You should pay extra attention to your hearing loss and any changes in your feelings or mood according to a recent study. They said that there is a strong correlation between people with hearing loss and those who have depression. This nefarious disease can cause severe bouts of sadness and an inability to engage in life as one used to. For this reason, we will take a close look at the study that revealed this information as well as the causes involved with depression and what can be done to treat it.
Treating The Dual Ailment
There are two ways that you can treat depression caused by hearing loss: treat the hearing loss, or treat the depression. This involves finding some way to correct the hearing abilities of a person suffering from impairment. You can do this by having surgery done to fix some ear issues or to be fitted with a hearing aid. Either way, people with an increased sense of hearing are less likely to be depressed. You can also treat the depression by taking medication to help you feel better while awaiting the long term solutions that are offered by hearing improvements.
The Interesting Study
The research study was completed by people at the Institute for Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. They used a total sample size of 18,000 people from 18 up to 80 years of age. When the study ended and the results were tallied, they found that many people under the age of 70 suffered from hearing loss at a much higher rate than decades ago. Even more alarming, they saw that 11% of these people tested positive for depression. The people in the test over the age of 70 did not experience as much hearing loss or depression.
Every person in the test had to undergo a hearing examination and then report the information to the institute where it was compiled. After this, all of the participants were given a special test that can determine if you are suffering from or vulnerable to depression. With all of the information gathered from this study, it is little wonder that it is going to be used for further research in the future.
How Does This Happen?
Many people are very interested in the way that hearing loss can cause depression. Sadly, it is probably more simple than you think. Hearing loss makes people more isolated from their friends and family. It also makes it so that they cannot enjoy the things that they use to as much either. These two simple facts mean that people with hearing loss are much more isolated and sad than their peers, which often culminated in depression.