The Impact of Treated Hearing Loss on Quality of Life
It is common for a person with hearing loss to delay getting help because they are unaware of the fact that receiving early treatment for hearing loss has the potential to literally transform their lives!
The US National Council on the Aging conducted research on more than 2,000 people with hearing loss as well as their significant others.
They found that hearing aids are clearly associated with impressive improvements in the social, emotional, psychological, and physical well-being of people with hearing loss.
Specifically, hearing aid usage is positively related to the following quality of life issues:
- Communication in relationships
- Intimacy and warmth in family relationships
- Ease in communication
- Emotional stability
- Sense of control over life events
- Perception of mental functioning
- Physical health
- Group social participation
- Earning power
And just as importantly hearing loss treatment was shown to reduce:
- Discrimination toward the person with the hearing loss
- Hearing loss compensation behaviors (i.e. pretending you hear)
- Anger and frustration in relationships
- Depression and depressive symptoms
- Feelings of paranoia
- Anxiety
- Social phobias
- Self-criticism
If you are one of those people with a mild, moderate or severe hearing loss, who is sitting on the fence, consider all the benefits of hearing aids described above.
Hearing aids hold such great potential to positively change so many lives.