You may want to pay more attention to the effects of your hearing loss than ever before. It turns out that people with hearing loss are at a much higher risk of suffering from depression than anyone else. Depression is a very serious illness that can drive people to feel and do terrible things. In this article we will look at the study, how to prevent hearing loss, and what can be done to treat this terrible and unfortunate ailment.

Treating Depression and Hearing Loss

Since it is a combination ailment, treating hearing loss induced depression can be very difficult. That is why both aspects must be separated and then treated differently. In order to treat the hearing loss, it is recommended that people have surgery to correct damaged ears. Another great option if surgery cannot happen is to give the individual a hearing aid. This will allow them to reintegrate into their lives with ease. This should help the depression, but if not, then people should resort to taking medication and going to therapy to correct the depression.

Preventing Hearing Loss

Since hearing loss and depression have been linked together so completely, it is only smart that you take preventative measures to secure your hearing for the rest of your life. One of the first things that you can do to help your hearing is to stop going to areas where there are loud noises. From sporting venues to clubs, there are many places that you can go to where you will suffer hearing loss. However, one of the best things that you can do aside from avoiding these areas is to protect your hearing if you have a very loud work environment. You can use ear plugs and headphones in order to limit the amount of damage that you take.

The Study

The study was completed by individuals at the Institute for Deafness and other Communicaiton Disorders in 2013, and they used a group of people that exceeded 18,000. These individuals were brought into to clinic to have their hearing tested, and then they self-reported the data to the researchers at their convenience. The people over the age of 70 had to have their hearing professionally checked to be a part of the test. After this was over, each person took a test that was meant to find out if any of them had depression symptoms.

In the end, over ten percent of all of the people that took part in the test that had hearing loss also suffered from depression. This was especially common in the people under the age of 70 rather than those who were over that age. It raised a lot of concerns and will require future studies.