Personality Traits of Tinnitus Sufferers

#32
Hi everyone, sorry to tell you but Myers-Brigs doesn't have any scientific validity.

I'm not a psychologist, but I've seen neuroticism as a variable in some studies. For example, it can correlate with creativity. It's not necessarily a bad trait. "Neuroticism" is different than "neurotic", it's not necessarily a malady or a bad thing.

Also, most conclusions of these kind of research tend to be misleading anyway. They keep finding different correlations all the time. Don't take anything too serious. :p

Best,
Zug
 
#33
@Hazel
"The unexamined life is not worth living...

"The unexamined life is not worth living is a famous dictum apparently uttered by Socrates at his trial for impiety and corrupting youth, for which he was subsequently sentenced to death, as described in Plato's Apology.Wikipedia
 
#34
Zug said:
sorry to tell you but Myers-Brigs doesn't have any scientific validity.
Click to expand...
Sorry to tell you, but it is not so easy.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cui-bono/201603/are-scores-the-mbti-totally-meaningless
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and its spin-offs are among the most popular personality inventories in the world.
...
A hard look at the common criticisms of the MBTI indicates that none of these criticisms hold up. I sometimes wonder if academics are not a little jealous of the commercial success of the MBTI and therefore look for ways to shoot it down.

This does not mean that the MBTI is beyond criticism.
...
in the end, the MBTI is sufficiently reliable and valid enough to be useful in a number of real-world contexts.
Click to expand...
 
#36
DirM said:
I thinks it's safe to say T cuts across all personality types.

However I think the same volume of T will affect some more than others. For example I loved loved loved silence and being alone (extreme introvert). T required a huge rewrite for me there - I am still introverted but I had to rethink how I react to all noises, not just T, which gets to the next trait.

I think controlling personalities and perfectionists are also more affected (which is also me). With T you are no longer in control at all, and if you can't let that up, that leads to frustration, sadness, etc. And perfectionists who were in stellar health for years will find it a severe blow to their self image and ability to cope.

This is why we read about people with relatively loud T who basically shrug it off and those with the same level having extreme difficulties. I believe T requires a psychological rewrite for some to cope. Or to put it another way, some personalities have to come to an acceptance of both the condition and the Self which will not come naturally to them.
Click to expand...
What you write is compelling and applies to me. Neuroticism aside, I believe I am perhaps characterized as neurotic tempered with strong boundaries and logical thought with heavy science background. But I have vestiges of perfectionism and OCD. Perhaps you nailed it DirM with your description. Or...those that contract T say as opposed to those that don't with hearing loss, have the kind of brain chemistry aka OCD that contract T which varies by person.
Perhaps impossible to differentiate nerve damage say from other defining qualities of brain chemistry that tend to foster T.
But what you write sure makes some sense...those with the qualities you reference suffer more with their T versus others that simply accept the background noise. I will say through to middle age, I had the best health that I protected including hearing being an exercise freak. But I had a high stress and detail oriented job that probably didn't do my brain chemistry any favors over time flirting with anxiety. Seems as though T with many...many of us here share similar personality traits...trend toward the anxiety scale...our brain chemistry. When this sound appeared out of nowhere after a life long of really perfect hearing.... it completely freaked me out. Two years later I was habituating...took about a year or so or a bit less of 'acceptance', but increase in volume has recently freaked me out again inducing heightened anxiety.
My tinnitus goes up and down like a yo yo and so unsettling because never know what to expect.
 
#37
I just now saw this thread.

Is it just me or do others find that people mostly guys who have done TRT are egotistical jerks? I have seen this going on since 2002 on message boards. TRT (I don't know of girls because they don't post about it) are guys who are so vain or something that they have this attitude issue. It is like they cannot relate to other people posting about tinnitus without making generalizations about the personality problems others have dealing with tinnitus.

Since this thread is about tinnitus and personality traits.....

And are some "tinnitus personalities" more drawn into spending big bucks on TRT or Skype Consultations with so called experts in the field of tinnitus? I am talking 250.00 bucks for an hour long skype consult!!! And people read websites and the so called hand picked testimonials???? The vary people who claim Tinnitus Talk is a for profit organization? God, this hypocritical crap is so strange.

What are new tinnitus sufferers suppose to believe?
 
#38
This is drivel.

Given that about 10% of the population suffer from tinnitus, any meaningful sample size would have to be huge. On the the face of it, trying to link any medical disorder with any personality type is nonsense. However, this has been done many times throughout recent medical history with a variety of disorders and is always wrong. A further problem is that there really is no good and accepted definition of either 'Personality' or 'Personality Type'.

