Sorry for the late reply, but I didn't receive a notification.
I know you're in Canada, Pete, and I know there are similarities between your healthcare and ours in the UK. That's why I asked if you'd ever looked at going to see someone privately. I looked online and there are private clinics in Canada. As for changing your GP, it's the same in the UK; you have to go to a practice accepting new patients but over here that's really easy to do. There are loads of practices to choose from and most of them accept new patients. If you're not happy with your current GP I implore you to ask around for a good one and then join their practice instead. When I say go private, I mean find a specialist (consultant) who will sit and listen to you properly. This could be a psychiatrist, neurologist, ENT, etc, depending on what you want to get out of your appointment. If you are truly suicidal, it's probably best going down the psychiatrist route. I'm not a big fan of drugs, but I'd take benzos over suicide any day. Death is absolute and you can't come back from it.
You mentioned somewhere that you don't think I believe you when you say how loud your tinnitus is, but I could ask you the same thing? The fact you said this suggests that maybe you think mine is mild? My brain has a constant dentist drill whine that cuts through pretty much everything. I can stand by the side of a busy road and still hear it clearly. For me, the only thing road noise like that would mask is my ear tones and some of the hissing sounds. When I'm in a moderately noisy/everyday type environment, my head is a total cacophony of noise. At night time my head is quite literally screaming. So in answer to your question, damn right I believe you, and I sincerely care. I mean that.
You don't need to wear earplugs everywhere you go, either. Depriving your auditory system of even more input is really bad news for tinnitus and you can read further into this if you look through some of the academic literature. Earplugs are only required if you are in a dangerously loud environment for an extended period of time, and/or if you're using power tools or machinery that can hit dangerous levels. That's it. There's no need to walk around in earplugs all the time as this will lead to other problems.
If you can find a way of getting out of your own headspace on a regular basis then you will start to feel better. But even if you do manage this, it still takes a lot of time and patience. For me personally, I found the worst thing was sitting at home ruminating and obsessing. I would read this forum way too much and by doing that I was subconsciously taking on everyone else's anxiety and baggage. I began to improve once I started getting actively involved with life again. Our brains need hobbies and stuff to do to keep us motivated. I know when you're suicidal this shit seems impossible, but you have to try and find the strength from somewhere, or get medical help as a last resort to help give you that strength.
Try taking up chess or something that requires deep tactical thinking. One thing I've found is that you cannot fully focus on the noise and think at a deep and profound level at the same time. The mind has to prioritise one thing over another. For example, when my chest problems returned (long story) my tinnitus took a massive back seat. My brain was like "fuck tinnitus. This new problem is destroying me on another level", and as a result, quite paradoxically, I desperately wanted to go back to being tormented by my tinnitus again. It was quite a remarkable feeling. I'm not going to name anyone here as I don't want to be disrespectful, but the same was true of a member here when a family member of theirs committed suicide. The member in question said that tinnitus suddenly wasn't an issue anymore and that the grief just crushed it. What I'm saying is that we focus intently on whatever is hurting us most. Another long-term severe sufferer here called Telis also experienced something similar to this and you can read more about his tragic story here:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...-to-make-my-tinnitus-worse.36372/#post-474805
If you were suddenly awoken in a burning building and you were upstairs, I can guarantee you that the only thing you'd focus on is escaping so that you didn't burn to death. Your tinnitus would go so far to the back of the queue - in terms of priorities - that you wouldn't even hear it.
These are obviously extreme examples. However, a GOOD hobby that deeply interests you can slowly pull your mind elsewhere. SLOWLY. For this to happen all rumination has to stop and so does reading about tinnitus 24/7. Become obsessed with the hobby instead. This works even better if you're working towards a goal that means something quite profound to you.
The caveat here is that none of this is easy (especially when you're depressed). But the easy option of doing nothing only leads to further misery.
Don't forget that your tinnitus could still fade over time and you could also try an anti-inflammatory diet or something like Lenire. Even if your tinnitus doesn't fade, you can still try and numb your response to it as the years pass.
Anyway, I truly hope you find a solution that works for you, Pete.