is not here yet and "nothing" is a long way down.
Way not try Trobalt? Seems to help others here.

I hope you find some comfort in between the waiting. Being bitter has gotten me nowhere but down and out.
 
Cousin It

cousinIt.jpg
 
My therapist wants me to give my tinnitus a name.
Anyone name theirs? Do I really want to personalize it with an identity?
Other than "bitch" (not a female reference). I can't imagine a suitable name.
I just called it my "girl friend t " ..girl friend who never leaves you ..
 

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