Just like Astrology or Fortunes Cookies, some people will always find what they seek.
 
#39
Dr. Ancill said:
This is drivel.

Given that about 10% of the population suffer from tinnitus, any meaningful sample size would have to be huge. On the the face of it, trying to link any medical disorder with any personality type is nonsense. However, this has been done many times throughout recent medical history with a variety of disorders and is always wrong. A further problem is that there really is no good and accepted definition of either 'Personality' or 'Personality Type'.

Just like Astrology or Fortunes Cookies, some people will always find what they seek.
Click to expand...
How about you Dr. Ancill? You wouldn't happen to have obsessive compulsive tendencies would you?
How about a need for order? :D
 
#40
Starthrower said:
I just now saw this thread.

Is it just me or do others find that people mostly guys who have done TRT are egotistical jerks? I have seen this going on since 2002 on message boards. TRT (I don't know of girls because they don't post about it) are guys who are so vain or something that they have this attitude issue. It is like they cannot relate to other people posting about tinnitus without making generalizations about the personality problems others have dealing with tinnitus.

Since this thread is about tinnitus and personality traits.....

And are some "tinnitus personalities" more drawn into spending big bucks on TRT or Skype Consultations with so called experts in the field of tinnitus? I am talking 250.00 bucks for an hour long skype consult!!! And people read websites and the so called hand picked testimonials???? The vary people who claim Tinnitus Talk is a for profit organization? God, this hypocritical crap is so strange.

What are new tinnitus sufferers suppose to believe?
Click to expand...
I think its just you...or rather you hold your views personally and they aren't universally shared. I don't judge others desperate to find a solution to their tinnitus even if grasping for straws. I don't align ego with or being a jerk with pursuit of TRT even if I believe a TRT program isn't value added. I haven't paid for such a program. Desperate people will go to great lengths to try to slay their personal demons. You may believe TRT is a waste of money. I haven't participated and that may tip my hand on what I think of it...but doesn't mean it hasn't even helped people because mindset is the difference between coping with tinnitus versus not.
 
#42
Starthrower said:
It is not the "pursuit" @stophiss that "align ego with or being a jerk" it is the outcome that defines the end result.
Click to expand...
Sorry. If you want to make a specific point, you are going to have to break it down a bit...what is transformative about the outcome that turns people into an egotistical jerk? Why because it works for them?...even if placebo? Some people are helped by religion because its a belief system even though you or I don't believe in the same religion or even a higher deity that would permit a level of suffering like tinnitus. Now you could be obfuscating because you are embarrassed you put down a subset of people pursuing a therapy you don't put much stock in. This is your chance to atone and add more specificity to buttress your argument which seems to be ridiculous. Maybe you could share why you feel the way you do. How can you condescend when you have no answers to solving the riddle of tinnitus or you would help yourself and everybody here?
 
#43
stophiss said:
This is your chance to atone and add more specificity to buttress your argument which seems to be ridiculous.
Click to expand...

@stophiss No it is not - thank you.

My words did sound rather condescending. I apologize for that.

stophiss said:
Maybe you could share why you feel the way you do.
Click to expand...

No. I think it is best left unsaid. There is never a productive ending or conclusion.
 
#44
ISTJ - retook the same test that I did over 1-2 years ago and got the same results.

upload_2018-7-10_15-25-43.png
 
#45
The problem with correlation is that it doesn't necessarily mean causation. And in this case I would say that it is very likely that developing T can make you more neurotic. And thus there seems to be a correlation between T and neuroticism. But there is no way to know if being high on the personality trait of neuroticism which makes you more vulnerable to developing T. Or if developing T makes you more likely to become more neurotic and thus scoring higher of the trait of neuroticism. And I guess it could very well be a combination of both :D
 
#46
Either way, timnitus has to be the most troublesome for the problem solver type of person.
I would put myself in that category.
Accepting something that is broken is simply out of the question for me..
Whether it is trouble with my car, home or wireless device, I will not stop until the problem is solved, because doing so would be equivalent to defeat.
This is the reason that I can never accept tinnitus..not now, not in 10 years.
Getting rid of this evil bastard by any means necessary is my #1 priority.

Actually getting rid of it is not going to cut it anymore, as now it is personal.
Even when I do shake it, I want to go after it and destroy and eradicate this POS with extreme prejudice, as it tried to (and is still trying) to destroy my life and I don't take that in kind.
I will not stop pushing for the final solution for tinnitus for as long as I live.
If tinnitus ever materialized in human form, I would slow torture it for years with the same level of evil and cunning, as it tortures it's victims...and I'm not really a violent person by nature.
 
#48
Rainbowsheep said:
The problem with correlation is that it doesn't necessarily mean causation. And in this case I would say that it is very likely that developing T can make you more neurotic. And thus there seems to be a correlation between T and neuroticism. But there is no way to know if being high on the personality trait of neuroticism which makes you more vulnerable to developing T. Or if developing T makes you more likely to become more neurotic and thus scoring higher of the trait of neuroticism. And I guess it could very well be a combination of both :D
Click to expand...

I agree with this, I became much more neurotic after Tinnitus, something that I was not or at least very little before. I think it is more about T making you neurotic as you say, rather that it is a trait that makes you more prone to get it.
 
#49
I have tinnitus, but I don't suffer from it. I just refuse to. I have had worse things happen to me. It's annoying and I'd like it to go away, but it's just a noise.
 
#50
Mattv said:
I have tinnitus, but I don't suffer from it. I just refuse to. I have had worse things happen to me. It's annoying and I'd like it to go away, but it's just a noise.
Click to expand...

Good for you...just out of curiosity:
What if your tinnitus suddenly doubled, trippled or quadrupled in volume.
Would you still feel the same?
 
#51
I'm quite a bubbly person and it gets me through everything I face ...keep fighting and smiling.
love glynis
 
#52
Fangen said:
I agree with this, I became much more neurotic after Tinnitus, something that I was not or at least very little before. I think it is more about T making you neurotic as you say, rather that it is a trait that makes you more prone to get it.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
#53
@Wolfears : Mine is pretty loud. I'd say close to a hotel fire alarm at 30 feet. I suppose it could double (I can quiet it with certain manipulations of my jaw/head sometimes), but I can't imagine it seeming much louder.

I'm with Glynis. I'm a happy person and I have many blessings in my life. I'm going to go with those driving my mood. I suspect we all deal with things differently. I don't disregard that.
 
#54
I suspect we all deal with things differently. I don't disregard that.
Click to expand...

Yes people deal differently with different things...some people can take certain kind of tinnitus sound but not other...some people are more resistant to certain sound than others..etc.

You are fortunate that you find your particular tinnitus just annoying, but there are people whom do not have such luck.
Never assume that just because you are able to deal with yours, someone else is a being weak person for not being able to deal with theirs.
I'm pretty sure that Bam for example (one of the TT members) didn't end up locked up in a psych ward just because he found his tinnitus annoying...
 
#55
Mattv said:
@Wolfears : Mine is pretty loud. I'd say close to a hotel fire alarm at 30 feet. I suppose it could double (I can quiet it with certain manipulations of my jaw/head sometimes), but I can't imagine it seeming much louder.

I'm with Glynis. I'm a happy person and I have many blessings in my life. I'm going to go with those driving my mood. I suspect we all deal with things differently. I don't disregard that.
Click to expand...
If there is an argument against the pedantic detail oriented obsessive personality type predisposed to tinnitus, sounds like its you and Glynis. You both handle tinnitus with such grace. I do better when my tinnitus was a low volume level. But when it recently spiked I struggled to habituate.
Posts like yours give people hope they can habituate to loud tinnitus. Again, I do much better when my tinnitus is more benign then when it rages without explanation on occasion.
 
#56
I know a few people with tinnitus who don't even post to this forum. Imagine that...??

Seriously, I do think that internet forums self select for a certain personality type, but this forum is unusually supportive and civil, so I like it.
 
#57
I've seen people die in peace with a smile while others fight in anger till the end. Perhaps that is a function of their personality. I never thought about it before.....is my personality the reason I'm having such a difficult time with my tinnitus?

My tinnitus is the result of acoustical trauma incurred in a war zone. Do I blame myself or others? No, I put it under the heading in life under "shit happens." But it's debilitating and a lot of years living with it has brought me to a state of hopelessness. Is this a personality trait or a character flaw? I don't know and it really doesn't matter. The bottom line is that I struggle.

I may have lost hope but my audiologist has not given up. She keeps trying. My psychologist has not given up. He keeps trying. Many of you here have not given up. You keep trying. It's only because others keep trying that I try to live another day.

The problem with tinnitus is that we suffer alone. No one truly sees our personal hell because, ironically, it's silent to others. I guess this is why my psychologist sent me here....to show me that I'm not alone.

Bobby
 
#58

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